El Paso Museum of History

And we were volunteers - very exciting, VERY well attended

It is a very nice spread

Carol helping out in the leather stamping room - it was packed!! 12 mallets going at once - we were just about insane from the noise!! I bugged out after 3 hours, Carol was there for 6.

They're just SOOOO cute!!!

Carol and Tina

Friday Al-Fresco and Allam's Birthday

I'm so excited about the activities El Paso has to offer! This one is free music on a beautiful Friday summer evening. Last night was a salsa band. And, of course, Marie and Javier were dancing!

Then, we all were!
My beautiful baby!!
Afterwards was a fun filled dinner celebrating among other things, Allam's birthday!

La Nortena - excellent food!

A Day @ the Salon

Marie is a great hairdresser. An artist actually. So it's always a treat to come home and get some well needed attention to our hair. Last year Carol vowed to not color her hair for a professional job - there are her highlights (what women endure to get gorgeous)

Meanwhile - Tina and I do a little "manicure/pedicure" work.

Painting my toes - I have the most beautiful feet. :P
Tina gets a new style (unfortunately, the final look will be in another post....I haven't gotten them together since the Salon Day)

Carol gets a new cut - quite different from what she had before.

Cats!

Slick
Fluffy

No, those aren't descriptions, they are the cat's names (well, they describe them too). Anyway, that is a rare sighting of Fluffy, you can only pet her for 4 seconds AFTER you put the food dish down - otherwise, forget it (her nickname - Chicken Liver). That is, unless you are Ginger, in which case, you cannot pet her at all because she is petrified of you.

Let me give you another example of Ginger and animals - remember Sadie.....

.....a picture says 1000 words.

(Oh man am I gonna catch it for this one!)

Some Random Guy & JIM

He's been keeping me in excellent coffee since my arrival

(love you bro')

"Jessy" ????

So I'm reading through the paper.......just read these little snippets - El Pasoans really know how to market that furniture.....

Spanish lesson 1 "cucarachas" - roaches (picture below)

Even the dog is looking at the saying, thinking....."what????"

At last - "Jessy" the furniture selling Roach. Email me for details on how you too can obtain this furniture (does Jessy come with every purchase?)

Michele @~~~

I have more pictures of Michele but her friendship is more important than pasting them for all to see :) (I'll save them to blackmail her later.....)
No seriously, Michele drove down to see me for a couple of days - we didn't find time to play one game of Scrabble.....I have to remember to do that when we stop by to see her (even tho' she cheats.)

As promised - Chico's Tacos

Entering the establishment...that's the same sign that was in place when I came to this restaurant in high school.
2 pm and the place is packed - this is the line

These are some of the prices (I think they're so funny) .08 cents for separate sauce for a single order (3 tacos - as shown below)

You just can't keep that "welfare" cheese in the little boat......

.......until you add the "nuclear" sauce.

Sorry, no shots of how you eat them - I have to admit I'm suprised it took me this long to eat them - like some kind of record, I've been here 6 days! They are delicious but NOT mexican food (even tho' Dan seems to think otherwise).

Frank :)

Check out Frank!! He's so grown!
Carol gets comfortable with a rather large snake.....

Carol and Frank

Interesting story behind his sling there - just out of the hospital after being bitten by a rattlesnake. He was being stupid.....

Sleeping Beauties

Nothing more annoying than a woman with a camera at o'dark-thirty

Carol and Tina - deal with it ladies......:)

i'll have to lose weight for this one.....

Patricia's wedding!! 1-19-08 and she's asked me to be her matron of honor. Since I've known her for close to 40 years I was thrilled to accept - she and her family are my hispanic roots.

Her Dress - I'd like that figure!!

And mine - we found it in literally five minutes - little weight loss, few alterations.....I'm expecting to help provide a night she'll never forget!

You GO girl!!!

Swimming in the desert is like peanut butter and chocolate - very logical. Tina (my niece) is quite the little fishy.Swim meets here are no laughing matter - I'm talking 3 days long. So, being the wonderful aunt I am, I saw Tina race.......once. However, it was her favorite stroke and she came in 2nd!!


cominggoing

I was mortified to think if I tried to swim the distance they made these little 7 year olds do I would not only be LAST, I would be the one vomiting on the side crying uncontrollably

It's hot in there!

When she's not racing, she saving lives.....yeah right, she's fully clothed there - it's a swim meet, if someone's drowning, it's probably....me.

"let's go for a walk"

"just be here at 7:30 because if we go much later it will get too hot."

As it turned out, those were very sketchy details.......

FOUR miles later.......

Javier, "Wanda", and Marie

It doesn't even look like El Paso - it's the upper valley - the mountains in the distance are in Mexico. That impressive river is the Rio Grande. A FAR cry from what I remember. We laughed about the river raft races they had in the 80's where you'd float to a sandbar, pick up your raft and walk it over to a deep place to float again (usually 2 feet ). There has been quite a bit of rain here over the past two years, my sinuses are KILLING me!!!

What GOOD DOGS look like (this is for Gidget and Fergus). Ok, they've been to obedience school (I wonder if there is a similar school for middle school children.......)

So the day wasn't a wash, we ran into RubyAnn and Michael (from Circus Surreal) very nice visit and went afterward to eat Huevos Rancheros - I do love the food.......

Abuelita Approved - I love it

Marie

I'm a good friend - really I am. I can't explain how I lost Marie's number. Anyway, Jim (my brother) told me she had a new salon, so we traipsed downtown to find her. It's locked. Lucky for me Carol was able to see her number printed on a business card through the door (my old girl eyes don't do that anymore).

Marie represents the cultural heartbeat of this city. I ALWAYS know I'm going to see something beautiful or have an experience I'll never forget when I'm with her - she's an amazing friend that I've had the pleasure of knowing since our Junior year of high school.
So where did I finally catch up with her.......


....doing make-up for a commercial they were filming for a local hospital.

For Dan and Glenn - images

The Spaghetti Bowl

If you go on the left hand side, you can get to Juarez

I'm chicken - I don't drive in Mexico

First place off of the plane for the majority of former residents - Just can't beat a meal at Chico's Tacos - can you believe I haven't eaten there this trip yet (when I do I'll dedicate a whole entry to the experience)
Most awesome store in El Paso - quite the landmark.

Stan says hello.

Look Glenn, OUR middle school!

The view from Grandma's house - I never get tired of this.