This is ubelievable!

This little girl from Great Britain, Connie Talbot, all of 6 years old, participated in their "Britain's got Talent" show. You have GOT to watch all 3 videos - she is spectacular! See You Tube Link on the side. . .

I'm smarter than I think I am!

Last night, Karen and I went to Dewey's to play Live Trivia, as well as NTN. It was a laid back night, no pressure, interesting "neighbors" and then we won the BIG $50 prize! We got help on one question, a riddle that I had heard before but it had been awhile. . . A bird that doesn't fly, can go into the water yet stay dry. Let me know if you can guess that one! My sleeper question I got was a sports question - which old-time baseball team called Ebbetts field home? Couldn't believe I remembered that one! It was a fun time!

Pearl is back!

Go to the "Funny or Die" link on the right - watch Good Cop, Baby Cop . . . another FINE performance (and a farewell one at that) from Pearl!

Vacation looms. . .

These last couple of weeks have been pretty uneventful at home, as well as work. Last Saturday was probably the most fun - although we started the day out working. A few of us from the Jaycees went to clean out our chapter storage unit that morning. I can't believe how much stuff we have hung onto for so many years! But there were tons of office supplies, so we donated them to Urban Peak (teen homeless shelter) as well as some picnic-type goods. You can read more about Urban Peak via the link on the right. AWESOME place and more awesome is the work they do!

Neil, Jim B and Jim F after storage clean up -

we found all sorts of goodies!

Saturday afternoon, Karen, Boots and I went to see Pirates of the Carribbean 3 (my second time). You really have to watch the movie a few times to catch all that is going on in it. Then Karen took a silly pic afterwards (see left w/Silver Surfer). :)

Afterwards, we went to the Sidewalk Art Show on Larimer Square, a very fun event every year. Just wish they'd get some of the artists who really know how to do the realistic-looking, 3-D art. However, there was still some cool art work.

The business I work in, heating and A/C warehouse distrubution (Lennox), suffers when the weather isn't really hot in the summer or very cold in the winter. The motto I came up with - "we thrive on other people's misery" when it comes to weather. Last year, we had an awesome sales year, our district was in the top 5 out of other 23 districts. This year, we are hitting the bottom of the heap - only Milwaukee is worse off. The weather hasn't been bad enough to really get people replacing their equipment, just bad enough to fix it until it goes out completely. So, with work being slow and playing catch up with a bunch of projects, I am ready to say 'ba-bye' for a week. Being the dedicated worker I am, however, I'll still go in on Sunday just to do month end reports for my boss, so he has them on his desk first thing Monday morning. Which brings me to the fun news. . .

My cousin Bret is coming out to visit - dragging his friend Shawn with him! Yeah!! Shawn used to live in Denver, so he is pretty anxious to come out and travel down his memory "lane." I can't tell you how excited I am, my family (on mom's side) RARELY comes out to visit me. Bret hasn't been west of the mighty Mississippi but a couple of times, let alone to Colorado, so it'll be fun! I have a couple of things planned, but for the most part, just going to play it by ear and see what they feel like doing. I'm taking the entire week off as well - yippee!! More about that when they are here. . .

My nephew, Kiel, called me last night to inform me that he is coming home about a month early from his mom's house in Phoenix. He's going to stay at his friend Troy's house until he starts school again. Troy is a pretty nice kid, growing up in a family of engineers - he's going to CU this fall to do the same thing, apparently. Although I'm quite sure they get into their own forms of mischief, I can only hope that Troy is a good influence on Kiel. I'm having a BBQ on Tuesday the 3rd, so invited them both to come by, as Kiel has met none of his dad's family (besides immediate). I want Kiel to meet and know all of his family.

Until next time - woohoo, it'll be fun!

Mid June

Another week with not much to tell. I didn't do much with the new diet system yet. I decided to ease myself into it, since I have to learn how to drink 100 oz of water a day (I can drink iced tea, as well, but should be mostly water). I did start out trying to eat different, leaving out all dairy. That's been pretty difficult, since I am a milk lover - gotta have at least one big glass a day. Another thing to ease into. Over the past year, I've weaned myself off of soda (I have one maybe once a week now), eased off of the cheese, and quit eating fried foods (although I indulge myself in the latter once in a great while, asking myself afterwards "why did I do that" cuz I start feeling yucky). Can't call what I do diets, now, as they are more of changing a way of life. Eating differently, exercising differently. It will all become habit as I keep going.

I went to an event at the Pepsi Center this past Wednesday night, which, as I easily figured out, was a ploy to try and get me to buy season tickets or even a 14 game package for our hockey team, the Colorado Avalanche (since I'm a season ticket holder for a different sport within the Kroenke regime, guess they're trying to get me to go for more). I took my friend Karin, who is a pretty big fan of hockey - even though she likes the Redwings (boo-hiss). I get to do some really cool things every once in a while, so try to diversify who I take so my friends get a chance to do them with me :) We arrived early, the first few through the door.

There was a lot of REALLY good food there, but the best part was that Coach Quenville and Milan Hejduk were there. When we walked in, Coach actually stepped up to Karin and I and introduced himself. I thought that was very nice and personable. Alan Roach, the Avalanche announcer (who is our local sports radio guy, as well as a former announcer for the Rockies, having also done the english announcing for Olympic hockey this last go around, as well as the Superbowl) was the MC for this event. Before and afterwards, both coach and Hejduk signed autographs. So, since Karin and I weren't in a hurry, we waited to be the last. Gave us a few more seconds to BS with the guys once everyone was done, so we didn't feel like we had to hurry. Hejduk was a VERY nice guy - so me, being the person that believes no matter how famous you are, if you are nice (or part of a pro sports organization that is well liked by the public), you should know. Even the celebrities need to know what the publics perception of them is, particularly when there is something nice to say. So I did. Milan Hejduk is a very well liked person in our community, and apparently loves it here. Said he'd like to retire from hockey in Colorado. I hope he gets his wish. Then we sat with coach for a few minutes as well. We were out of there around 8pm, so wasn't too late a night. It was fun, and I was glad that Karin could go with me.

Friday night, went to see the Rockies vs Tampa Bay game with Kirsten, Andy and the boys and my roomie Karen. Kirsten and I are trying to go to as many of the free shirt nights as we can. They gave away a Brad Hawpe shirt, #11 (I did the first shirt night a few weeks ago, got Matt Holliday that time). The Rocks came out strong in the first inning, with back to back home runs from Atkins and Hawpe and 4 runs in. Then they didn't do anything again until the 6th inning, but kicked it in again and just wailed on on the Devil Rays through the 8th. Rocks won that night 12-2. It was a fun game and we had a good time! They did end up winning the series, tieing a club record for 5 series won in a row.

This weekend was pretty uneventful. Ran some errands and been cleaning house (means I'm not done yet, got a few more things to do). Fixing a Roast for dinner. I woke this morning to watch the last 15 minutes of Joel Osteen's sermon. For some strange reason, I like listening to him. His message today was about making every day a masterpiece. I got in on it right as he was talking about being the bigger person and talking to and forgiving those that you feel have done you wrong (that's something really hard for me to do). He ended with "make sure to tell everyone in your life that you love and care about them." I try to do the latter now. When my brother died, the last thing I said to him 3 hours before the visit from the coroner's office was that he was an idiot. He was doing drugs and drinking for a couple of years, and at that time had just turned 18 a few weeks before. Jason was mowing the lawn, something he really didn't like doing, but it was his chore at home. He was being a teenager and made me mad about something and "your an idiot" is the last thing I said. I'll regret that until the day I die. It took a couple of years after that, but started ending all conversations with my dad, mom and grandparents (and nearly all family members I talk to) with "I love you." My dad took a couple of years after that to say it back to me, just wasn't his style. But I broke him down. So, I have no regrets with my dad. Nor my grandmother or grandfather on my dad's side. I try to talk to my grandmother at least every 2 weeks, but lately it's been about once a month. I need to get much better about calling her once a week. I end all of our conversations the same way as well, so I know I'll have no regrets there, either.

Being Father's Day, it makes me miss my dad. Although we weren't the closest in the end, I still miss him calling me at 6am on my birthday to wish me Happy Birthday. Same with my grandparents. I was going to call my uncles on my mom's side and wish them Happy Father's Day today, but didn't get it done. I'll call them all here soon, though. It's important to keep your family in your thoughts and talk to them as much as you can. Since I don't talk to anyone on my Dad's side anymore due to family issues, I keep much closer contact with everyone on my mom's side. Since they all live in one place (except for mom who is in Dallas), I try to get out there to visit at least once a year. Important, now that we've started losing members of that immediately family (i.e. my aunt Margaret in 2005, aunt Estelle a scant few years before that). I'd visit twice a year, if I could afford to.

Enough ranting, I'll write more later!

Beautiful Day

The week has been pretty easy - and actually kind of cold. Had a Littleton Jaycees chapter meeting to continue with the "what do we do now?" portion of one last ditch effort to either get the chapter jump started one more time, or let it die with dignity. Since one of our newer members is so dedicated, we are going to try to continue on a little longer. She's a sweet kid, so can't help giving it one more shot. We'll do some socials (drive-in movie, FACs, etc) a couple of projects (glow necklace sales again at Western Welcome Week, project with Urban Peak) and who else knows.

Wednesday, went to see the Rockies play the Astros. There was this wicked wind that kicked up late in the afternoon, and then a cold front came in after it - man, it was freezing! I didn't make it past the 4th inning. The Rocks had a huge scoring drive in the 7th inning and did win the game and eventually the series - yeah! Apparently their record rivals the incoming Yankees. I hope they beat them in that series.

My friend (and fellow Jaycee) Neil Klocker turned the big 4-0 yesterday. He had a Bday party at Rome's last night, guess it was good. I didn't show up until close to 11:30, as I was at a small dinner party at my friend Connie's house with good friends Kim & Bob Untener. We had a GREAT time, just hanging out, chatting and reminiscing. Seems like it was Connie's kind of "coming out of the dark" party. She's had a rough year, so brought around who I guess she feels are her closest friends to start the summer off right! Over the next few months, we'll have dinner parties at different houses and include many people that we really want to hang out with. It'll be a select, but fun group.

So, today, I finally took my bike to the bike shop to get some new pedals put on, get it looked over and ready for riding. I think I feel comfortable enough with my knee's progress to start getting into it. So, this blog will now start to turn into a diary of my activities to hopefully keep me in line with strengthening my legs and trimming down. Gotta build up the muscles in my legs before I have surgery on my other knee so my recovery is quicker. Think that's what my problem has been after this first surgery. I still have a long road to recovery, so if anyone would like to join my journey, please let me know! It's so much easier to do with the support of friends. . . until later!

The week has flown by. . . yet again

Another busy week. Tuesday, went through another bout of physical therapy. We have moved away from working on my knee now, as anything else that can be done must on my own. I've been having my neck and shoulders worked on through ultrasound and massage. Found out that I have been moving the stress of my knee to my shoulders. I still favor my knee a little, and I compensate through the movement of my body. So, along with the stresses I've had at work for months, accompanied by this, I really messed things up.

For those that don't know, I had knee surgery in early February. Through xrays and a visit with an orthopedic surgeon, found out that I have osteo arthritis in both of my knees. In addition, my knee caps have literally moved to the sides of my knees. It was pretty bad on my left knee, so had it done first. They did the orthoscopic (cleaned up my knees from the bones rubbing together) and did a "lateral release," or the cutting of a tendon so my kneecap could be moved back into place and I'd quit walking with so much permiation in my stride. Although my knee will still hurt on occasion, is still feels better than it did before the surgery. My other knee pretty much has the same thing happening, but that surgery won't happen until next year. This one has pretty much used up all of my current and future flex benefits I have been putting money into, so I'll probably have the other knee done next winter. I know what it will cost now, so I can better plan for it. This will tide me over for about 10 years until I have to have them both replaced. Gee, can't wait for that to happen!

Wednesday I took Dana to the baseball game where we met up with Kirsten. I had been on a winning streak with the team (out of 6 games, they had only lost 1) and the Rockies were in the throws of a 7 game winning streak. Well, this time I was the jinx - they lost in a kinda-sorta ugly way. I hope they do better on June 6th against Houston. I have missed the Cincinnati game this year (happening this weekend) - I usually go, then call my cousin Tammy's husband Jeff. They live in Cincy, and he is a big Red's fan. About half the time I end up in his voicemail, but that's OK. If I call and the Rockies are kickin' butt I'll taunt him; the other times I'll just say "guess where I'm at" and hang up. I'm his favorite sports fan (guess besides a few friends, he has no one else to talk with about sports that actually knows who players are or what's going on). Glad I'm someone's favorite!

Thursday, I was actually home. On Friday, I went in late (cuz I can). I am usually at work between 6:45am-7am. I put in around 2-1/2 hours of unpaid overtime a week, just because I get so much done in that time before 7:30am, when everyone else gets into the office and the phones ring. So when I need (or want) to take off early for any reason, my boss is usually happy to oblige. I rarely do it, so he's pretty accommodating. We've had some challenges going on for a couple of years with one of my co-workers, but it's been really bad these first 5 months. Between all of her sick days, Dr/Dentist appts and just plain being late, plus a few days of vacation, she has been gone 25.5 days this year thus far. This has gone on since she has been with the company, but just recently pretty bad. Skip (my boss) and I talked about it, and he finally brought down the gauntlet with her in the last 2 weeks. The last time they spoke, he said she will now either take vacation time or non-paid time off if she misses any more time. So, I get to keep on tracking her comings and goings. It's a pain, but if it helps keep her in line, so be it. She's not a hard worker, nor a team player; doesn't offer to help anyone, and if she gets bored, she's either on the phone w/personal calls or on the internet. I work very hard at my job, and it really irks me that she doesn't do more to help out. I hate to say this, but if it ends up that she is gone by year end, then we can really get someone in that is willing to help everyone out - I'm looking forward to that day.

So the big item of the week - my nephew, Kiel (pronounced Kyle) went through graduation ceremonies today. He has to do one more class to get his diploma (he flunked history), but still got to go through everything. I'm proud of him and what he has accomplished thus far. His story is long and tedious, so I'm not going to get into it. He is my brother's son. I finally met Kiel's mom, Evelyn, and half-sister, Veronica, today. Veronica is close to my age, and has a daughter that is just a year older (yes, that's right) than Kiel. He also has a couple of brothers and another sister, I believe. He didn't tell anyone abou this graduation until pretty much a week before, so the rest of his family couldn't get it together quick enough to come out. As Kiel is in a Tech School program through the high school as well, when he graduates from that, they will all come out for it. I look forward to meeting the rest of them. Although not the best things have happened to Kiel's advantage for most of his life, his family seems pretty cool so far. My brother, on the other hand, is a putz and didn't even show up to the graduation ceremony. Not going to go into all of that either, but its not a nice or pretty thing that has happened. Kiel has been in good hands with the family that took him in and has taken care of him for the past nearly 2 years. I am very grateful that they are there for him. Just wish I would've taken more initiative to help out. Honestly, I don't know that I would have been a very good "mom" type for him, but with Kim having 4 of her own kids, she's pretty good at figuring out what's going on, helps him understand and deal with the issues he goes through and doesn't abuse him in any way, shape or form. He had enough of that before moving in w/Kim. For a kid who first came here very shy and not knowing what to expect, he's come a long way, despite all of the crap he's had to go through with my brother and his wife. I applaud Kiel for sticking it out.

I took Evelyn and Veronica into downtown Denver for the People's Fair after all was said and done (Kiel went into Boulder with a friend to get his last paycheck from his job). They really enjoyed going downtown. I was pretty beat by the time we got done, so home has been a good place to be tonight. I woke up around 6am this morning (internal clock did that, damn it) and was at Broomfield High School by 9am, so I've had a long, busy day.

Tomorrow should be a "work at home" day, I really have some organizing to get done. I'll probably go to the "Y" and work out as well, gotta keep up with my physical therapy as well as my general well-being. I'll probably write more tomorrow, so hasta mañana!