I have a standing weekly date with Caitlin.

I have a standing weekly date with Caitlin. We go wander about and get our steps in. She took me by the place with the Jack-o-Lanterns the other day and I got to get pictures of the other side and ask about them. The lady inside said they bought the pumpkins a couple of years ago and they just change the paint for fun.

The inside of the building is interesting, as well. They have some vintage/weird stuff displayed. They said that people were decorating the counters and they just went with it. It's a gas station/dispensary. I don't know if they sell anything else, but they were super nice to me and seemed happy to answer my questions.

So I guess they are there just because the store owners wanted them. That's as good a reason as any! 😊

To do list for today:

To do list for today:

1.  Ramble in written form (it feels more solid than talking)

2.  Do my nails

3.  Water my plants

Taking care of #1 right now.  😆

So the Labubu market last night was pretty great.  We didn't make a lot of money, but we did recover our booth fee several times over, so we aren't complaining.  Also, the guy who runs it came by to meet us and thank us for coming, and he also checked that we made our money back.  If we hadn't, he was going to return our booth fee.  That wouldn't have been necessary to us regardless, but  we were appreciative that he checked.

Shaun walked around a bit to scope out what all was going on.  He said that there was a good bit of 3D printed merch, some larger items like tumblers and backpacks, and also some other smaller handmade things, but we were the only jewelry.  I think there were other stickers (we'd printed a few), but we were also the only temporary tattoos and nail decals.

We have some things left over, and we'll work on photographing it and putting it on Etsy this week.

Our setup was around the corner from the DJ area, which would have been a sensory nightmare for me if I hadn't had my Loop earplugs with me, which I almost always do now.  Yay for preparedness and learning to manage myself!

It actually ended up being quite fun being right near the DJ area.  Instead of a band, they had a karaoke setup... and I can't really explain why, but that made a huge difference to me.  No hate to anyone in bands, but it felt more wholesome? welcoming? endearing? (y'all help me with words; I'm not quite nailing it) having members of the community botch songs real bad while we all danced and cheered for them.  😆❤  I especially loved it when the kids would sing and get really into it.  It was so cute.

The market was held at the ABQ Food Park, and not all of the food trucks were open, but HOLY SHIT I got the best Torta of my life from one there that I can't even find the name of.  I got chicken in mine, and if you know me, I'm a picker (of food, skin, nails, stickers, edges, etc.) and I could barely find a thing to pick on my chicken.  It was SO GOOD.  And hot and fresh and flavorful.  I'm going to have to find the name of that place and go back.

The weather here in New Mexico is by default beautiful, but yesterday evening it was cloudy (so nice and cool) and then rainbows.  We had doubles, we had a big long one, we had one that looked like it repeated ROYGBIV a few times.  One thing to also know (I'm not sure if the whole state is like this, or just near the mountains), but it's BREEZY here.  And by that, I mean people's tents were flying away.  😆  Our displays were blowing over.  People were chasing after dropped things.  But that's just how it is.

We don't have a tent (yet), but if we had, it would've been more trouble than it was worth to put up.  Since it was afternoon/evening and cloudy, we weren't in direct sun and didn't need it.  Many people took theirs down once the breeze picked up.  We do plan to have one eventually, but we'll have to find a way to really secure it.  We also need to find a way to help keep our displays standing.

Anyway, what I'm saying is that it was a great time.  The vibes were immaculate, the people were so chill, the music was amazing, the food... omg, I haven't stopped thinking about that Torta.  😆  13/10 experience, I will definitely find reasons to go back, whether I'm selling Polish All the Things or just seeing what they've got going on.

Also, NM locals:  I need more friends here.  Please feel free to introduce me (IRL or virtually) to anyone you think I'd get along with.  ❤

Stay weird, Albuquerque. I love it here. ❤️💙💜🧡

Stay weird, Albuquerque. I love it here. ❤️💙💜🧡

Ooh, I went to the city today! By myself!

Ooh, I went to the city today! By myself!

I checked out the Web Development boot camp in person. I spoke with one of the instructors, and then sat in on a class.

We talked one-on-one for about 45 minutes. He answered all of my questions and I really feel like this would be a good move for me.

They start with HTML and CSS, which I've been familiar with since I was on MySpace. Then they move onto JavaScript and focus on that for a while. I have some familiarity with it, but it's not my strong suit and I'd love to improve. Then they move into a project - creating a website from scratch, which I've never done. This is where it gets exciting and really starts to fill in my gaps.

So I sat in the class for a bit and there was 1 group working on their project in week 11 of 12. These guys were communicating so well about the code and trying different approaches and troubleshooting and I was honestly really impressed. They were pushing and pulling from git with detailed notes, etc.

After a while the instructor asked me what I thought and I said that they were doing great and that I was curious about their backgrounds before starting. All of them said they had no previous experience! I was gobsmacked! Like... This seems like exactly the hands-on experience that I need!

Don't get me wrong:  I love and appreciate my education from JSU, but I feel like it was focused on theory, like this is what a for-loop does and how you write it. This is this language, etc. But nothing actually taught me how to put it all together or what programs to use. I feel like I just need help putting the pieces together and I'll be 💯.

So, I'm pretty excited. I wanna be like the guys I saw working on their project today. Wish me luck!

Caitlin took me to the mall today...

Caitlin took me to the mall today so we could get our steps in and these big guys were in one of the stores. I don't think I'll ever get over seeing these sculptures around. They had to be at least 8 feet tall. You can take one home with you for around $20,000. It's out of my price range, but how cool would it be to have one of these guarding your yard?

 

I've been dealing with a headache that won't go away most of the day, so I'm about to take a migraine pill and call it a night. Hopefully, I'll be normal-ish tomorrow.

But I do have one other good news:  I got the scholarship for the Web Dev program I want to take, so I'm super thankful for that. I don't think I would have been able to go if I had to pay out of pocket for it.

Happy weekend, friends! ❤️

I knew I heard it, but...

I knew I heard it, but it was on a different side of the house than usual. It's a pretty one, though!

It's, uh... storming up a storm. 😂

It's, uh... storming up a storm. 😂 It's been raining HARD for over an hour, complete with thunder and lightning. Usually, any rain/storm passes through rather quickly and you can't even tell it happened an hour later, but we're getting wet up tonight. It's reminding me of Alabama storms.

I bet our arroyos are raging like a river right now!

The winds must be blowing in our favor.

The winds must be blowing in our favor. Sometimes we go a while with no balloons, and sometimes we'll see them every day for a bit.

It's a party in our neighborhood tonight. 😂

It's a party in our neighborhood tonight. 😂

We have one neighbor that's having a graduation party, complete with a DJ. It's been going since around 5.

Someone else is shooting fireworks. Or several someones; I don't know.

I'm not upset. I'm just glad I don't live in fear of my neighbors anymore. These people can have all the fun they want and I'm gonna sit here minding my business and/or comforting my creatures if they're bothered. So far, Cub is the only one having feelings and he went to bed with Shaun, so he's ok.

I mean, I like some of the songs they've played and I could just go sit on the balcony and see if I can see any of the fireworks. I might check it out when I get ready for bed. I'll take this over drugs and fighting and stealing ANY DAY.

OMG, they're playing the Macarena. Gotta go do the dance. It's the law. 😂

The best wake up! Three balloons! 😍

The best wake up! Three balloons! 😍

Is that a double-rainbow or nah?

Is that a double-rainbow or nah?

My friends have made it to their next destination.

My friends have made it to their next destination. Things are back to "normal" around here.

The dogs looked pretty upset when we got home from the airport without them. Little Bear was confused. He said "Where's the rest of my herd?" 😂

Bear was mostly good aside from getting mouthy a few times. We left the dogs home alone for extended periods and that went ok. We'll have to take them for pup cups tomorrow. Cub loves to go and he hasn't been anywhere in over a week, but he did love having new people around to pay attention to him. So did these cats that we obviously never pet. 😂

I really needed adventure times and good company, so I am feeling happy and good. It was a great break from the boredom and stress of being unemployed. Now it's back to appointments, getting prescriptions transferred/filled on this new insurance, and of course the job search. Super fun stuff going on around here. 😝

But for real, the company was excellent. Please come back anytime, Janet and Dianne! ❤️

I love Trio Jalisciense! ❤️😊

I love Trio Jalisciense! ❤️😊

Quizás is always a hit!

Today, we got our exercise in.

Today, we got our exercise in.

We started the morning heading through the Jemez Mountains (in the car). There were so many scenic stops where we could walk around and take pictures. I got a bunch despite being the driver today. I even got one of a little waterfall!

Then we made it to the Valles Caldera National Preserve. The Caldera is where a volcano erupted and the land sank, so it's a flat area on top of a mountain. Shaun and I had gone before and saw the prairie dogs that live there, but this is the first time we saw the elk! There was a whole herd and it was amazing! They were super far away, but one of the rangers let us see them through his binoculars. When we go again, we'll definitely take binoculars and try to get a photograph through them!

After that, we drove towards the Bandelier National Monument. On our way there, we went through Los Alamos. That was interesting. There was a security check and they said "Don't turn right for the next mile and a half." It was government property and I guess we'd have gotten in trouble if we'd gone onto it. We saw a lot of signs that said "Tech" with a number. Didn't know what exactly those meant. We also saw Oppenheimer Drive. That was pretty neat.

We finally made it to the museum and monument and it was really interesting. The museum was small, but gave a good background on what we'd be seeing. The weather was warm; we're having a little heat wave. It was in the 90s today despite the 6066 foot elevation, but you gotta love the New Mexico breezes!

We hiked the monument loop and took a ton of pictures. It was really interesting to see how people made homes and towns there.

I know I say this all the time, but I love New Mexico and I love living in the desert. It's so beautiful and interesting here. The drive was scenic all day. There were decorative overpasses and walls when we started to head home through Santa Fe. It was just lovely all around, although I will admit we almost turned back halfway through the Bandelier loop. It was so hot with very little shade walking/climbing up the face of that mountain. The end half of the loop was through nice, shaded forest, though, so we're glad we stuck it out.

Here are a few photos. 😊

Just beautiful desert-scape through the Jemez Mountains

A little waterfall under that weird rock formation

Elk on the Caldera. They're the brown line just below the green patch.

One of the cave homes at Bandelier

A squirrel on top of some giant rock formations

Interesting cliff side at Bandelier

Yesterday we took a rest day.

Yesterday we took a rest day. We had lunch at Hot Tamales New Mexican Food and mostly just chilled out.

Today, we were ready to go adventure again. We went to Santa Fe, so OBVIOUSLY we had to see Meow Wolf Santa Fe. They had done some updating since the last time we'd been there, so there was new stuff for us to see even though this was the 3rd trip for me and Shaun. Even if they hadn't, we'd still go again and again because you just can't experience all of it, regardless. The most exciting part (for me) was a telephone with a video screen where we could see people at what I'm guessing is another Meow Wolf location. We could also speak to each other, but it was super distorted (probably intentionally). It was so neat when we realized that the people on the screen were interacting with us!

After Meow Wolf, we had lunch at Plaza Cafe Santa Fe, which is always delicious. Then we walked around the square. There was a vintage car show happening, which we didn't see advertised, so it was dumb luck that we found it. Janet and her mom are into old cars. I don't know a ton about them, but I do love seeing them fixed up all sexy and still working.

We found a really cool shop called The Mineral, Meteorite, and Fossil Gallery. Shaun bought me a fossil and a piece of black Tourmaline. The shop owner was very confusing and delightful. I wanna be his friend. 😂 There were also trash sculptures in there that looked to be made by the same person who made the Transformers. I also really wish I had $1200 for this flamingo/dinosaur hybrid. 🦩🦕

We took the long way home so we could see The Turquoise Trail. We found some cool rock formations at Garden of the Gods and also tons of really pretty blooming cholla.

We're off to bed so we can rest up for tomorrow!

Random Zia/Ghostbusters sticker on a pole outside of Meow Wolf

The "phone"/video station where we interacted with other people

All of the decor in this room was made from trash/recycled items. It was super cool.

The four of us taking a picture of us taking pictures. 😂

Saw these little monsters in the gift shop of Meow Wolf and had to snap the pic. I obviously have Ca7riel y Paco Amoroso on my brain. 😊

My fossil and tourmaline

Iron Man and Darth Vader made from scrap metal

🦩🦕

A bear holding a dragonfly statue

Garden of the Gods

Blooming Cholla

Last post for the night.

Last post for the night. Janet wanted to see Pinkman's Pickup spot (from Breaking Bad) and the Transformer statues, so we did that. She's got the photos for those things.

Then, we went and saw some cars. Specifically, the Batmobile, the De Lorean, the Mystery Machine, and the A-Team van. Here are a few pics.

Then we went to the The Paleta Bar Rio Rancho for a snack/dessert.

It was a busy, but fun day!

It's a lot of posts tonight, but...

It's a lot of posts tonight, but it's the first time I've chilled in a few days, so it's catch up. 😂

Today we went to the ABQ BioPark. We didn't make it to the zoo part, but we did see the Botanical Gardens, the Bugarium, the Aquarium, and the Shark Reef Cafe. The cafe was cool because it was part of the aquarium and you could watch the fish, rays, and sharks swim while you ate. The aquarium was pretty small compared to the ones in Tennessee and Georgia, but it was still very nice. I didn't take any photos there, though, because my phone was dying from the Botanical Gardens and Bugarium. Also, the Bugarium had Naked Mole Rats for some reason. I didn't get any good photos of them. They were roped off, so you could see them, but not up close.

I'm not going to post every cool photo that I took today because I don't think people want to scroll through all of that, but I'll post a few of the best ones with captions.

Shaun making faces near a Tree Aloe. 😂

Euphorbia something. It's really pretty.

Me and a Tree Aloe

Dragon in the area of the cave/maze for kids that we also definitely went into. 😂

Shaun in the cave

Me with a little cactus

Shaun said we can get married in here. 😂❤️ I guess if we ever decide to renew things, I know where we'll do it. 😊

This Agave is death-blooming. 🙁 It pushed through the thick leaves of the Yucca to get it's pollen up high.