Service with a smile

My Virginia driver’s license expires on Thursday, forcing me to apply for a Wyoming license.

I have nothing against carrying a Wyoming license, and if fact, I think the reciprocity laws might even require that I carry one after living here for one year—or maybe even before—at which time I become an “official resident” of the state.

My issue is the nightmare that is the Virginia DMV—having to queue-up before the DMV opens at 8 A.M., and then having to sit and wait—and wait—and sit, if one somehow manages to queue later down the line.

I don't ever remember seeing a sign like this at the VADMV

But then the VADMV is 4 x as large, so maybe I missed that
warm and welcoming sign to be ever so helpful... 

The Virginia DMV has a process by which you can renew on line, but I don’t think it applies to someone with an out-of-state license, like from the great state of Wyoming.

All of this is not to say that we will be heading back to the Old Dominion.

We have no plans for that now, nor for any time in the foreseeable future.

It’s just that everyday life occurrences, tasks and events are so much easier here I have mini nightmares about how much less pleasant certain tasks can be beyond the borders of this beautiful and barely populated state.

Everyone is so kind and helpful, and pleasant.

Well, I am sure there are unpleasant folk here, but I have yet to encounter them.

Then again, I went shopping at K-Mart this afternoon—and not a very good K-Mart at that.

Sigh...

Anyway, thought I would share some photos of my afternoon at the Laramie DMV late Friday afternoon…

No one to  the left...

And no one to the right...

There are three of these, but two of the employess were at lunch

The view across the street and as you step out the door

Another view directly across the street

The vista behind the Laramie DMV

That's my DMV...

Happy Father's Day...

to all the fathers out there.

Hope you have a great day!

Iced Coffee

Yesterday, the teenager asked if he could have an iced coffee made with that morning’s leftover decaf.

Yes, I admit it.

I occasionally let the teenager have a little decaf with lots of cream and sugar, much to the dismay of the Legal Dude.

I made it with lots of cream, added sugar and topped it off with whipped cream.

He made a face and said it had w-a-y too much sugar.

“Too much” and “sugar” never are used in the same sentence by the teenager!

He said, “Taste it.”

He was right.

It did have too much, but it wasn’t sugar.

I had inadvertently added salt, and lots of it.

Large Kosher salt crystals to boot.

I haven’t used salt in place of sugar since college, when my friends and I "intentionally" replaced sugar with salt in brownies or other sweets, to get back at our guy pals for some infraction or other.

Being the nice mom that I am, I gave him my iced coffee.

I don't use sugar, so there were no Kosher salt crystals to contend with.

Remember, I want him to have nice memories, "so he’ll be sure to put me in a nice nursing home when the time comes."

I think it's a safe bet that iced coffee with salt won't get me into that "nice" nursing home!

Not for the faint of heart…

or for those who keep Kosher or who are vegetarians.

We went to the Butcher Shop this afternoon to purchase this smoker…

which unfortunately is not working.

It's a pellet smoker but the thingamajig, which is supposed to turn and add pellets ain't turning and the shop is now closed.  Bummer! 

While we were there, these are some of the things I spied…

The butcher's shoes...he was out at a ranch
doing some cutting

Usually I see these things filled with pastries and bread

Notice a resemblance?

Now that's what I call a hog!

Kind of makes one want to become a vegan...

Wyoming Worm Jerky...

Need I say more about the hot and intense Wyoming sun?

This poor little guy/gal--I believe worms are hermaphroditic--obviously ran out of time before the sun rose to a new day.

Actually, we're always finding these little guys all over the patio and I just now realized it's all our fault!

The underground sprinkler system is set to start at 3:30 in the morning. 

These guys must come out and then never make it across the patio before the sun rises to it's full glory. 

Oh my gosh!

We're annihilating the worm population around our house...

To toss, or not to toss—

that is the question.

When we moved here last August, we arrived with a truck full of furniture and belongings, and hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of “stuff” we paid good money to move, only to have it sit in boxes—or on shelves—lo these past 10 months.

Granted, we don’t have nearly the amount of cabinet, or shelf space, we had back east, and some of it is unsorted family photos and things the teenager made, wrote and created over the years that I just can’t seem to part with.

I’ve begun to sift through the “stuff” stuff and to weed out those things we haven’t used, or seemed to need, since we moved here.

Over the weekend, I spied four or five cookie tins—filled with Halloween, Valentine Day, Hanukkah, Christmas and other specialty cookie cutters—that the Legal Dude has placed high on a shelf in the storage room in the basement.

miss mash from one of the containers

I don’t have room in the kitchen cabinets or the drawers for these oh-so essential tools of the trade of any self-respecting mom who has the time to bake.

My child, however, is now a teenager who seems to despise everything he once loved and embraced, and at nearly 14 years of age, would prefer to pull his own fingernails out rather than have his mom bake cookies using “cookie cutters” for his class or his mates.

So—I’m thinking, maybe it’s time to pass them forward, to a neighbor who has a three- and a seven-year old.

They celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas, and all the holiday baking I do these days seem to be bar or drop cookies, rugelach, peppermint marshmallows or other goodies that don’t require cookie cutters.

Besides, I’m hoping NOT to be a grandma anytime soon, like say within the next fourteen to sixteen years!

By then, who knows what the whole cookie-baking industry will be and I’m certain my cookie cutters will be considered obsolete.

Then again, maybe I have some “soon to be vintage antiques,” if I keep them that long.

So back to my query—to toss, or not to toss?

That is my dilemma...

It's always something...

Yesterday we set the oven to self-clean and then the Legal Dude roasted a prime rib.

We followed the butcher’s directions—roasting for an hour at 450 (well, the butcher said 400), then turned the oven off and left the roast in the sealed, turned off oven for another two hours.

I was actually worried about letting meat sit in a hot oven—not actually cooking—for so long.

It was delicious, if a just a tad overdone for our taste buds, so next time we’ll take it out a half-hour earlier.

When dinner was done and the oven cooled, I wiped it down to remove the grease and smut that was causing the kitchen—and the rest of house—to smell like cooked meat.

This morning after returning from errands, the house still had an overly strong oder of cooked meat coming from the overn, so we re-set the oven for self-clean.

When the beeper went off indicating it was done, I opened the door and without thinking, took a damp paper towel to wipe down the glass window.

Big mistake...

Big, BIG mistake…

This is what happened, immediately upon touching the hot, hot glass with the damp paper towel.

Photo upside down, for some reason can't right it.

I’m not too proud to say I shed a tear of frustration.

We don’t know if we can just replace the door, or just the glass—or have to get an entire new unit.

We don’t know if it will effect cooking if the glass will continue to crack.

We have family and friends coming to town in a few weeks and have plans to do lots of cooking and baking, not to mention just day to day cooking.

It’s always something...

Oh for Pete's Sake...

This, directly from the Laramie Underground Weather site when I went to take a gander...groan!

Tonight

Widespread rain showers in the evening...then occasional rain and snow showers after midnight. Colder. Locally heavy rainfall possible after midnight. No snow accumulation. Lows 35 to 40.  North winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation 80 percent.

Saturday

Rain showers likely. Cooler. Locally heavy rainfall possible. Highs 45 to 50. East winds 10 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph. Chance of showers 70 percent.

Saturday Night

Rain showers likely and isolated thunderstorms in the evening...then rain and snow likely after midnight. No snow accumulation. Lows 35 to 40. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.

Okay, this weather stuff may finally be getting to even me...

Light Show...

I’m sitting here in the dark, with all the blinds up, watching the magnificent light show that is the lightning storm over Medicine Bow National Forest just a few miles east of here.

Before the lightning, there was thunder and hail.

Now the lighting, pure bolts of static electricity, is flashing horizontal across the sky, like a giant strobe or black light, pulsating from high up in the sky.

I tried to take photos, but of course my camera—or is it the user—just isn’t up to the job.

Changing it to high sensitivity mode, I was able to get these shots, but no matter how often I tried—there’s always a few seconds delay—I wasn’t able to get any good shots of that electric bolt blazing across the sky.

No thunder with this lighting show

A constant parade of light

I did manage to capture some ligthing to the left and far right

Awesome, and very Halloweenish 

A bolt of lighting just above the middle house 

I know the photos are grainy, but they just might make a nice backdrop for Halloween cards next October.

btw: I’m much happier with the Celtics this evening then I was on Tuesday.

It would be nice if they could win the whole enchilada, but I’m just happy this evening didn’t end lopsided with the Lakers heading into the fifth game with a 3-1 lead.

Makes things more interesting this way...

Zeus bowling…

Today’s pop quiz for all you Mid-Atlantic folks:

What do Arlington and Laramie have in common?

Answer:

Not much—surprise, surprise—except for afternoon thundershowers.

The post "Hot, Dry and Glorious" is one I had planned to put up today and still holds true.

Anyway, like clockwork, the sky turns dark around two or three in the afternoon and then if we’re unlucky, the clouds blink and let forth their tears and Zeus, or whoever is up there, starts tossing around lightening bolts and bowling bowls.

I don’t mind the weather, except I’m told that lightening here can be pretty hazardous—open plains and all that—and I don’t like the prospect of hail damaging the paint job on my car, let alone the roof.

Someone recently told us that May 2009 was unusually rainy and therefore, the mosquitoes overstayed their annual June visit.

The cooler May and June temps thus far have kept them at bay, but I don’t know—with little rain storms here and there these past few weeks, I’m not looking forward to being outside in a few weeks.

We have been warned that the mosquitoes here are “more aggressive” than their east coast cousins.

What—are they are steroids or something?

Par for the course, the storm has since moved eastward and the western sky is now bright blue, with those white fluffy clouds I love so much and the sun is starting to shine, all in the time it has taken to pen (keyboard) this.

It ain’t over though, more storms predicted for tonight.

Hot, Dry and Glorious

Since I’ve gone on and on about the wind, the snow and the cold for a goodly portion these past ten months, I figure I should give equal time to these next few glorious months.

So let me tell you about this past week.

Actually, the title sums it up quite nicely.

Even with the potential and/or frequent severe storms—and possibly hail—every afternoon.

The trees are finally in full bloom and as the title so aptly states, it is positively Glorious, with a capital “G” here in little ole Laramie.

I love the feeling of zero humidity—although the locals might not agree with me on that point—and the hot, dry air with the cool Wyoming breeze.

As I’ve said, it’s Glorious!

Hail, but not brimstone

We didn’t expect it.  The sun was shinning and the temp lovely.

When the winds picked up and the sky turned dark, I went out to take these photos.

Scary, but awesome

Feel like in some sci-fi movie...

Fluffy clouds moving on out and the storm moving on in

Beautiful, no?

Moments before...

No sooner had I stepped back in, then the hail started to fall—not rain, but hail, that only intensified as timed passed.

Hail/snow in June--they said it could happen

Hail aftermath--love that sky!

The storm, and the clouds, moving Eastward

The street gutters turned into raging rivers…

Rivers, created by the falling precipitation

as the wind howled, as if we were in a tunnel with a training racing through or what a Tornado might sound like.

Scary!

It didn’t last more than 10-15 minutes, but during that time we worried that either our windows, roof or doors would be damaged by the dime-sized hail.

Hail buildup

Pure ice- great for building snow people

That storm has passed, but another severe storm warming for our county has taken it’s place and the sky is turning ominous looking once again.

After the storm

Sigh—

There’s never a dull moment on the Front Range—or just off the Front Range—as our area is called.

Good thing the Legal Dude and I decided to wait till another day to go hiking up at the Snowy Range.

I’ve heard the sad news from Ohio, where a tornado whipped through and left several people dead, on graduation day.

So very sad…

Freedom badge—a long time coming…

On Wednesday, the teenager decided to attend the last day of school..

School let out at 11 am, but he decided hang with some buds, first at the skate park, then on to the civic center to shoot hoops, over to one bud’s house, back to the park and back again to the bud’s house.

Who knows how many miles they walked, or how many university 'free ride' buses they rode.

It was after 5:30 and the Legal Dude was already home when I insisted that the teenager finally head home.

He wanted to continue to hang with his buds until a 9 pm showing of MacGruber or head back to the park around 7:30 pm.

We said he had to come home for dinner and then we would discuss the rest of the evening’s events.

He insisted he would walk home.

I didn’t know where his friend lived and when we finally managed to wrestle the address out of him (Have you tried communicating with 13 year old boys recently?) we realized it was some 3 plus miles away.

We told him to stay put, that we would drive over to pick him up. Besides, I wanted to know where his friend lives.

As we drove there, we realized that the teenager has no concept of space, time or reality.

All the way home he insisted “I could have made it home in 20 to 30 minutes or could have jumped on the University free ride bus,” which we pointed out was no longer running due to the lateness of the hour, to which he responded, “Oh, yeah,” which only confirmed his lack of good sense or judgment.

I was already ticked-off, because he had left me dangling for a good portion of the afternoon as to his whereabouts.

I need to know where the teenager is going, who he is with, what is he doing and when he gets there. Then I need to know when he leaves wherever he is, to come back home.

I also need to know that an adult is at home whenever the teens are at someone’s home.

Finally, I want to talk to the parents to make sure it is okay that for my teenager to be there.

The teenager, on the other hand, is one of those youths who firmly believe that any intervention from his parents infringes—and I do mean, “Infringes”—on his independence and freedom.

In other words, he sees no need to call to let us know the who’s, the what, the where or whys of his coming and goings.

Yeah, right—as if!

Besides, letting him hang and wander about with his friends for 6 hours is, in my book, allowing for a heck of a lot of  independence.

But I know I was a big pain in the tuckus on Wednesday and that he was beyond annoyed and embarrassed by the number of text messages he received—not only from me but also from the Legal Dude.

Moreover, he insists that his friends do not have to check in with their moms.

Everyone tells us Laramie is a safe place and that for someone of the teenager's age, it's okay to be out walking across town at 8 or 9 pm.
Yeah. I get that it's much safer than Northern Virginia—I see little six and seven year olds biking and walking along the streets, with nary a parent or adult in sight, all the time. 

I see kids of all ages walking all over town, heading home or to school or to the park or the civic center at all times of day.

Still—the teenager didn’t grow up here and neither did we.

We don’t know many parents of the teenager's age, or the places the teens like to hang out or anything about how it all works with a teenager biting at the bit for independence and freedom.

This is a completely new minefield for us.

Maybe letting him walk home from the Southern most tip of town to the near, Northern most tip is not such a bad idea, especially if it helps him to realize his reality is anything but, and that his 20 minutes is actually an hour, or longer.

Maybe it would teach him a lesson: that he doesn't, in fact, know as much as he thinks he does.

Maybe it would help set him on the track to earning that freedom badge he so yearns for.

School’s out—for summer…

Tomorrow is the last day of school here in Albany County.

Why it’s called Albany County and not Laramie County, which is the next county over near Cheyenne, is beyond me.

Anyway, tomorrow is the teenager’s last day, although he claims he is not going.

The kids are going to Jimmy John’s, a local sandwich joint, for the morning, which is about as long as the day lasts.

The teenager wants this to be his last day, and I think we might let him have his way.

It feels a bit weird, to have school end the second day of June. The teenager’s old schools in Virginia, practically run to the end of June.

For the past several years on his last day of school, the teenager has come home to play Alice Cooper’s hit—"School’s Out"—for several hours on Guitar Hero.

It will be interesting to see if he does so this year.

If he doesn’t, I’ll be a little sad, as it’s just another indication that everything is changing and nothing will ever be the same with my little dude.

Sigh...