You might be a New Mexican if?

Hey the taxes are filed, not just extended. Although I may go back and review later and file an admendment if it would make a huge difference once I get the medical expenses added up, but usually they don't add up to enough for a deduction. Luckily I had already taken care of the info for the rest. Only one gripe, my employer never takes out enough state taxes so I had to pay them. It really irriatates me, but then again I don't work for them anymore and other than that they were good to me, so I should quit complaining. Everyone knows taxes and death are inevitable.

I know this is a week of sorrow following the Virginia Tech Massacre. So while I am trying to interject a bit of humor with the following, please know I am concerned and praying for the school and it's students.

I got this last week and thought it was funny to share.

You might be a New Mexican if?

1. 
   
   You can correctly pronounce words like Tesuqe, Cerrillos, Acoma, Buena, Ocotillo, Pojaque and Isleta, and you know what or where they are.
   
   
2. 
   
   You have been told by at least one out of state vendor that they are going to charge you extra for inernational shipping.
   
   
3. 
   
   You expect to pay more if your house is made out of mud.
   
   
4. 
   
   You can order your Big Mac with green chile, not jalapenos, green chile.
   
   
5. 
   
   You buy salsa by the half gallon.
   
   
6. 
   
   You know what it means when they say it's from Hatch.
   
   
7. 
   
   Your Christmas decorations include red chile ristras, a ton of sand and paper bags.
   
   
8. 
   
   Most of your favorite restaurants beging with La, El, or Los.
   
   
9. 
   
   You have an extra freezer just for Green Chile.
   
   
10. 
    
    You consider Billy the Kid the state hero.
    
    
11. 
    
    You think 6 tons of crushed rock makes a beautiful front yard.
    
    
12. 
    
    You ran for state legislature, hoping to win, just so you could speed legally.
    
    
13. 
    
    You pass on the right because you think it is the fast lane.
    
    
14. 
    
    Your swamp cooler got knocked off the roof by a dust devil.
    
    
15. 
    
    You don't understand why some people find Roswell so fascinating, they have obviously never been there.
    
    
16. 
    
    You can actually hear the Taos hum.
    
    
17. 
    
    All your out of state relatives want to know if it is safe to drink the water.
    
    
18. 
    
    When someone says they visited "Las Vegas" you think of a small town in the NW corner of the state.
    
    
19. 
    
    You iron your jeans to dress up.
    
    
20. 
    
    Cowboy hats and boots aren't Halloween attire.
    
    
21. 
    
    Your other vehicle is also a pick up truck.
    
    
22. 
    
    Two of your cousins are in Santa Fe, one in the legislature and the other in the penitentiary.
    
    
23. 
    
    You know what it means when a waitress asks "red or green." (The official state question by the way.) She knows what you mean when you say make it Christmas.
    
    
24. 
    
    You don't think it's odd when you are in line at the grocery store and the conversations around you alternate every other word between English and Spanish, and you understand it.
    
    
25. 
    
    You have seen the bat flight at Carlsbad Caverns, and have a shirt that says "Bats need friends too."
    
    
26. 
    
    You price shop for tortillas.
    
    
27. 
    
    You think Sonic is "America's Favorite Drive In."
    
    
28. 
    
    You are relieved when the pavement ends, because it has less potholes.
    
    
29. 
    
    You know you are "special" because you are from the land of enchantment.
    
    
30. 
    
    You had forts out in the desert as a kid, which is also your backyard so to speak.
    
    
31. 
    
    You know what the night sky looks like full of stars and not pollution and light.
    
    
32. 
    
    You have swam in an arroyo, as an adult!
    
    
33. 
    
    You have cooked an egg on the sidewalk.
    
    
34. 
    
    You know or are a real Indian, uhm Native Americans.
    
    
35. 
    
    You know what a horny toad is.
    
    
36. 
    
    You can identify a quail, peacok, coyote, and roadrunner by the sound it makes.
    
    
37. 
    
    You stop to let a covey of quail cross the road.
    
    
38. 
    
    You can buys snow sleds in the summer to use at White Sands, but can't find one during the winter.
    
    
39. 
    
    You've slept outside on the trampoline, or in the back of a pick up truck.
    
    
40. 
    
    You have a relative or know someone in almost every town in the state.
    
    
41. 
    
    You love the smell of rain in the desert.
    
    
42. 
    
    You have at least one rattlesnake story.
    
    
43. 
    
    You have been to Mexico, just to party, shop, or for dental care.
    
    
44. 
    
    In the summer anything will work as a swimming pool, including horse troughs, puddles.
    
    
45. 
    
    You have ridden a horse through town and tied it up while you went in a store.
    
    
46. 
    
    You know how to barter in three languages.
    
    
47. 
    
    You could probably win on Survivor, since you have been hunting and fishing since you were five.
    
    
48. 
    
    One of your favorite pastimes is rock hunting.
    
    
49. 
    
    You have know where to find or have seen the duck races, the world's largest enchiladas, the VLA, bottomless lakes, petrified forests, pueblos, pow wows or rodeos.
    
    
50. 
    
    You spent your high school years saying you were leaving this backward hell hole and know you have either moved back or are planning to retire here.
    
    
    

I hope you still love me (okay like me).

 

Well I have internet service again.  It's not the best, but it's better than dial up.  I think it works similar to a cellular phone and reception varies, however it was very easy to set up. Suppossedly the rural telephone company is going to get us a line out here in the next few months, they provide cable intermet that is much faster so I am keeping my fingers crossed for that. I was annoyed at them when then said they couldn't install it last week  after all they are practically my next door neighbors, in fact unless I am going into town it seems like a sin to drive they are so close.  But then again no one has lived on this particular piece of property in 20 years.

I guess a lot of the US got a cold snap over Easter, so did we.  It actually froze, even after the mesquites had leafed out, highly unusual.  We were freezing too Saturday and even worse on Sunday.  We also don't have natural gas hooked up yet either, that has to come across the highway and the gas company said they would do it but it but it would take a few months.  In the long run that would be cheaper than converting everything to propane, which is our other option.  In  any case, that means we have no heat and no working stove. 

Hey and we haven't even stared remodelling the old house, this is just to get the trailer liveable.  I will post pics of the remodeling soon.  I am trying to get the boxes all cleared out of the kitchen. Unpacking takes forever when you are never home. ; )

My sister came home to visit for a month also and I am still spending a lot of time over at mom and dad's during the day.  She is an intererior decorator by trade and has been working on my parents house over the last few years.  She is trying to get a couple of rooms in their house done, yesterday I helped her make an upolstred headboard.  If she is going to finish before she goes home I may need to spend a whole bunch more time over there. 

She has a 19 month old girl  and  I have my 24 month old boy.  They are like an old married couple, they are either have a grand time or fighting.  They are experts on what is theirs.  MINE, MINE, MINE!  This how extreme they go, the other morning Max was hugging me and saying my momma, my momma while he patted my back.  I thought it was sweet and was cooing my Max, my Max back at him.  He looked up at me and said MY Max, MY Max.  Gotta love 2 years olds!

I do intend to get around to everyone over the next few days as I avoid finishing unpacking, taxes and some landscaping projects I have started.  ; )

Randomness

I have had an interesting week.

 

Last Sunday I started itching a lot and had some heat rash.  My monday I was an itching rashy blob and went to the doctor first thing Monday. 

 

Unfortunately I just continued to get rashier and by Wednesday morning even had it on the palm of my hands.  The doctor said that was unusual, which didn't fool me, that was code for wierd.

 

I am glad to say the rash finally started going away but I think it moved into my ears and I must have an ear infection.  I didn't go the doc again because I didn't want him to think I was stalking him, but I guess I have to since I cannot hear well, oh and the oozing.  It's lovely, really. 

 

But hey, I am not itching anymore and I don't look like a freak, well any more than normal. LOL. Oh, and I have an excuse for not hearing that request to do something.  What? What?  I cannot hear you???

 

The painting is going well, it's just that I haven't been able to work on it as much  as I would like but I can see the end and think by Tuesday I should be done.  I wasn't able to get anything done this weekend since we had Mr. Max's 2nd birthday party.  He must be related to KM or Malathion Man since he walked around the room showing everyone his favorite new present, shoes.   

 

My sister is here for a month too and we are all shoved into our childhood home. I have to get this painting done so we can move out, oh yeah and get the water turned on.  But we are almost there baby!!!  I have two landscape consulations lined up this week and a several more that said they were interested.  Crazy!    Maybe I won't need to worry about it, the business will find me!

 

Hope you all are doing well, I am making the rounds, just slowly.  We are getting our DSL and phone on Tuesday at our place, so after that you'll see me so much you'll be sick of me. 

God Bless Texas

I have been known to tease my Texas neighbors. 

 

Being a native New Mexican, I was raised to dislike Texas. 

 

I recall in Las Cruces recently when the restuaruant Texas Roadhouse was built.  They flew a Texas flag, the newspaper was filled with complaints.  "How dare they fly a Texas flag in New Mexico?  We haven't been part of them for over a 100 years!"  The manager then flew a NM flag, and the all the newcomers said "you New Mexicans are crazy, every other Texas Roadhouse flies a texas flag, bring it back."  The manager gave up and flew a plain white flag.  (Now I think it proudly displays both.)  I had overheard a newcomeer talking about it, and they seemed really concerned, instead of realizing that for most of us, it is a friendly rivalry, nothing more.  We tease them about their big hair, big belt buckles and big trucks, they tease us about being poor and eating beans.  I don't really dislike Texans, I just have to pretend I do for state pride, do you understand?

 

Although I still wish my NMSU Aggies would have kicked Texas butt but Friday night, but I am not bitter, okay? I was hoping we could have some taco meat, or shoot an insane deer, understand?   We kept up with them until the last few minutes, and that made me proud.

 

Friday afternoon I was listening to the local country station while I was busy painting.  (Which is taking forever by the way, who knew painting in a trailer house would be so much damn work.  You have to sand, prime, paint, blah, blah to that stupid wallboard they use after I got the bedrooms done I started throwing joint compound mixed with paint on the walls, less prep and it doesn't take two  damn coats to cover the walls!)  But I digress, I heard several Texas oriented songs including God Bless Texas.  Then when I went to Walmart to get more supplies, I noticed quite a few Texans, loading up their Suburbans and Tahoes with supplies before heading to Cloudcroft for Spring Break.  I paid attention to the heavier traffic on my way home and noticed the cars mostly had white (TX) plates.  This is common during hunting season, school holidays, and the summer.  While God did bless Texas, he did not bless them with mountains.  He planted them firmly in New Mexico, but gave them visitation rights.

 

In any case I got back to slathering painted mud on my walls, or more importantly, prepping them for that.  I let the boys help me rip out some of the moulding and put some mud on the cracks.  When that started to get out of hand, I decided to clean up and head back to moms.

Z said he wanted to walk home.  I told him No, and to wait, he went out the door to play.  I swear it couldn' t  have been more than minute while I finished rinsing the putty knife, but he was no where to be seen when I walked outside.  I got frantic.  I couldn't see him in the pasture or on the path we usually walk by the watertower.  I threw Max in the car and was started  looking for him.  Did he head for the pasture? the highway?  How could he got of sight so fast?  I found him on the next road by my mom's house.  Two trucks were stopped on the shoulder and a saw Z and a lady walking with him.  Of course I was excited and she told me that she had seen him walking along the highway and thought he looked to little to do that and stopped.  He told her I was busy working and he was walking to Nonies house.  She said she didn't know where Nonie lived but she was going to walk with him.  I was trying to explain how we walk back and forth all the time but not near the highway and she laughed and said she had 4 kids, she understood.  I explained to my son very excitedly about how he was never ever to go near that highway again.  (Which by the way would be the longest route between houses.)  Talked to my dad about this gate he was going to get so the kids could transvers the pasture eaiser which is far away from the highway!  Then I colored my hair, strangely it had a big shock of gray after that!

 

Did I mention those trucks had Texas plates.  See it's a friendly rivalry, we still help neighbors in need.

 

God Bless Texas.