Last year we had a few consecutive days of 100 degree weather. We've only hit that one or 2 times this year so far, but over 90 has been hanging on for awhile (despite a mid to upper 80s break here a week or so ago). I don't know if its because I'm getting older or what, but I just am not able to hang out in the heat. I've been thinking that maybe the peri-menopause has been really kicking in, they say it can last 10 years before menopause actually hits. Ughh - not looking forward to that! Feel like I just can't cool down enough. Nightly cold showers are about to become a regular thing.
The last couple of nights (Thurs and Fri) I hung out with some old friends of mine out at the Chatfield campgrounds. I haven't been able to stay out there, but went out after work each night. It was my friend Donna's B-day on Thursday, so 2 of her sisters, her mom and mom's boyfriend were out there, as well as her son Joey (the kid to whom I credit my nickname) and his friend, Mark. Dena brought out steaks and they cooked up baked potatoes and had salad and a few hamburgers, too. A good meal! It was good to see Dena and Mary, I hadn't seen them in about a year and a half. Well, I'd seen Mary a couple of times, but wasn't at a point where I could catch up to her to say hi.
Last night, I was pretty wound up due to some events at work (more about that later) that had me pretty upset, so met my friend Karin at the Platte River Grill for a quick and dirty drink (tell you what, it sure calmed my ass down - if my blood pressure was high, this was my drug to regulate it!). Then I went out to the lake where we had pasta (sauce and meatballs made by Donna's brother George - the chef of the family) as well as a Cajun boil that George made up with crab, shrimp, corn on the cob, a huge artichoke, etc. Good food and great company. Then we made smores! All in all it was a fun night, with a little bit of family drama mixed in. I really needed to calm down and I accomplished the goal well! It was a beautiful night in the outdoors with a cool breeze blowing and to actually see the stars again. . . wow, reminds me I need to get out into the great outdoors a lot more often!
We went to Sam's Club today to pick up the new Harry Potter book. They were plentiful and cheaper than at the bookstores, a little over $19 after tax. I decided to re-read book 6 first, to reacquaint myself with the previous happenings, before reading this last book. They are such easy reads, but so much is happening that you really need to read them a couple of times to get everything to sink in. I really do enjoy the books. The outcast kid (yet, well known - even if he doesn't know all that know him) who really has to battle to know and understand his identity. Some people look at it as witch craft and therefor, refuse to read or let their kids read the series. People - its JUST A STORY!! If folks would just intrepret what it is really about - hardship and getting through it all because of good friends who stand by you at ALL costs, then they would really understand what the series is about. Heck, a mom who was struggling to raise her kids on welfare wrote this series, I'm sure as a way to really face her own inner struggles as well, and has made the best out of her fortune. Don't these people get it???
Back to reading, tonight is going to be the warmest evening yet. Hope I can sleep . . .
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Been Awhile!
I've taken my time putting anything new on my blog. A lot has happened, so probably need to do this in a few entries.
My cousin Bret came out to Colorado with his friend Shawn. The hotel I got them ended up only having one double bed (it was the Inn Town Suites at Federal and Hampden). The type of hotel it is, they "kind of" take reservations and can't guarantee the type of room you will get - more of a first come, first served deal. It was inexpensive, however, which is all they wanted. Shawn was sick the entire time they were here, he made it out a couple of times. When they got home, he went straight to the hospital to find that he had pneumonia (Bret suspected). He was in for several days.
With that happening, I didn't get to take Bret many places to see many things. They went downtown once and to Gunther Toody's for breakfast (Shawn used to live here, so he still knew a lot of the folks that were working there). I got to take Bret to Loveland with me for a dentist appt, then drove around town a little so I could show him where our old farm used to be. He went to Benson Sculpture Park to see the beautiful statues while I was occupied. We went to the Blue Parrot on south Broadway with my roommate that night for dinner - good Mexican food! That Friday, we went downtown to the Colorado Historical Museum. Only spent an hour there. I'll have to go back, as it is about a 3-4 hour walk around to really see everything. They went back to Ohio that night.
Next time, Bret said he is bringing his best friend Randy out - he's a "cultural" kinda guy, so we'll do some really fun stuff. AND, we'll go into the mountains.
That's all I have to say about that - I'll write more later!
My cousin Bret came out to Colorado with his friend Shawn. The hotel I got them ended up only having one double bed (it was the Inn Town Suites at Federal and Hampden). The type of hotel it is, they "kind of" take reservations and can't guarantee the type of room you will get - more of a first come, first served deal. It was inexpensive, however, which is all they wanted. Shawn was sick the entire time they were here, he made it out a couple of times. When they got home, he went straight to the hospital to find that he had pneumonia (Bret suspected). He was in for several days.
With that happening, I didn't get to take Bret many places to see many things. They went downtown once and to Gunther Toody's for breakfast (Shawn used to live here, so he still knew a lot of the folks that were working there). I got to take Bret to Loveland with me for a dentist appt, then drove around town a little so I could show him where our old farm used to be. He went to Benson Sculpture Park to see the beautiful statues while I was occupied. We went to the Blue Parrot on south Broadway with my roommate that night for dinner - good Mexican food! That Friday, we went downtown to the Colorado Historical Museum. Only spent an hour there. I'll have to go back, as it is about a 3-4 hour walk around to really see everything. They went back to Ohio that night.
Next time, Bret said he is bringing his best friend Randy out - he's a "cultural" kinda guy, so we'll do some really fun stuff. AND, we'll go into the mountains.
That's all I have to say about that - I'll write more later!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
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. . .
Thursday, June 28, 2007
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!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
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!
Sunday, June 17, 2007
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!
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!
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