Hot Child in the City

Well, I'm not really that hot, but Albuquerque isn't much of a big city either, so I suppose we're even. :)

I'm traveling; my first trip in a long time without homework or other obligations, so I took myself out on the town, researching live music venues for my favorite band, the Mojo Farmers.

I had dinner at one of my favorite local spots, the Flying Star Cafe. It is a hip joint, with magazines to borrow or buy, and an excellent menu. I highly recommend the pasta pomodoro. There is always good music playing, in fact the set tonight could have been from my Mp3 player.


After dinner, I went over to the Launchpad, a great place right downtown for live music.




The show tonight was excellent, 3 performers all doing acoustic sets. I even bought the CD of the opening act, Alexa Wilkinson. She has an amazing voice, so please visit her myspace page. Next up was Joshua Radin, who has an amazingly deep voice. Unfortunately for me, most of the songs were sad, lost loves, breaking up, etc.

Ingrid Michaelson, the headliner for the evening, is a true MySpace success story. She started posting her songs on myspace, got a break by getting a song on an episode of Grey's Anatomy, and the rest, as they say, is history.

All in all, a very good way to spend the evening, and hopefully, my Mojo Farmers will be playing in Albuquerque very soon.

Gotta Tri!

I competed in my second triathlon with three of my friends on February 17th. The triathlon was a sprint-tri, with a 200 meter swim, a 10.5 mile bike, and a 2.5 mile run. The morning started out cold, it was 40 degrees at the start of the race! Luckily, the pool was heated, so that ended up being the warmest part. Getting on a bike, still wet, was interesting. I was so cold, and chattering, my transition time was horrible! But I still wound up finishing in 1 hour and 14 minutes. The website spelled my name wrong. You will find me under Amber Windermuth.



Even though I was last in my age group, I still enjoy competing in the triathlons! I plan on training even harder for my next triathlon, tentatively scheduled for March 30th, and hopefully I will come in next to last. . .



My family also braved the cold to watch my friends and I compete. It was even my mom's birthday! I have to admit, having a cheering section really does help give an extra push to keep giving it all you've got.

Attainment of a Goal

February 24, 2008 12:03am. I submitted my final research paper this evening, took my final exam, posted my last entry to a classroom discussion board. With that, I have officially completed my Master's Program. I feel very unsettled at this point. I began my quest for this degree in September 2003, and there have been several bumps along the way. I was new in my career at work, and demands from traveling, keeping up with my audits, and of course, trying to fit in a personal life took its toll. But here I am, 4 years and 5 months later, officially finished. I've had this as part of my life for so long, always a paper, or a discussion, or chapters to read. I'm not quite sure how I will move forward at this point, but I am looking forward to it. Knowing me, I will continue to over-schedule myself, but at least I have one more item checked off my life goal list.



I am looking forward to "living" a bit more, because, as my friend Jim so eloquently stated when he and his wife were heading out to a bar to watch live music while I was buried in a textbook, 3 chapters behind with two papers due, "A laptop isn't really living." No, it isn't. But getting this degree is important to me, and it was certainly worth the struggle over the past 4 years. So now, with this safely attained, I can start going out more and experiencing life beyond my laptop. I'm looking forward to the new challenge.

Baby Sam. . . .

This post is a little past due, but my friend Becky (see Star Wars Baby Shower post) had her baby on January 25th, Samantha Ann King, came into the world at 7 1/2 pounds, and 20 inches long. Becky (mommy) is doing quite well, and we are all now happily settled back at home. I'm pretty fond of the new baby. She's fun to hold, she sleeps most of the time, and when she screams, the parents take her into their room on the other side of the house.



Another of the amazing benefits is all the mommies at the school where Becky works are taking turns dropping off meals!!! We won't need to cook for a month!! I am fully taking advantage of the situation. I get to hold the baby, enjoy the food, and didn't have to go through nine months of pregnancy or labor to enjoy the benefits. Please enjoy the pics, and I will get a few more well posed ones up soon.