I had Hoped to get Outside Today

| and so it goes

(You may want to skip this post if you feel queeezzy or are not interested in dentistry and dentures cuz that is my rant today.)

It looks miserable out there, the wind is back, the sky is gray it’s raining little crinkly sounds on my roof so I’m inside thinking about food.

I’m a tiny bit bored and I want a cookie.

I have some frozen dough I want to try the little 3 in one breakfast set to bake 4 cookies. Alas, there is no way to control the temperature and though I was watchful, the cookies burned.

I ate them anyway.

My friend Robert brought me some good chocolate, at my request, because everything is better when I have chocolate. Life is good.

I need to take some pictures to add here. I want to get out and about soon so I have interesting things to write about and hopefully I’ll have a car to get around I want to make my posts interesting. It’s fun for me to see when someone reads here, like my efforts are validated and maybe useful to someone or at least amusing, The time it takes to write here is time well spent for me, I have plenty of time. I have to spell my words, find the words I want to use, and often have to change the word I want to write because I can’t spell it. I need to think and remember so I can tell my stories before they are gone.

The worst experience I’ve had in this past year would have to be my dentures, (as we don’t talk about the real worst thing that happened). No one talks about their dentures, it’s an embarrassment to admit you have them or need them. They don’t talk about the pain of becoming edentulous (toothlessness) nor the months it takes for your mouth to get comfortable again…….actually I’m not sure that ever happens. Having this big apparatus in your mouth extending up to your nose changes the shape of your face. I lost 20 pounds during this painful period, I’d have been happy losing 10 pounds, 20 was too much as I can tell from my photos of little old lady shrinkage.

You have to figure out how much glue you use to fasten them, not too much, or too little, it’s between losing control of your teeth and having it fall out or having difficulty breaking the seal to take it out.

And of course you can misplace or lose them as they are not in your mouth all the time. My friend would tell you that we spent hours searching for my denture and finally found it in my pocket.

I take mine out when I don’t expect to see anyone, but then you aren’t able to snack. How many times have I put food in my mouth and then realized I couldn’t chew because I ‘d taken out my teeth, I admit sometimes I have tried to chew with my gums, not a pretty sight and you can’t have anything hard, ice cream is okay.

I wonder how it feels to kiss someone with dentures, I mean passionate kissing, how about when both parties have dentures? As I have no one interested in kissing me passionately, I won’t know the answer to that. Can you tell me?

Nunca me Dieron Serenata

| and so it goes

30 years in Panama and I never got a single serenade from my serenating husband. Maybe if I had things could have been different.

I didn’t think I could ask for one, it’s supposed to be a surprise isn’t it? All of a sudden you hear music under your window dedicated to you and you think, oh my god those guys are so drunk. Cuz that’s when they seranade.

It didn’t happen so frequently once we moved to the city but if I saw him leaving with guitar in hand it was suspicious, someone was getting a serenade, but not me.

Why not? I liked music and sentiment as much as anyone, why was I not favored?

Back in EL Real I heard of a few serenades for special occasions, for mother’s day it was popular to offer a serenade, and my husband always complied, just not for me. Couldn’t he find anyone to sing with him for me? Just one thing missing of many during those years as I think back to how my life has changed so dramatically, where would we be now if I’d stayed. I’m kidding here, he was a good man and still is a good man. And now he has a wife that appreciates him, I hope he serenades her We just didn’t know how to be good together. We were not a “we” just a her and a he.

Happy Birthday Enrique!

Laundry – This is all about RV laundry

| and so it goes
GG

I’m finding that I am much more tolerant of inconveniences in this space I live in. Nothing matters too much life is simple, except for getting the laundry done.I should have left clothes behind that I won’t wear until spring/summer and then just buy a few things when I need them., like Reacher, who travels with what he has on and a toothbrush, he buys what he needs and tosses his old. Never having to pack anything. You know who I mean? Tell me if you do.

Instead I have some nice things stored in a box taking up space in my loft and some others hanging in my one closet ( because what would I do with them, I might need them someday, somewhere?) Now I wear the same clothes day after day and really only need a few pairs of sweat pants/tops. I don’t like going to town in sweats but I did it, won’t do it again, looks too sloppy, got to maintain a certain self respect.

I can see myself coming to the point of not changing clothes to sleep in, just stripping down and climbing into my heated blanket, no need for pj’s, one less item to wash or more if you change pj’s every night. I have lots of are socks and underwear. I have lots of tops I haven’t worn cuz it’s too cold.

Everyone here wears their clothes at least 3 times, and there’s no reason not too. , one friend told me he last washed clothes in May and he always looks nice and clean. Gone are the days of wearing an item once and tossing it into the laundry for washing whenever I want.

Laundry, this is all about laundry .

I can’t remember ever using a laundrymat , don’t even know how to spell it, washateria? It’s a simple thing slide your quarters in (16) add soap and wait. same with drier and wait again. If you are lucky and have arrived before the crowd you can get out of there quickly but sometimes you have to wait for a empty machine. You can read, converse with others stuck doing their laundry in public , or as I did last trip, I went back inside my RV to pick up stuff that had fallen during the trip into town. Cuz stuff always falls.

Soon all that will change. I’m waiting to hear about my smart car, it’s been a challenge that I have made worse by thinking I’d buy it here in NM. Instead I will buy it in EL Paso when it gets there, I am hopeful I’ll have the car soon so I can do my errands when I want to do them, without bringing my house along , but I’ll still have to do the laundry.


Somebody on FB Bought a Birds of Panama Cell Phone Cover from Zazzle today!

| and so it goes

Cool. So maybe I should do more show and tell on Facebook. I would but sometimes I can’t get it done right, it confuses me. I’ll work on it. I ordered a Birds of Panama tote today. I have not ordered a tote on zazzle before. I’ll report on the quality when it arrives. I really like the red tote ..pictured below

This is another option to replace plastic bags cluttering our oceans, harming out birds.

Not much happening here today, it wasn’t too windy but the breezes are a bit nippy, I sat outside for a while to work on my quilt blasting my music outside with my new speakers.

Like this cute tote? From My favorite painting, I made painting this for kids, but I like it on a tote for me.

zazzle.com/othonk. Many options many items

http://www.zazzle.com/othonk

https://www.zazzle.com/z/1lfsm?rf=238868297148515962

I am a Happy Camper !

| and so it goes

Well I don’t identify myself as a camper, what I’m doing isn’t anything like camping it certainly isn’t rustic, though some folks might think it is! I’m more like a mobile …….. person…we need a new word to refer to our lifestyle, I am at the lower end of this category if we must categorize ourselves (my next door neighbor has a rig with two bathrooms,) this is where I want to be.

I am a happy woman, today my new speakers arrived What a beautiful difference, my DVD Player is now a pleasure to listen with good range of tones, plenty of base.. Bose companion speakers for free from my credit card points what a great deal.!!!! Yah, I know you get nothing for nothing, but it feels good.

Andrea sounds incredible even on my old setup but now it sounds like he is singing to me, love that voice. .

I made meat loaf in my insta-pot today. I was disappointed and it didn’t look appetizing, it looked nude, like it wasn’t cooked, no browning I suppose one could brown it in the broiler, I added lots catsup and that helped……..do I have a broiler? RV kitchen equipment isn’t the same as household I haven’t used the oven except for that time I burned the pizza. I need to figure out the temperature problem before I burn anything more. I invited Robert and he said it was okay, probably better as left-overs I think…I hope cuz left-overs there are. The beer helped I think plus a whif of weed.

I was thinking the other day that if anyone asked me what is my favorite item that I’ve bought for the RV. I’d have to say my water pitcher heater, so convenient and quick to heat some water. Doesn’t take much space, I don’t see the make but got it at target

I am less satisfied with this three in one set, difficult to manage temperature burnt toast, coffee doesn’t seem very hot, one side of the grill is hotter than the other side. But its cute and coordinates with my red kitchen space.

Not that anyone will ask me what are my favorite items are but just in case I’m ready with my answer.

I don’t know about the insta pot yet, seems everyone here has one and love them. I’ll need to try some more recipes, should I get them in my inbox?

,

Does anyone else feel frustrated when you go to a website to find something and are asked to add your email before you even get to see the site to know if you really need or want anything there. I was looking for a recipe for the instapot and each site asked me to add my email address for recipes to be sent to my mailbox directly. Just what I need more junk in my inbox.. One site wouldn’t even open if you didn’t give your address. I don’t blame them they want something for their efforts but it’s annoying . One even had a commercial product review of soap. The web is turning us all into consumers looking for ways to monetize our time and energy.

Well Damn, now I’ll need something to write about!

Aside | | and so it goes

I’ve been here irregularly not always finding the mood to write but suddenly I have people reading my stuff (tho it may be due to one recent topic of interest ) and it has surprised me and made me think maybe I have something to say!

I loved painting this, my dots period

The difference between having readers and not having readers is having something of value to say. My life may be interesting to people because of the choices I’ve made and how and why I’ve made them. So I thank my new readers. I don’t promise what I write will charm anyone but I’ll write in my voice of an old woman working thru her thoughts and concerns, some days down and some days up but always steady forward in my journey on this road less traveled.

Do remember that as I write here I do so as a kind of self- therapy, trying to beat back the troubling mental decline of age I sense is just around the corner..


My Store is not completed yet but is brouwzable

| and so it goes

That is how my brain tells me how to spell this word, maybe by the time I finish writing it will correct me

What I mean to write is that although it looks like my store may be open for business even with price tags I don’t have everything in place. I don’t have the photos to make the cards. Not sure my printer will make the best images or if that will be cost effective for me, not sure this walmart does photo developing or where in town it can be done.

Besides all that I’m a terrible business person and generally just give stuff away!

However, I do have most of my images on zazzle and redbubble where you can have my image …….does that sound like I want you to put images of me on things…….. No, you can put images of my paintings on dozens of things, they are print on demand companies. You can print on cell phone cases, cards, clothes, computer covers mugs and the list goes on and on, I make a small commission when you buy something. Check it out! I may be able to learn how to put something from the shops here.

I think I’ll get some of those cool totes at either place. I haven’t order them before so I’ll order one from each company and review them here. You can click here to see them.

No update on the word above, damn

http://redbubble.com/people/fancifulflowers

http://zazzle.com/othonk

Some People Say……You are so brave

| and so it goes

You must be brave (at your age implied) to start out on your own in an old RV.

Can you see me in here?

I don’t see it that way.

I’ve done due diligence to avoid potential problems. The truck is older, 1991 it has a powerful ford 350 chassis, I have had the brakes updated and repaired as needed and other expensive stuff repaired or replaced.

I have insurance of many kinds, accident, tire, road side help, new tires, I have an extra air conditioner for just in case the rig ac dies. plus whatever else anyone has told me I’ll need. My fridge is new, stove, microwave & bathroom fixtures all work. I have a backup camera and new computer, web cam camera (that I haven’t installed as I not traveling great or small distances now.) I have one solar panel on my roof.

I did one thing that I may regret to the RV, I removed the heat coils because they took up too much space so I don’t have heat from the rig but my space heater does a good job and I don’t expect to go anywhere too cold. If I’d left them I wouldn’t have my book case and table, choice made.

This is a great option for me. I’m loving my small space, my absolute freedom to do or not to do…anything. I’m not dependent on anyone or causing grief to anyone I can be social or not as I wish. My time is mine unless I chose to share it.

And my finances are not a problem, I can make it carefully and maintain my quality of life with just a few carefully chosen loans to help me get started.

Its a simple life.

And now I’m getting a used smart car to enable me to get around town without having to take my home everywhere with me

Closest small town Truth or Consequences, is 20 miles south, not much there besides Walmart for shopping (and that’s not a bad thing)

El Paso Texas is just 104 miles south

Las Cruses NM is 60 miles North.. 2nd largest city in New Mexico

I can get anything I need on Amazon!

I haven’t even started to do any boondocking yet, I’m too comfortable where I am.

(For those that don’t know what that means boondocking is when you camp on public land without facilities( for 14 days,) no water, sewer or electric power. )

I have all that here at very low cost and plan to stay here awhile. There are mountains and lakes to explore, ghost towns, and art galleries, and classes to take. I like New Mexico but I’d never experienced so much wind that the RV shakes and my chimes sound while hanging inside the RV!