Back in the Saddle

Home again, after a super fun weekend in New Mexico.  One of my oldest (since 3rd grade!) and dearest (pretty much family at this point) friends had a Big Deal this weekend so I went to go visit.  A is something of a social worker extraordinaire.  She's started a movement in NM to recognize and quell teen dating violence.  And really, I'm so proud of her, I could pop.  Anyway, she's starring in a documentary on the subject which premiered in Albuquerque on Saturday night.  And I got to go with, which was lots of fun.  The subject matter is pretty dark, but it was inspiring to be in a room with so many folks who are working passionately to do somethng about it.  Awesome.

Apart from attending glamorous movie premieres (did I mention that it was held at the Presbyterian Health Center?  Fancy!), we stuffed our faces with Brazilian BBQ, saw Eat Pray Love (fun and pretty, if not epic filmmaking), and visited Mecca.  Behold:

There is nothing that makes the heart of a transplanted California girl go pitter pat like the sight of a Trader Joe's.  It's also rather lovely that Southwest lets you check bags for free.  I bought salted sesame flatbread, and cherry jam and blueberry jam and a barrel of olive oil and scones and...  Well, enough other stuff that the TSA agent at the airport pulled me aside and had to rummage through all of it.  I think he was just trying to sneak off with my scones...


We also took in a peewee football game, where A's 10 year old did a bang up job playing 3 or 4 different positions, laid around a fair amount, knitted a bunch (really, that was just me) and spent some quality time with Lola:

Isn't she beautiful?  Lola is 8, and thrives on petting.  Unless it's someone else who's being petted, in which case, she's really not on board.  Lola shares her house and her people with 3 cats (none of whom would agree to pose for pics), but she's she'll be the first to tell you she's really the star of the show. 

All in all, an excellent weekend.  But I was very glad to come home to this:

Really, how could I not be?  This is my dog.  My old, sweet, needy, goofy dog.  And that big fat thing on her leg is a fiberglass cast, which she earned by cutting her foot (severing 2 tendons and ripping the muscle in the process).  Sigh.  The good news is that the stitches came out today, and the new wrap is electric purple (very chic).  The bad news is that she'll be sporting it for 4 more weeks...

Back to family stuff tomorrow -- I have a few answers to share!