Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...

Me at the coffee shop this morning... Tim coming into our driveway yesterday...
(Tim knows the difference between the possessive form of your and "you're" - he just forgot and didn't want to change it.) :)

This is Maddie in the Suburban on the way to Silver City for Christmas, with her "little bone".

In Silver City at Tim's Grandma's, with the 'fam.'
My little Santa is so cute!!
Holy Cow! This stuff isn't stopping! We have gotten two snowstorms, one after the other, about a week apart. This last one has dumped about three feet and it's still going. Since Tim fixed the 4 wheel-drive on our huge truck, we're able to get out. Some of the roads are plowed; (plowing in NM is TOTALLY different than in places where it snows all the time! You're on your own here! No sand or salt even in most places, and many, many roads go totally unplowed!) the Interstate has been closed and probably the other road into town is also closed. Who cares - we have our grocery store and coffee shop up here! We only made it out of our own driveway because of our high clearance and "super swamper" tires!

This morning we ventured out and lo and behold, one of our favorite coffee shops was open. There were a few other people, as well as a couple who were on their way up to the slopes (we have a nice ski area on the nearby mountain). We were highly entertained by a young man in a 4wd trying to make it home - up a steep hill with a switchback. He was so persistent! Up... and down. Up... and down. Up... and down. He stopped at the coffee shop briefly where the proprietor offered a free cuppa', just for his determination. We also suggested he weight down his bed and maybe get some kitty litter. I think he took our suggestion, because he left and awhile later - he made it up! Possibly weighted down his truck a bit?

So we're having fun. :) Maddie LOVES the snow and has to leap and bound through it at these depths. I'll play out there with her today again. Heard the snow will taper off today - then another storm system coming through Tuesday. We'll see! I'm dying for snowshoes!!

Life...

Life continues. I was urged to write a blog by an old friend in CL, and I thought, it has been awhile!

Well, I don't have the photos off the camera yet, but next time I'll send you photos of Maddie in our 12+ inches of snow here recently. It's already more than half melted and it was only the day before yesterday! I love that... Maddie and I played in the snow and it was fun. It's also funny to see her reaction (this is her first real snow) to 3+ft drifts! She bounds through pretty good. I love playing in the snow with dogs - they're so good natured, you can kick snow in their face in order to steal their ball from them, and they don't accuse you of playing dirty!! Ha ha!

Not much new, which is fine - I'm still plugging away in real estate. So far the people I've worked with really like me and appreciate my responsiveness, honesty, and hard work. Tim continues on with all his auto-related stuff and is doing good. I have been exercising at a gym up here almost daily (!) now - it helps to have a bunch of fun ladies to work out with and then go out for coffee with afterward! I lift weights MWF and do Jazzercise (so fun!) T/Th. So far the results are good for me, except that I still kind of eat like crap, which negates half my workout. But I think I have more energy, and I am lifting more serious weight with my upper body in particular. I think I'll see how big I can get. :) If I get big, I'll have Tim take photos.

We are going to Silver City for Christmas, which I love. It is the closest thing to Christmases as a child for me and I really love Tim's family there. Did I mention it's usually warm too? :) Although this year it may not be!
Well here are some photos...

When I went to Minneapolis in November, I hung out with my sister and brother a lot - here's a photos of my siblings and Joe, all wearing scarves I made for them! :)

This is Debbie messing with paint during our creation of the baby room. Her pregnancy has gone really well - doesn't she look great?

And here's Maddie in a little flurry awhile ago. She gets cold so easily! She must be a New Mexico dog. I think she really likes her coat.

Very Sad Day

Today is a very sad day - my lovely bird Sydney died last night. She was acting strangely for awhile, then yesterday started having spasms/convulsions... I spent a good part of last evening holding her and trying to feed her and give her water with a syringe. But we both knew she was dying, for reasons of which we will probably never know. She was about 13 or 14 (although I thought they were supposed to live up to 20). Last night I did not expect that I'd be quite as upset as I've been. I woke this morning to Tim making us breakfast and telling me she'd died. I held her for awhile, so beautiful! We buried her in a pretty place on our land. We both cried. So that is my sadness today. It's wonderful having pets, but sucks when they die. She used to greet me when I walked in the house, "Hello" "Hello" "Hello". She was a goof and a lot of fun and so gorgeous. I will miss her.

Long Time!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

How many ways can I find to humiliate my dog? Does she have a look of humiliation on her face? HA HA HA!!! She's so cute!! She also wears a nice courduroy coat in the mornings when it's cold out. Poor baby.

At the end of October we went hunting for a day with Tim's dad. It was muzzle-loading, which I'm not really into, but it was fun. We had a gorgeous drive as well, through some beautiful mountains. At one point Tim was very close to a buck and took a shot - was sure he had it, but come to find out his sight was nearly ready to fall off! That deer was very lucky! And so we missed out again this year on some great-tasting, healthy, drug-free, inexpensive meat! :( Oh well...

Next time I'm on I will put up pics of our trip, ages ago, to the western part of the state. Unbelievable scenery!!!!! Huge canyons, cool caves, massive lava flows... amazing. When are YOU going to visit?????

OOH! I almost forgot! When we were out hunting (the beginning of the day we started out in stuff like this picture, typical NM!), in the area of this photo, I found an arrowhead!!!!!! I found a real, primitive, little white arrowhead! All my life I'm looking on the ground for arrowheads and this day I happened upon one! YEA!!! I was SO excited!!! :)

News Flash!

No photos yet, sorry... still dealing with computer stuff. I just got a pocket pc phone (which is SO fun and cool) but I don't know about keeping the internet on it - slow...

Anyway, I got a job for a real estate company in Tijeras where I live! It's within walking distance. I'm psyched. To check out our website, go to www.albuquerque-fine-homes.com. I love the company - "A technology company that sells real estate". I begin training more this week and will begin in earnest within a couple weeks! Exciting, overwhelming, yea!

Also, I am finally making a legal name change. Yes, for those of you who've known me for 16 years as "Dia", it's finally for real now. My name will be Dia Julie Ann Cordova-Hahn. On my business cards it is Dia Cordova-Hahn (I thought it would be best in this area to combine our last names, given the variety of clientele). I like the sound of it. Plus Julie Ann is still in there.
Those are my biggest pieces of late breaking news. More to come (sometime!)...

Our computer guy and our amazing luck...

Even though Tim and I recently took an actual two-day vacation over labor day weekend, do not expect any photos on this blogspot for awhile. Our laptop took a dive about a week ago (took it to our computer guy who is referring it on to a "laptop specialist"). Our computer guy - I love having a "computer guy", by the way - this morning said that the situation with our laptop is "sad". He spoke of it in tender terms, the way he might speak of a dying dog. I knew it was a bad situation when I heard that tone of voice. He thinks the motherboard if fried. I don't totally get what a motherboard is, but I'm assuming it is what makes the computer run. It just makes me think of Star Trek or Star Wars for some reason.
But the REAL lucky part of this is that when I went on our desktop computer yesterday to make myself a resume for real estate, something was WRONG. Not just a little wrong, but wrong enough that I had to take the CPU to our computer guy, which is why I was there this morning. I hadn't seen our computer guy for well over a year, and although I like him thoroughly, I did not expect to see so much of him at this time.
And so, besides the potential of ALL of our data and photos and etc being lost forever (knock on wood), we are literally computer-less. Try that for a week or two. It's interesting. Maybe Tim and I just rely on ours too heavily. Our computer guy (his name is Tom and he wears a lot of tye-dye) pathetically lent us his seven-year-old daughter's old laptop (she has something better now and can't be bothered with the slowness of this one). We'll be trying that out tomorrow. For now it has been a lot of waiting in line at the library, unable to do business due to the throngs of kids (and adults!) who sit on-line at length playing video games! C'est la vie!

Boring Blog, no updates!

Whew! Following two weeks of working over 60 hours/week in the middle of nowhere on a thriller/horror/drama/scifi? film, and then one week of literally reviewing and studying for my real estate exam, I would say I'm pooped, but for some reason I'm just not! Oh yeah, all that caffeine today...
Well I'm pretty jazzed because today I passed my national and state real estate licensing exams "with flying colors". No more studying! I did it!!!
Not much else to say. That pretty much sums up my life anyway: work and studying. Now I'm (hopefully just temporarily) unemployed and have no homework. Yikes!! It's okay, I can handle it.

Living Memorial

This has been planned for a long time, and on Thursday the 3rd, I did it - I got a memorial tattoo for my mom and dad. Like all my tattoos, it has deep personal meaning and isn't in a very conspicious place on my body. (I'm running out of inconspicuous places!) Deb and Ken, I hope you like it too. :) The guy who did it said the shading will lighten up!






Yes, it hurt. I will admit it. For over 2 hours I sat in the same exact position, trying not to cringe or tense up from the ouch. My other ones, I did not think hurt much, but this one did. Dave Martinez from Addictive Ink did it - he has been featured in many national publications, won awards and etc. It took months to get a consultation and then months more to get the appointment.
Not being able to have a ritual like visiting and keeping up my parents' graves, having this tattoo means a lot to me.

Lately I have been crafting a lot more, like the 'old me'. I took a gawdy old brass lamp we got for free and painted it a hammered grey/tan color like hammered metal. Looks cool. I am getting more into decoupage and next will try a technique that is supposed to make any flat surface look like old stained leather. We'll see! HGTV has been great for ideas.

I will be working tomorrow through Thursday, all day, and then next week Sunday through Thursday again. Don't know anything about the film and never heard of any of the actors - but it's work!

I also finished my study course for real estate and now just need to study for and take the licensing exam. Yea!

Substitute Birthday

Ha ha ha ha ha! I love playing with pictures! You need to click on this to get the full effect...

My substitute birthday was good! I was not ill. Tim and I went out for breakfast and then drove to the peak of Sandia Mountain here and hiked a bit. It was cloudy, and there is nothing more mystifyingly beautiful in the mountains than the way that clouds linger and move like ghosts around the peaks, with the sun shining through at various times. It is breathtaking.

Ooh, I'm hanging over the cliff!!

Maddie did NOT want to go near the edge. Smart dog!

Just a cool shot...

That night I made myself a birthday cake and blew out 34 candles! Yikes! I think pretty soon I won't be able to use that many candles. It's difficult for one person to light so many, you know, and finish before the first candle is a glob of wax on the frosting.
Hey, I haven't figured out the links yet, but go see Tim's blog for his work at timskustoms.blogspot.com. Okay? Go now. :)

Violently Ill Birthday

Yes, lucky me. On the eve of my 34th birthday, I got food poisoning. Isn't that awesome?! It was something I ate from the deli part of the grocery store, as far as I can figure. No matter, on my birthday I was recovering from being ill. So I decided not to count yesterday as my birthday. Tomorrow can be my birthday. Or, I'll just kind of spread it out a little. Anyway, yesterday kind of sucked.
My days on the set were awesome. It was in a beautiful mountain/forest setting hanging out with J, T, M and WM (I decided I'd better be careful about using their names). I stayed in the same hotel as them, and what a funny sight walking out in the morning to a row of $50K+ cars parked alongside my 1990 Nissan with tape over the tail light. That made me laugh out loud the first morning - I thought of that song (was it Sesame Street?) "Which of these things is not like the other".
On the last night, T was walking toward me on some boards laid out as walkways (they were serving hot dogs and we were both going for them) and he nearly fell into me. Jokingly I said something about watching out for those bumps in the boards and he replied "Yeah, thanks, thanks for the warning there..." etc and we bantered a bit. He is pretty funny, I'll say that. But for niceness, I have to say that J gets my vote. He is so good with the kids and just so well-mannered and friendly.
It was a great few days and I got some nice 'crew gifts' with the movie title emblem on them, which I will wear and use closer to March (the timeframe I've heard for its release). A nice 'end of the road' movie for me as I prepare to step into the world of real estate...

"Away from office..."

"Dia will be away from email until next week. She will be out of touch by phone Wednesday through Saturday. If you have an emergency, please contact Tim."
I got invited to work on Wld Hgs in Los Alamos, NM, a ways north of here. They're puttin' me up in a hotel and I'll be there Wed-Sat. I'm not sure I have cell service there.
Not much going on - Tim's been working trying to keep our old cars running. We have serious issues with most of our regulars right now, but such is our life. We like the old ones, and he can fix 'em (it's just finding the time!).
Adios!

Cool shots from our vacation

I grew up with sunsets this gorgeous all the time! My home town in sepia...
We passed an old car parked near the most idyllic, stereo-typically American porch

If it's bad luck...

when a bird flies against one of your home windows, then what could it possibly mean when a bird crashes explosively through one of your windows, falling to the floor in a bloody heap amongst a pile of glass shards and feathers? Just wondering; cause that's what happened at our house the other day. Knock on wood.

Make sure to scroll down for our vacation shots!

Can you read this?

During one night of our visit, we had so much 'youthful' fun on the deck with sparklers and our cameras, I almost split a gut. Especially after Debbie and I had been going awhile, forming very legible words such as our names and "July 4", etc (which required writing backward within the time frame of the camera shutter). Jeremy gets up to give it a try and for each attempt, between the look of extreme concentration on his face, and all of our utter confusion as to what the hell he was trying to write, well, I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. Thanks, Jeremy! By the way, can you read this? It's the best pic I have - Debbie has awesome ones on her camera. Yeah well, true to Jeremy's unique personality, it's the word Dooky. I think he said it's another name for poop. Not sure...
And here is an elementary star. Deb's camera has all the good ones.

Best visit ever!

I survived my class. Not so bad. Feeling a little lazy today, the head isn't working so well - forgive me for a potentially lame entry here...
Thought I'd post some photos from our awesome visit to Iowa and Minnesota. I keep looking at the photos on slideshows and it just makes me happy.
Most of my first week I sounded like a blithering idiot, repeating "It's so green" and "Wow" about every other breath. I have some great shots of Lake Calhoun and other cool stuff but most people reading this, well, live there. So here's my first few days in Minnesota. That baby I'm holding is Jenell's Oliver. Julie and Jenell's kids were a blast! And it was great to be together again, the three of us. Sarah and I had a great long walk around Lake Calhoun in Mpls. To me, the perfect thing to do when visiting from New Mexico. Sigh. So lovely.

First night in Iowa, we had the BEST MEAL EVER, thanks to Joe. A very large fresh salmon, carmelized and grilled to perfection. Mmmm! We hung out on the deck awhile.

Sarah and Bryon came over and camped in the backyard.

Sarah has come to Clear Lake so often she can get around by herself, even on our often confusing streets.

And HERE, is the reason why I am short. This is my uncle Larry, and he has used me as an arm rest for most of my life. :)

Stay tuned for Photos...

First of all, a thanks to all my friends and family who made our visit so AWESOME! Tim and I had the best time!! We love coming up!! Next time I come up, my sister will either be very large or will have suddenly become two people! :) (By the way, I think the baby should call me Dia because then, in Spanish, that would make me "Tia Dia", jes??)
The day after we returned, I relaxed - didn't even unpack. Slept, watched some of the Frasier episodes that had gotten recorded, etc. I was tired! Fun wears you out, too. :)
Friday I began my Broker Basics class. Thanks to new rules, this is a class I take so I can learn to become a broker, which I am not going to become. I will have the knowledge of a broker, but I don't believe I'll need it since I will have a broker, who will mentor and guide me expertly through the real estate world. Don't totally get the logic in my learning to be a broker when that's not what I'm testing for, but I suppose more knowledge never killed anyone... it's the 4 days of 8am-5pm classes that suck. So that's what I've been doing and this is my last chance for email until Tuesday. At that point, I will have some cool photos, so check back! If I were as cool as my brother, I would put some of my video on You Tube. (We'll see how easy it is perhaps).
Ciao!

The all NEW Aqua Car!

Just found this and had to write about it. My dad had one years ago (go to my brother's site at lifeofaken.blogspot.com and scroll down to see).
Here's the new one!!

If only dad could see this!! Check out the website - there are more pics and a video!!
http://www.funmansion.com/html/Aqua-Car.html

Today I'm just putting in some pics for fun. Old ones of Maddie as a puppy and the one of me from today. More of my life...

Me by our truck today in our "yard".

Maddie at adoption.

Tell me she isn't the cutest puppy EVER!!!

My bird Sydney. She's CRAZY.

My cute hubby with Maddie at adoption. Me in my new '62 Olds Dynamic '88. It's currently "under the weather" with Tim having taken the transmission out to fix.

The interior. Sweet!

Sand in places I didn't know I had...

I'm not showing pictures with this. You don't want to know. Thursday I delivered Tim's paper in 98 degree weather in my little old Nissan which has no AC. No big deal. I'd brought cold water, a spray bottle, and sunblock. Just roll the windows down, tie back the hair and you're in business - it's a dry heat after all.
Didn't really expect the sandstorm. Upon rolling down the window I would be pelted in the face from the brown wall of sand in the air that I could actually hear hit my car. (It is rather an icky sight - like Minnesota in the winter except brown instead of grey). I remembered how camels have the special eyelashes that protect them in sandstorms; I thought, if I just squint maybe I'll be okay. Nope. Sand in my ears, stuck to my face, stuck to every part of my body. So in the 90+ weather, I had to have the windows up that day in my car. Oh well! Why aren't more people visiting me?
I work again Monday through Wednesday and am lately very stoked about my real estate studies and potential. I'll have some pics next time of stuff... probably Maddie... she's cute, huh? :)
By the way, this morning it dipped down to a dangerous 72 degrees in our bedroom. I awoke with Tim unwilling to get out from under his sheet and two blankets. He didn't want to take a shower because of the cold air in that brief moment between shower and towel dry. Oh my God... [Tim, I told you I'd tell!!!!]
Also, since it's about Father's Day, check out my father-in-law's website for his artwork!
http://www.hcordova.com/index.html

Hot Dia

I was back on "Wild Hogs" Monday and Tuesday in a funky little town about 1/2 hour north of my house, named Madrid. "Names of Actors Here" were all there - of course it was funny. This will be a funny flick. I noticed Tm and Mn hung out and talked between shoots, Bill read, Jn talked to whomever, and Marissa talked to 'locals' -she seemed easy going. A rumor was heard that someone got kicked off the set for talking to Mn - image the gall, talking to a star. Geez. (I see the others don't mind being treated like a regular human, but I also see that Mn does. If you'd like me to go into detail about Mn's set up, his rig and assistants and etc, you'll have to ask me. It's overboard. And I didn't even know who he was before this!).
Anyway, the main aspect of the days were this: HEAT. The temps both days were slightly over 100 degrees according to my little keychain thermometer. Working outside from 7am-7pm with NO place to get a reprieve, kind of sucked. There were shady areas, thank God, but it was still bad. Tuesday I'd become a little ill from it (I'm not used to that heat yet!), which made it worse. And now my overnights got cancelled - no kids. I'll be back on next week for a few days, unless something changes.
Jn and Tm have big guts. Just thought I'd share that. Also, someone should photograph some of the Madrid residents and make a poster for the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. It would scare a lot of kids away from trying meth.
My hubby Tim says 100 degrees is totally bearable. 105 is okay too. He has a cut-off line of 108. Yeah, at THAT point it gets difficult. Whatever. At night I lie in bed with wet washcloths, perhaps my cold gel pack, and a glass of ice water by the bed. He is under the covers. Freak. (Kidding! Love you honey!). He'll go to El Paso this week (it's been near 110 I think) and I won't go because we have no air conditioning in any of our five billion cars. Oh well. Maddie and I will stay home, inside, and drink pina coladas and stay very, very still.

More Hot Dogs

When I was a kid, I was best friends (for awhile, you know how that goes) with a girl whose mom was an animal rescuer. I mean, I'm pretty sure this lady kept leashes and collars and boxes and God knows what in her car - just in case. If there was a stray within a 20 mile radius, there was a 90% chance it would end up with her. She didn't actually keep a lot of them, but she was fanatic about rescuing them.
Well, I've been thinking of her lately. First off - this seemed like destiny - a Pomeranian walked right up to my car as I was pulling out of my drive the other day. It was very sweet and I picked it up and put it on my lap in the car and drove around looking for someone who might be looking for it. Collar, no tags. Unfortunately for me someone came out and claimed her. Made me want one even worse.
Yesterday there were two dogs wandering outside my driveway. By the time I got in my car, they were a ways up the road. I know it takes too long for animal control to get out our way, and this was right by the interstate and other busy roads, so, after making sure they were nice, I coaxed one into my car. The other (must've weighed about 120lbs - an overweight Newfy/something mix?) would NOT get in. So I put on my hazards and drove very slowly toward the house. In my rear view I could see the tremendous long-haired overweight Newfy lumping along directly behind the car. If I sped up at all, it would run to keep up. What a sight in my rear view! At first I thought to keep them in our bathroom. Then the thought of fleas came over me and I changed my mind, took them out, and vacuumed and bleached the floors (fleas here can carry the plague).

The strays in Maddie's place...

I took them outside where poor Maddie got outsted from the great outdoors and wasn't even allowed to play with the new strangers (mean mama!).

"Hey! Why do THEY get to be outside?!"

Poor Maddie! It's hard to resist a face like that...

I used other leashes and collars to rig them up and there they stayed for about 6 hours until animal control came. They were nice dogs, and were very loving, but probably owned by someone who had neither time nor ability to care for them properly - fat and sweet, but ill-groomed and one had a bad eye.
I promised Tim that although I might be an animal rescuer, I was not at all prone to taking them in and keeping them. But where I live, I call in a dead dog on the road about once a month it seems. And I didn't want to see that again if I can do anything.
Sounds like I have work next week - two days & three overnights in a nearby town (Deb, remember Madrid?). That's on the Wild Hogs movie with Travolta and Allen and etc. Fun flick!
Ciao!

Hot Dogs

So the temps are hovering near 100 degrees. "But it's a dry heat". Yup. Instead of a steam sauna (where I grew up), it's an oven. I put oil on my skin and go outside and am reminded of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer bastes himself like a turkey. I love that episode. We don't use a swamp cooler (the AC of the SW), no air conditioning, so the indoor temps are around 87 in the afternoon. But in this case it really is bearable - that dry heat!
I taught Maddie to chase her tail like an idiot, because although one might call it demeaning (to a dog?!), it's friggin funny. Now the little idiot will be hanging out in the living room and - without my command - begin chasing her tail until she's dizzy. Occasionally she gets a good hold and tugs until her torso is twisted like a slinky; she growls then and is very serious. I am pretty amused by this and generally laugh out loud when she does it. But here is a video that makes Maddie look super smart. Check it out (seriously, check it out! Turn the sound on, it's even better. It made me laugh a bit too loud at the library when I first saw it). Just copy and paste. So funny!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cSRpu7bI04
Speaking of dogs, if anyone sees a nice Pomeranian for free, pick it up for me. That's my latest desire.
Still unemployed. Just lettin' ya' know. So plenty of time to blog. So sad...

Margarita Night

It's looking like a Margarita night. Don't get too excited and think I have a social life... no, I'm a lone drinker (nice, eh?). Just been one of those days - not when everything sucks, but when everything is fine yet somehow your mood sucks; and that just calls for a margarita. Boy, they brighten me up. Until I fall asleep. But for that hour, man, I am amazing. You should see me at the grill then! I make a mean lemon/herb fish and steamed spinach, especially when I'm having a margarita!
Tim and I went to a car show this morning. I had to carry more paper than him (we always hand out his Southwest Motor Enthusiast News) and he had to lie down on the grass several times. I teased him, of course, for being so damn lazy. But in truth he's still hurting, poor thing.
I am going to MN and IA, end of June/beg. of July, and am SO excited! Making reservations and arranging separate flights for Tim and I, as well as rental car, is undoubtedly part of the inspiration for Margarita Night. Which is where I'm off to now. Ta ta.

Brand New Blogger

Great, so now what in the hell do I write about? My dog? My awesome husband? What it's like to live in the desert? Cause that pretty much sums it up! I have so enjoyed reading my brother's blog (it is fun to see our vast differences AND similarities), I just had to join the 'club'.