Vanessa Alter : random thoughts

The kids and I went to visit the Sandia Peak Tram this afternoon with my brother’s family.  We went up on the tram and the weather was pretty good.  On the ride up, tram operator mentioned that the chairlifts were open and that you could ride down from the peak to the ski area and then back up.  Since the kids were wanting to ride, we all decided to go ahead.  I rode with Mia on my lap and Sean on the seat beside me (the chairlifts seat 2 people).  On the ride down to the ski area, some clouds suddenly began to move into the area.  We saw some lightning in the distance, and by counting the seconds between light and sound, it seemed to be about 10 miles away still.  They stop operating the tram and chairlifts when the lightning is within 7 miles, so we were still okay.  Lightning makes me nervous… and I started thinking, “what would be worse than being stuck on a metal chairlift up in the air, with lightning nearby?”.  We reached the bottom, and the lift operator mentioned that they were trying to get people back up to the top in case the storm moves in closer.  So we turned right back around and got on the next chairs back to the top.  The clouds rolled in a little more, but the lightning was still about 9 miles away.  We were about a third of the way back up the mountain when I heard some rain falling on the trees as we passed.  It seemed like we were barely staying ahead of that rain as we moved higher and higher.

Remember the question I asked myself earlier about anything being worse than nearby lightning and being stuck on a high metal wire, sitting in a metal chair?  Well, I soon found out (funny how that works, huh?)…  It started raining a little.  I thought, “okay, this isn’t bad… not too hard.  we’re okay.”  Then it started raining harder.  I thought, “great… now it’s getting cold.  But we’re still okay.”  Then… HAIL.  I couldn’t believe it.  it was hailing on us, little pellets stinging our legs, arms and faces.  By now, we were soaked and cold.  Mia was on my lap, so she was getting the brunt of the weather.  I took off my over shirt and wrapped up little Mia in it who was so cold and screaming by then.  I was thankful I wore 2 layers today… this was all I could do to even try to keep my littlest one warm.  The chairlift kept stopping and starting.  Each time we stopped, Sean started panicking, “Why are they stopping???  Why isn’t it moving???”.  We were still getting pelted by hail and rain.  I told Sean to pull his arms into his shirt to stay warm.  Mia was wrapped in my wet shirt, and screaming because of the hail and rain on her face.  I remembered I had grabbed a couple of Activity books for the kids about Smokey the Bear.  I pulled them out of my purse, opened them up, and spread one over Mia’s head and face to keep the hail from hitting her face.  I had to hold it in place with my teeth so I could keep both arms wrapped around her cold little body.I handed the other booklet to Sean to cover his face with.  By now, Mia was screaming, and Sean was crying.  I didn’t know what to do.  The chairlift stopped again, but this time for several minutes.  Then I got it through my thick head that there wasn’t NOTHING I could do… I could pray.  So I told Sean that we should pray for God to stop the rain and hail and keep us safe.  We prayed.  Then I started singing,

“When God shut Noah in the grand old ark he put a rainbow in the cloud
When thunders rolled and the sky was dark God put a rainbow in the cloud
God put a rainbow in the cloud, yes in the cloud, God put a rainbow in the cloud
When it looked like the sun wouldn’t shine anymore God put a rainbow in the cloud”

This got the kids to calm down a bit.  Mia stopped her screaming intermittently and would listen to the song.  I kept repeating the chorus, “…when it looked like the sun wouldn’t shine anymore, God put a rainbow in the cloud.”

We started moving again.  The hail was lessening. Sean stopped crying.  Then it was just rain.  Thank you, Lord.  I looked ahead and saw the top of the mountain, and the skies were clear up there.  The rain stopped.  Again, Thank you Lord. We were cold and wet, but safe and the sun never felt so good on us.  We made it to the top without further stops. Mia was still crying, and cold.  I was really getting concerned about her.  She was getting pale.

Once we were at the top, we headed into the bathrooms inside the restaurant on the top of the mountain.  They had 2 air hand dryers, and I took off Mia’s clothes and dried off her body with the warm air while my sister-in-law dried Mia’s clothes.  While Jess was drying the clothes, the air dryer she used shot out a spark!  Thankfully, the clothes were dry enough and so was Mia.  She was looking much better, not pale anymore.  Plus, a lady gave her a lollipop to help her feel better.  My brother took Sean into the boy’s bathroom and dried him up as well.  The other boys had jackets, thankfully, so they didn’t get too wet.

Thus was our adventure on the “high wire”.  It was the most memorable trip up the tram I’ve ever had.  I’m so thankful that the Lord kept us safe, and the power stayed on so the chairs didn’t get completely stuck.  We got wet, and pelted with hail, and we were cold, but we were kept safe and had an “adventure” to remember.

Of course, when we got back down to Albuquerque, it was really hot, so we went out to have some Orange Julius drinks and Blizzards from DQ.  I don’t think the kids even remember the miserable, wet, cold, stinging hail part of our day.  Funny how that works too.

There’s a new “waterpark” in Albuquerque that is located at the Radisson hotel.  The only catch to the waterpark is that you HAVE to be a guest at the hotel.  So for a mere $159, you can get a room, and 4 passes to the waterpark.  You can also purchase up to 5 additional passes for $30.  Nathan says you may as well go to Disneyland.

The kiddos and I almost got run over in the Target parking lot… for those of you who don’t know… there are items located within and on the sides of your vehicle which reflect an image representative of what is behind you.  These are called “mirrors”.  When used correctly, they can help you see if you are about to run over anyone or a big red cart or any other “obstructions”.  It is also recommended that you back-up without your foot slammed down on the gas pedal.  Doing so could cause……well, it could cause bad stuff to happen and it’s just plain dumb.  Here are some steps you can try instead:

1.  Enter vehicle, and hang up your cell phone.  Seriously, hang it up.

2.  Buckle up (for safety).

3.  Adjust mirrors accordingly (yes, those reflective thingamajigs, and no… don’t adjust them to check your make-up.  Point them to the rear and side/rear of your car).

4.  Put car into “reverse” while still keeping your foot firmly on the brake pedal.  Wait!!!  I said the BRAKE pedal, NOT GAS.  I know, it can be confusing.

5.  Check your mirrors for obstructions BEFORE easing your foot off the brake pedal to gently ease your vehicle backwards.  Please note:  “Obstructions” may include other vehicles, pedestrians, shopping carts, light poles, animals (stuffed and/or real), or your spouse,  among others.

6.  Once it is clear, then you may proceed to back up SLOWLY and safely.

Pass this helpful info on to the bad drivers in your life.  You might help save the life of a person or animal (stuffed and/or real). This is the end of today’s public service announcement.  Thank you.

I had an unpleasant dinner the other night at a local restaurant.  There was a woman and her 2 children, one was preschool age, the other was elementary school aged.  The littler one kept crying and crying.  Soon after, the older one began crying and crying… not the throwing a fit type of cry… the emotional, hyperventilating, my heart is broken type of cry.  I didn’t mean to be dropping no eaves, but their mother was speaking loudly enough that anyone within the vicinity could hear what she was saying.  She was explaining to her 2 daughters that their mommy and daddy would no longer be married and living together, and how they would have to spend time with each of their parents separately from then on.  Their discussion continued with lots of questions from the kids, and crying… lots of crying.  My heart was breaking for those poor kids.  That was the saddest dinner out I’ve ever had… I can’t imagine how it must have been for that mom and her girls.  They’ll probably hate that restaurant from now on because of the sad memories it holds.

We were supposed to go camping this past weekend with friends in the Cuba, NM/ Jemez Springs area, but due to a couple forest fires that cropped up, the site changed to Durango, CO.  As much as I like Durango, I just couldn’t bear to do the drive with the 2 kids, for just a couple nights stay.   We ended up going camping in the Manzano Mountains (1.5 hours away, versus 3.5 hrs) with my SIL  and her family, and Nathan’s parents.  The weather was warm, but not too hot, and the nights were cool, but not freezing.  The campground (Red Canyon) had bathrooms (yay!), a stream that ran nearby, and there was hardly anyone there.  Nathan and I had to work a little bit to get our new tent set up.  We just got a bigger one to upgrade us from our 3 man tent.  The new one is supposed to fit 8 people, but with air mattresses and camping cots, I think 5 people would be the maximum.

Nathan made a checklist of things to bring, as did I, but some things that got overlooked were pillows and jackets.  you’d think those would have been on the top of the lists!  Nathan has learned that he can’t sleep without a pillow and Sean and I learned that even if it’s warm during the day, it can get pretty cool at night.  Seems no matter what, you always forget something important.  I got a new camp stove that takes about 30 minutes to boil water (that was the longest we’ve ever had to wait for instant oatmeal!).  But even thought it took a little while, it was a nice change to the usual PB&J’s that we normally have for camping when we don’t cook.  I also got to have my morning coffee… ahhhh, that was nice.  This was Mia’s first camping trip, and she did great.  She slept relatively well, and she loved being outside so much.

In other news, I had requested a free sample of tuna a little while back and I just received this email from the tuna folks:

“I am grateful for your interest in the fine tuna salads from The Queen of the Coast on www.raphaelbuzz.com.  It shows your good taste and culinary cunning.

Thousands of Americans agreed that they needed to get in-touch with their inner tuna.  Due to this unprecedented response, your tuna samples will be delayed till after late July.  I send my heartfelt apology and want you to know we are fishing as fast as we can.    We will message you when it is coming so that you can be released from this great anticipation.

If you have received your tuna and enjoy it as I do, know that we have created a special store site, just for my friends. http://www.Raphaelbuzz.com/gettuna

Raphael, Your Royal Ambassador of Love”

The email made me laugh, so even if they never get around to sending me my free tuna, it was pretty worth the effort just to get an email from my Ambassador of Love.  Who knew tuna was so romantic? 

So we’re moving in a few weeks… we don’t have a definite closing date yet on the old or new house, but it’ll be around the 3rd week of May.  We’re moving into a bigger place on the west side of Albuquerque so that we’ll have more room to accommodate all of our computers and have space for homeschooling and more for entertaining.  And maybe we’ll someday be blessed with more children too, who knows?     We’re a little sad to be giving up a location closer to the mountains, but at least where we are moving to, there are still trails near the Petroglyphs that we can try out and we’re closer to the Rio Grande so we can go walking along the river too.  After all our years of living in Albuquerque, neither Nathan nor I have been to the Petroglyphs.

In other news, I got to attend a Homeschool Convention last week.  It was a great time, filled with lots of great lectures (regarding school, parenting, and Christian living among other things).  Sean and I have had our ups and downs this year.  We’re both still figuring things out in terms of how best to structure things, but I’m pretty confident that we’ve gotten off to a good start.  He’s doing great in school.  The main struggle we have is with his motivation (he probably gets that from me).  If he had his choice, he would put off school until the last minute of the day (procrastination is another of my pitfalls).  We’ll most likely have to take a mini-break from school while we move and get settled at the new place, but that’s the nice thing about homeschooling… we can be flexible like that.  I think Sean and I will both welcome that break.

Mia is now 15 months old.  She’s about 26 pounds, 31 inches tall.  She’s growing so quickly.  Her hair is already halfway down her back, and of course she hates to have her hair done, so even though she has tons of hair, I can’t do much with it.  She’s gaining some independence and likes to walk off and explore things on her own.  I have a feeling that she’s going to be the child that I have to keep a close eye on lest she start drawing on the walls or stuffing toilet paper rolls into the toilet or putting slices of turkey in the dvd player.  She’s really all over the place right now.  She’s starting to talk more.  Today she learned to say “Costco”, although it sounds quite a bit like when she says, “taco”, too.  She’s also our little comedian baby.  She’s always doing funny things and once she gets a laugh, she’ll do it over and over.  I will say, though,  that she mostly likes to perform for her Daddy.

Sean wants to let everyone know:

If you spray or put vinegar on ants, they’ll stop for a little while.  They walk out of the vinegar and then stay still again.  Then they start moving again.  IT doesn’t kill them.  The end.

A mouse.   A tan mouse.  He walked to town.  Then he found some hole.  Then he went to the mouse cave.  When he got there, his friends were having a party.  They were making fun of him.  So they threw a bucket of water.  Then he went out of his mouse cave.  He waited and waited until his friends were done with the party.  So his friends caged up his mouse cave.  So he lived with his papa and grandmother instead of his mouse friends.  So he just took a bath.  Then on the next day, his friends were still having the party.  So he waited and waited and waited for thirty days.  Finally, his friends were done with the party.  But he couldn’t get into his mouse cage ’cause they locked it up.  So he didn’t like his mouse friends.  So he got some friends that were named Sean and Sarah.  So they went to the park.  They brought their dog.  So they gave their dog a walk around the park.  So they all went to bed and read haunted stories.  When the darkness was done, that was the next day.  They ate breakfast then got up from the chair.  They put their bowls in the sink.  Then they went to school.  Then they got to play on the playground.  Then they ate dinner.  They didn’t know how to cook ’cause their dad was at work.  So they watched a cooking show.  But their cooking show was dessert cooking show.  Their cooking show was the wrong one.  They wanted to make green eggs and ham to eat but those TV shows were in the south pole so they rode an airplane.  They went to the south pole.  So they went to somebody’s house.  They watched their cooking show there.  That was the only place on the planet to watch those TV shows.  Green eggs and ham…that cooking show.  So they went on the airplane to their world.  So when they were bigger, their job was to work at the space station.  Then, they worked on fixing one of the spaceships.  When they were done, their job was over.  It was twenty minutes.  So Sarah cooked dinner.  When they were done, they went to bed.  In bed, they read dinosaur stories this time.  Then on the next day, the three mice got dressed.  So they wanted to draw pictures.  When they were done, they went to their work.  They fixed three spaceships ’cause there were three of them.  So they went to the park again.  They brought their dog again.  They walked five laps around the park.  The end.

A clumsy cat fell down a hill, rolling to town.  The  cat went to clumsy town.  It started raining.  After the rain, it was dark.  On the next day, the cat got into a rocket and flew to another planet.  It was filled with green, little heads.  Those were the aliens.  There was one little doggy in space.  The clumsy cat picked up the little doggy and flew back to earth.  The cat didn’t know how to fly, so he crashed into a jet.  He jumped out of the rocket and went into the jet.  Then the jet crashed into a house.  The jet engine blew out a candle in the house.  Then the candle flew into space.  The End.

(Sean dictated this story to me and asked me to write it down for him.  I got his permission to publish this original work on my page. :)  I charge 5 cents per word for taking dictation.  The boy owes me 6 bucks.   Anyone else want to hire me?)

I was buying a couple things at the Disney Store yesterday that were “Buy 1, Get 1 free”.  The tag on the items both said $6.50.  When I went to pay, the register rang them up as $8.50 each, and took off $8.50 for the BOGO promotion.  I didn’t argue with the cashier at the time because I thought I must have read the price tags wrong.  So after she rang them up, I opened my bag to check the tags.  The tags were ripped off.  Not the whole tag, just the part with the price on it.  I don’t remember seeing the cashier do that, but either she did, or I picked up some items without tags after reading the price on another item of the same kind.  Anyways, I went back to the shelf to check the price on the items there.  Some had the price ripped off,  some said $6.50.  Curious, no?  I took 2 items identical to the ones that I purchased for $8.50 and showed the cashier the tag that says $6.50.  Guess what her response was…

her: “Yeah, there was a price increase.  They’re $8.50 now.”

me: “What?  So, you guys mark the items up a couple bucks so you can then put them on sale?  That’s silly.  Even the “buy 1, get1″ sign says $6.50.”

her: “Someone was supposed to pull off all those original price tags.”  (She walks over to look at the sign I was referring to)  “Yeah, the sign says $6.50 too.  I’ll have to call the manager.”

The manager came out, but didn’t acknowledge me at all (sorry, but that’s bad customer service), but I overheard her telling the cashier to *sigh* go ahead and give me the difference.  So there I stood as a line of people impatiently waited behind me since there was only 1 register open.  The cashier then  said, “*sigh* I’m going to have to run this as a return then re-ring the items and take the discount.  It’s going to be a HUGE (yes, she really emphasized the hugeness of it all)  pain. *sigh*”   I had to bite my tongue… hard.  Was she trying to make me feel bad for catching them marking up their prices so they could put them on “sale”?  I hate when businesses do that.  Bad Disney!!!!  I’m just glad I got my $2 back.  Yep, all that for just $2.  Well, I’m sure they’ll be marking up their prices even more for their final clearance sale because the store is closing in May.

The moral of the story is… watch the price that the registers ring up… they’re not always right, especially if an item is supposed to be on sale.  This has happened to me at many businesses, many times.  I watch the register display like a hawk because of this.

I also had a similar incident at Walmart recently (another place with a stellar record for bad customer service, in my book).  I was buying a spaghetti squash, but the cashier couldn’t find the code for it, so someone else told her to ring it up as a yellow squash, and they assured me it would be the same.  Since I often don’t just take someone’s word for it, I had to check for myself (stubborn, I know).   I went back to the produce section and  double checked.  Yellow squash was $1.98/lb, compared to spaghetti squash, which was $1.25/lb.  My cost went down by over $2.  Yeah, I know it’s a measly $2, but a buck is a buck, right?  Sorry, but I don’t just give money away for free.