Priorities

Larry has been working late all this week. I asked if he was working late again tonight.

"Plan on having dinner by yourself."

"Unless I invite my boyfriend over."

"That's fine."

"What? You are supposed to be mad and the jealous type."

"Just don't let him in my toolroom."

So, apparently, I am up for grabs, just don't think there's a bandsaw in it for you, too. My husband sets the rules around here.

Inventive Rappers

I just saw an ad for a new album that is out by Flo Rida. That is a sweet rapper name! I think that only rappers can get away with these witty names for themselves without sounding dorky. Rappers and American Gladiators, that is.

What would your sweet rapper name be?

Colo - RAD - o! Man, I'm clever!

So, never got to tour New Belgium, stupid brewery hours, but we did get to spend Friday evening with my Aunt shopping for Indian music cd's, having a super tasty Indian dinner, and talking a ton. It was great to see her and we totally appreciated the 5 hour drive she made to see us for one night.

Saturday morning we got up and and checked out early. We took the longer route back towards the airport, drove through Loveland (stopped for breakfast at "The Egg and I", a breakfast chain in CO - delicious!), then continued through Boulder, finally cutting across north of Denver, back to the hotel. It's decided - we want to live in Colorado. It was so beautiful there! Not sure if and when it would happen, but we both loved it there.

The First and the Last

I preface this post with the fact that I have never done one of these chain-email-send-to-all-your-friends type lists before, and I never will again.

10 Things You May Not Know About Me

1. 9 times out of 10, I would choose potato salad over ice cream.
2. I hate when people perform "at" me, whether it be singing or dancing, unless of course, its your job. I have one friend in particular that has been told this for years, but does not relent.
3. I do not believe in the insanity plea as a means of getting out of the death penalty, I believe it is a reason for it.
4. I want to be a fly girl on "In Living Color".
5. I still think that I will be rich "when I grow up".
6. I was breast fed until I was old enough to say "I want breast".
7. I like typing with quotes, using air quotes, and saying "quote, unquote".
8. As a kid, I used to day dream about having to live off the land or on the streets by myself, and make due with whatever I could find. I would pack a bag in my room with a tent, some food and all the money I had. I never planned on running away, and I wasn't unhappy, I just romanticized the idea of it. I still think it would be neat to take a survivalist class.
9. I don't know of a food that I don't like, except for white chocolate. I think it tastes like eating sugary wax. Oh, and peanut butter cookies. Yuck!
   
10. I named my elbows Lebow (left) and Nelbow(right). I was 14.
    

Ft. Collins

Greetings from Colorado!

We've been having a great time here in Ft. Collins. The weather started out a little cold (4 degrees), but it has been clear and sunny every day. I love being on Mountain time, but working on Eastern time, since my workday ends at 3PM. We visited Chelsea and Ryan in Boulder and had super tasty beers at the Mountain Sun brewery, even if it was run by hippies (seriously- what restaurant does not take credit cards?). We plan to have dinner at Coopersmith Brew Pub tonight and tour New Belguim Brewery tomorrow.

View from our hotel room/ my office



Beautiful Sushi restaurant that I "paparazzied" in Boulder

Playing Catch Up

This past week has been incredibly busy for me. 10 hour workdays (at least, one was 15) and then a trip to the Poconos to visit friends Friday night through Sunday morning. Larry and I had a great time visiting friends that we have known since high school. We hiked, played games, ate a lot and laughed a lot. I got to see pregnant Jenny K. for the first time (she is now 4 months in and she is "showing") and meet Jenn K.'s new chocolate lab puppy, Trigger. (Seriously, other Jen's, couldn't you have found soul mates with last names that started with different letters? Like having three Jen's in our group wasn't confusing enough.) Trigger and Jezebel had a great time running up and down the trails through the snow, romping through the creeks, and eating icicles. They were the highlight of the hike.

In other news, I have enrolled in a Glass Blowing class. It's in Baltimore at McFadden's Art Glass (thanks for the keen eye, Amanda) and through the Continuing Education department of the Community College of Baltimore County. I have always been enamored with glass blowing, and would spend the entire day at Colonial Williamsburg or the Renaissance Festival watching the glass blowers, if Larry would let me. I will learn how to do it and also how to design pieces. I am not sure how many items I will create, but if I like it, they offer Advanced classes and the ability to rent the studio, if I want to make my own stuff. Class starts on February 16th- Wish me luck!

Larry and I are flying out to Ft. Collins, CO tomorrow until Sunday for a Larry business trip/mini vacation. I am looking forward to the quaint Old Town area and all the breweries (even if I don't partake much) and seeing my Aunt Donna, who will be coming up from Southern Colorado, where she and my uncle live, to visit us on Friday night. It should be a good time.

Just for fun, here's a pic of my Aunt Donna working off prison time as a dog groomer:

Letter to Exxon Mobile

Dear Inventor of the Speedpass,

I recently came upon an advertisement for your product and was amazed.

I would like to personally thank you for ending what has been one of the most harrowing aspects of operating a moving vehicle; the purchase of gas. For too long, I have been forced to navigate a complicated series of levers, dials, buttons, and switches to refuel. This has exhausted me sometimes to the point of lightheadedness (although the doctors keep telling me it is because I position my nose inches above the gas valve while its filling so that I can enjoy the pleasant petrol-rich aroma, but really, what do doctors know?)

Considering that most of the reason that I pull into a gas station has less to do with needing gas and more to do with needing a break from all that thinking that driving requires, you can understand my appreciation. I am now able to check out and fill up at the same time. Your innovation even surpasses the automatic fuel shut-off at the pump, since, while overfilling and dumping gas on the ground at a gas station is mildly dangerous, its mostly a problem for smokers, and in the end, they are gonna die anyway. You'd think they would prefer the exciting, fiery conflagration of a gas station blaze to the slow, wheezy suffocation of emphysema. Smokers- you can thank Auto-Shut Off Inventor for stealing your Out-With-A-Bang glory.

Speedpass Inventor, I salute you. Now, I can focus on what really matters. Televison.

Regrets are for Horseshoes and Handbags

Sorry I have been MIA for the last few days. Work has been crazy busy. I do have one story for you.

Yesterday, I was on a conference call with my boss and some clients. They are very dense and have awful communication skills. So we spend over an hour on the phone while they complained about how the other people in their office don't know anything and the system isn't doing what they want BLAH. BLAH. BLAH. About 20 minutes into to call, I hear what sounds like a bucket of water getting poured out in the other room. I run to it and find Putty in the bathroom, wet footprints all over and a huge spray of water everywhere. Her butt was wet, so it was obvious that she fell in. I was still on this call, so I couldn't react, but man, it would have been so funny to see her fall in. It sounded like she fell in, the struggled to get out and was splashing all around. When the call was over, I IM'ed my boss to bitch about how difficult our clients are. I told him the story of the cat falling in the toilet, to which he replied "Don't blame her. There were a few times during that call when I wanted to stick my head in the toilet."

We live in the Bahamas

The current weather is identical to the weather I experienced in the Bahamas in December a few years ago. I thought about how odd that it must be for the islanders to have Santa decorations and Christmas lights in such a warm climate. Now I know that it is a little odd, but its also a lottle awesome.

Sickeningly American

Today, as I left the house, I saw a dog sauntering toward me down the sidewalk. A car was rolling next to the dog, with its window down. As he rolled past me, I asked the driver if he was trying to catch the dog, or "herd" it home. "No, the dog has a hip disorder, so he needs to walk a lot." Only Americans would use a car to "walk" the dog.

Resolutions

By putting finger to key, I hope to keep myself focused on my goals for myself this year.

1. Sew more. Learn how to make clothing, since currently all I can think to make is home goods, like pillows and curtains and dog beds. Oh and purses, which I would like to make more of.

2. Craft. Use all the kits that I have purchased in my AC Moore addiction. Silk-screening, soap making, jewelry making. They all sound fun, I just need to motivate.

3. Create an Etsy store with actual items on it. This requires that I complete some items from Resolutions 1 or 2.

4. Keep the house clean and organized. Focus on fixing things up instead of only doing the surface work.

5. Stop watching so much TV. Although most of what I watch is educational, I hate feeling like I just sat around all day when I could have been productive. (It's taking 27 years, Mom, but your message is finally starting to sink in.)

6. Take more quality pictures.

I'll keep you posted on how I am doing. What are your resolutions?