The last time we were out hiking, I saw these on a cactus and pointed them out to my kids (who were all complaining about being tired and hungry and thirsty). “Yeah, right Mom. I don’t think so!” So when I saw them on sale at the local grocery, 4 for $1, I couldn’t resist proving my point. They are edible! Butterfly, Jon and Echo loved them and ate theirs up in a matter of seconds. This last one has been waiting on the counter for the big kids but so far, no takers. I guess the need to prove my point is no match for the teenage will. *Although I should mention that when I cut this and took the pictures, Bleu did sneak in for a bite. “Not bad.”

More information on the prickly pear cactus fruit here!

The kids and I went on one last road trip  to The City of Rocks last weekend. It was scorching hot on the drive over. We don’t have  air conditioning so the kids were eying the one cloud in the distance that looked like it was raining. “Never mind mom, we don’t want to go to the rocks. Let’s drive to the rain instead!” As luck would have it, the cloud met us at our destination, soaking us to the skin with one of those glorious late summer downpours that start the arroyos running. Almost as soon as it started, it was over. The desert swallowed up the evidence and within fifteen minutes everything was dry. See more pictures from our trip on flickr:

The Last Hurrah on flickr: set | slideshow

Summer storms. Dark clouds, lightning, gorgeous light and rainbows…

This weekend we went to Ruidoso to take the kids fishing. It was beautiful and slightly bizarre. We are used to New Mexico’s fickle weather. At this time of year it isn’t unusual at all to get rain while the sun is shining, but the last few days have been ridiculous! It would be hot and sunny one minute and my kids would strip down to next to nothing. The next minute it would be snowing so hard we couldn’t see two feet in front of us. Off and on, off and on… I took the first (snowy) picture as we were leaving the lake. We decided to give up on fishing because it was so cold. We drove down the mountain maybe half a mile and stopped because all of a sudden it was beautiful again. I took the second picture there maybe fifteen minutes after the first one.

Weekend on flickr: set | slideshow

This has been bothering me for a week now, so I might as well blog about it. Vent and move on. Fiesta Foods is my favorite grocery store. I know where everything is and their prices are the lowest in town. It has everything I need but is small enough to feel comfortable. It’s within walking distance of my house, although I always buy too much to carry home so I have to drive.  Even though I don’t know all their names, it is comforting to see familiar faces every time I go shopping.

We were having a cookout so I popped over to get a few last minute items. There were only a few lanes open and the lines in each were very long… except for express. There was only one person in line and he was in the process of paying. I scanned my basket, stopped counting at ten and figured I had about fifteen items so I went to express. The customer looked at me and asked the cashier if he was going to let me get away with that. They both glared at me. “Count your items,” he said. I counted them and discovered that I had 17 items. Before he said anything, I apologized. “Sorry. I have seventeen items.” And I went in the next lane, behind two people with very full baskets. I was embarrassed, but it happens. Not the end of the world.

But the two men continued talking about me, while staring in my direction… LOUDLY:  “I hate people like that.” “She has a lot of  f—ing nerve. Can you believe she did that?” “You f—ing taught her a lesson man. Way to go.” “No one’s coming in MY store, thinking they can do whatever they want. That’s how those f–ing people are though… You gotta show them who’s boss.”  “Yeah, they think they can get away with anything.” “She won’t be coming through MY f—ing line again.” Hahahahaha.

Eventually the customer left and the cashier sat there, doing absolutely nothing. I still hadn’t made it to the conveyor belt with my SEVENTEEN items.  I sat there for over five  [very awkward] minutes until it was finally my turn. And he hadn’t helped a single person. At this point, I was very upset. Usually this kind of stuff doesn’t bother me, but that day it did. I went and complained to the manager, something I never do. He was nice but didn’t seem to understand. He said that the cashier should have helped me.  BUT THAT WASN’T THE POINT! I don’t care that I had to go in another line. I had more than fifteen things. If it was that important to go through express I would have taken two things out of my cart. The way he talked to me and about me when I was right there was unacceptable.

When Mike found out he blew a fuse. He and Bleu went to the store and caused a scene.  Now I don’t want to go back to the store and run into the cashier or the manager. That sucks. I went to Albertson’s today but it wasn’t the same.

Now that we {finally} have Netflix, I’m watching a lot of movies rather than tv. I’d heard that The Burning Plain was partially filmed in and around Las Cruces so I added it to my queue. The movie was okay, but you should rent it just for the scenery. Seriously, half of the movie is right in my backyard and it shows the area beautifully. The Organ Mountains are in the background as the young actors bond in the desert. You can even see the rocks of La Cueva crouching near the bottom of the screen. There are a lot of views of the desert, creosote adding just a touch of color to the landscape.  It felt like home, maybe because it is!

One scene was shot in the Kmart where I get my medicine. And outside, you could see the Chinese restaurant that Mike and I eat at sometimes. The last time we ate there, I read in the paper that it was shut down for health violations later that afternoon. I didn’t even care. The crab rangoon was that good! Anyway, it was nice to see a little local locale on the screen.  Warning: this is not a kid appropriate movie. There are  some sex scenes, nudity and one instance of self-mutilation (cutting).