Vacation Day II

We've been here 1 full day now and while the sky is beautiful and the weather is fantastic there is also so much poverty here. There are homeless people in droves all throughout the downtown area, which is where our hotel is situated. It's clear which people are homeless based on attire and the not-so-quiet mumblings as they approach and pass. I told my husband perhaps God had sent us HERE to NM on a mission trip...not entirely kidding on that. There is a palpable need for Jesus here, not only because of the poverty, but because of the culture of acceptance to the point of apathy and sheer number of bars almost outnumbering restaurants.

Albuquerque is a city for the 20-something set; where the lights downtown are bright and beckoning and the drinks are being poured without restraint. The music is somewhat entrancing and the desire for entertainment is without filter. It is interesting to be my current age (42 years young believe it or NOT), at this place in my life (fully immersed in the Love of Jesus), more as a participant, than my typical youthful observer of the past. I not only watch, but I feel free to interact and question what I see and hear. Enough introspection...here's the lo-down for today.

My darling husband was victim to my central time zone sleep pattern and while we didn't fall into slumberland until after 2:00 a.m. I was up and awake by 6:15 here (7:15 back home) and the poor dear was less then enthuasiastic when I opened the drapes and allowed the blinding sunshine to pour into our room. He mumbled something about it being vacation, but I'm a morning person and heck, I'm on vacation...things to do...places to go...stores to shop...

We got up, got cleaned up, and made a list of things "to do". We headed down to the now-popular complimentary continental breakfast and wrote out our postcards home while enjoying some juice, coffee, and a homemade waffle with this TOO cool waffle maker that will be included in the photo blog upon return.

We strolled down Central (the main drag downtown) and at 7:30 a.m. there was limited traffic, I began to wonder if the whole city had taken the day off. We were in search of a good "coffee shop" (my husband has become quite the coffee snob and has to have something akin to Starbucks-stomach melting coffee with a double shot expresso and some frou-frou flavoring to boot) and we eventually found one that was not only open and empty, but they were playing Frank Sinatra...who wouldn't love some Frank Sinatra that early in the a.m. He was such a crooner, oh Frank not my husband, but the hubby does try! We strolled along and took pics of some of the local haunts and some old established places as well...to include in our video journal. It was sad to walk by the restaurant we held our wedding reception in and see it was closed. That was the most wonderful September evening you could imagine...another post one day...

We then went to the Big "W" to pick up some creamer and GOOD coffee for the hotel room. Frankly, the downside to be a coffee connisseur is the NEED for something other then prefilter wrapped coffee and no creamer OR 'pink stuff'. Yes, I'm a child of the 80's and I only use the 'pink stuff" in coffee and tea. I don't care about the rat cancer tests and all that jazz...it's all I can stand! I"m not being defensive about it, I'm just saying...

So after experiencing the NM Big W, we brought the "booty" back to the hotel and went to meet my hubbies mother and younger sister at Duran's Pharmacy for breakfast/brunch (it was already after 9:00 a.m.). They have absolutely FABULOSO Huevos Rancheros with red chile that doesn't burn, but it does tease the tastebuds awake! In addition, they have that wonderful shaved ice in their drinks, that makes my heart sing. I love crushed ice and shaved ice is one of the things I know God made just for a handful of His children, me included.

This particular pharmacy also has some wonderful cards (I can spend HOURS shopping for cards in case you were wondering...) that I perused and picked a selection from...along with some really unique postcards to include in our growing collection of mailables. We then dropped his younger sister (we call her "Nee") off at home and headed out to a few local shops that I can't come to ABQ and not visit. One of the most important of these is the bakery we used for our wedding cake. They have the BEST cookies and we picked some up for the dinner we volunteered to prepare for the family tonight.

We drove around town (covering a good 60 mile area) and just mentally reminisced our past time here. We drove through one little village and I was able to get a few photographs of this home I've always 'coveted' that has this GIANT lizard sculpted onto the outer wall (blog picture to come). We picked up some groceries to prepare the dinner and took all that back to the hubbies mother's home and began to cook.

Unfortunately, the hubbies older sister (Tree) isn't coming down til tomorrow, but that gives me one more day to hear what God has to tell me for her...I'm hopeful that His love and desire will be evident in our interaction. Side note: I think it's interesting how it's often times (for this traveler) easier to share the love of Jesus with complete strangers than loved ones that are so obviously lost and hurting. I know a part of that stems from the obvious fear of rejection of Jesus by a loved one. Which in turn is actually rejection of ME because Jesus is what Kim is all about...and that would be hard to take...I just have to realize that Jesus can take care of not only Himself, but also His beloved children...all of them...especially the lost sheep! It wasn't so long ago I was crying Baa Baa, myself! No it wasn't yesterday during tick fever time!

So we watched the movie "Proof" tonight as his family are netflicks subscribers and we all wanted to check this flick out...in a word it was..."Heavy". To me it was a real representation of a life without balance, a life from the left brain only! It was linear and harsh. It's not that I regret watching it, but I gave up two hours of my life for it and I'm searching for the lesson to take from it...for me...it's definitely balance. I am hoping I always find and maintain balance in my right and left brain...remembering that while praising and worshipping Jesus with other believers is awesome and I love that time...Jesus put me in the job I have and in the family I have for balance.

Tomorrow is the graduation party and some quality time with Tree and her family. I can't wait for you to meet her, she is something else! Oh, I almost forgot, for food tomorrow...Posole' at the Frontier (I'll have to forgo the sweet roll or I'll be in serious trouble) and a green chile bagel from Einstein bagels...ohmyLordinheaven they are truly manna from God...because they're good tasting, but also they don't keep well...so I can't ever bring them home...I have to trust my taste-memory to hold them for another year or so!

Miss you all and yes I realize how sad that sounds...I've never met any of you, well except my dear sister, but I feel like you're all family...okay not family, because sometimes they BUG (extended family...relax)...instead you are all friends and mentors and encouragers and sisters and brothers and lifelines...I get so sappy and 'ellipsical' on vacation I hope I remember my passwords at work when I return...and I lost my sidebar somehow, but am afraid to mess with it on wireless...so I'll suffer and can only connect to others from the sites I "know by heart" and their links, or my comments...More tomorrow, and if I'm lucky (yeah right, so NOT lucky) or my hubby is lucky, we'll win big at a casino and I can retire and write the story of my life...hmm...I'm already kind of doing the writing thing why am I not retired...oh yeah, the money...okay, tomorrow is casino day to play my dads lucky money!

Blessings for a very wonderful Saturday!