To Denver and Back

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Yesterday, we left at the crack of dawn for Denver. Dan had a meeting of the Colorado Workforce Development Council. So, we dropped Morgan off and headed up I-25. We had breakfast in Monument at the Village Inn. Not bad food, and we were rather hungry. We got to Denver by 10am, which was a good thing. Why? Because we got LOST. Or to be more exact, we couldn’t find the hotel where the meeting was being held. We finally found it at last. It is one of those dark glass buildings where the name is embossed on it in letters only slightly lighter than the smoked glass of the rest of the building. We found parking for $8 and then walked back to the hotel. Dan went to the meeting and I headed to the 16th Street Mall.

I walked around in various shops and finally made it to the Tattered Cover. I got Dan a copy of Common Sense and us a copy of Terry Pratchett’s latest book, Unseen Academicals. Then I had lunch at the Noodles shop just up from Tattered Cover. Then I went to Barnes and Noble and walked around another bunch of shops. Dan got done with his meeting around 2:30pm and we headed home.

We went shopping at Vitamin Cottage and King Soopers in Pueblo for things we needed for the house and got home around 10pm. We were both so tired, that once we got the groceries put away, we straight to bed. Yawn…

Today it was back to work as usual. I had to wash our bedding as one of the feral cats peed on it. Yuck. Of course that made for a wheezy day for me. Tomorrow is house cleaning day and a volley ball game for Morgan. 🙂 Hopefully, they will do better than they did against La Veta.

Can I buy a Day?

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I know it is Monday, but… I think I need a few extra days this week. I simply can’t figure how to get everything done this week. While there seems to be plenty of time, I keep feeling like I’ve forgotten to write something down and that it will sneak up on me with a resounding thump when I least suspect it. Part of it is the whole Autumn Cleaning Urge. Second of course only to the Spring Cleaning Urge. Part of it is also trying to find places to put bits of furniture, decorations and the like. I picked up more stuff from the other house today. There is also a shuffling of the office to be done once Ian heads off to the Air Force. We are still in limbo about that. argh… I am so sorry that he has to deal with ‘hurry up and wait’.

Work is driving me a bit nuts too. While I don’t mind doing prep-chef work and pastry chef work, I want to be making bread! Pastries! Biscuits! Oh well. I could do with more hours as well. 6 to 9 hours a week just isn’t going to cut it once the winter bills set in. Aieeee!!! I don’t want to have to look for another job, but I might not have a choice. Or, I may have to have a second job. That would be equally frustrating.

Tomorrow, I’m going to Denver with Dan. More as company than anything else. Oh, and an excuse to get out of Walsenburg for a bit. A day in Denver reminds me of ALL the reasons I like to live in a small town. 🙂 I may hit the book stores or the big fabric stores. 🙂 I haven’t been to Denver Fabrics in ages. I could certainly use a new couch cover.

Well, I had best get my arse in gear. Dan should be home in about 15 minutes and it is off to the bank and the store. Wheee…..

Oh, and my computer, while better, is still having some funny glitches. hmmmm….. I may have to get a new one sooner than I expected and give up the laptop for the bone yard. pout!

BTW, would you wrap that day up and make it a Saturday? I could use an extra one!

Where the ‘ell do I start?

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Okay, this is the third time I’ve tried to write this post. Sigh. My computer is having snit fits.

Last week was the Spanish Peaks International Celtic Music Festival.Take a peek at their website!

I did a lot of baking for two bake sales I had promised I’d do for Barbara Yule. Thursday after work, we headed up to the Ceilidh in Gardner. It was wonderful. Lots of good music and almost every act played. Morgan joined us after her volley ball game. Gardner won!
Friday was the picnic at Uptop which is the ghost town at the top of Old La Veta Pass. The bake sale was good and the music great!. That night, we worked the concert at the Fox Theater in Walsenburg. Ed Miller and John Taylor followed by Chris Newman and Mairi NiChathasaigh. Lovely lovely evening.

Saturday, I baked more items and we then went to the concert at the Fox. This time it was the Shamrock Kitchen Quartet. Singing and Sean Nos dancing. Once again a wonderful evening. Sunday we got up early, packed a ton of baked goods into the truck and headed to La Veta for the morning bake sale. We did really good and headed over to the concert with Colcannon Express. Fantastic music. We had a great time. The whole festival was wonderful.

Monday, I woke with a Migraine… Ugggghh… too much sun, not enough water, and stress. Wonderful combo. NOT. I crawled to the aspirin, and Dan brought me the phone so I could call off work. I was in bed most of the day. By about 6pm, I began to feel human. I read a bit and then went back to bed.

Tuesday, I was up and moving, because I had Jury Duty.

I was there by 8:15am. I didn’t expect to be chosen. I was the last juror chosen. We took a lunch break and the trial started at 2:30pm. It was a Domestic Violence type case. We heard all the evidence, saw pics, listened to witnesses. We went into deliberation around 7pm, and they got us dinner. After a lot of deliberation, discussion, agreements, disagreements, and more discussion, we finally decided that while something obviously happened, that there wasn’t enough evidence to convict. We had way too many doubts. So, about 8:45pm, we gave the judge our verdict. You could tell that the DA and the Judge thought we were nuts, but we just couldn’t choose anything other than Not Guilty on the evidence we were given. That whole thing about ‘reasonable doubt” takes on a whole new meaning when you look at the laws. I got a certificate. That was just strange. It even has the court case on it. As I waited for Dan to pick me up, the defendant came out and thanked me as he passed. I just nodded.

I got home at 9:15pm, and was asleep before I could even hit the pillow.

Today I went to work, did a bunch of errands. I met with John and told him again that I want a divorce and sent him a list of stuff I want from the house

Tomorrow I’m going to catch up on the tons of email I have to read and then I’m going to start working on the house. I have a big urge to do Fall Cleaning!!!

Thursday was wonderful, weird and sad.

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Thursday was Dan’s 47th birthday. It was also the day we had to head up to Palmer Lake and have lunch with the Governor. On top of that, it was the day Ian headed for MEPS, the big physical which decides if he can enlist or not in the military. Oh, and my parents left for New Mexico and we are babysitting Elway, the cat.

So,… Up at the crack of dawn. Morgan off to school, and all three of us trying to cycle through the bathroom to get ready to go. 8am, all of us out the door. We dropped Ian off in Pueblo and headed north to Palmer Lake. It was a good thing we were early, because we got lost. The Inn at Palmer Lake might as well be the Bat Cave. It isn’t easy to find at all, even with directions and GPS. One of the women there said her Garmen’s GPS had failed. sigh…

The meeting was great. Governor Ritter signed the Colorado Workforce Development Council into law/being and then we had lunch. The food was okay, and yet not enough. One of the guys at our table asked if everyone was hungrier than they were before lunch. Most were. As it was, we ate in Pueblo on the way home.

After our ‘second lunch’, we drove to Gardner for Morgan’s volleyball game. Gardner was playing La Veta. It was a tighter game than Aguilar, but Gardner’s A and B team were both winners. As a treat, we took Morgan to A&W for a rootbeer float. 🙂 We had a little bit of time with her before she had to head over to her mom’s for the weekend. sigh…

Then it was time for a bit of quiet for Dan and I. I sat down to my computer so I could write and Dan started on school work. There wasn’t any magic smoke, but my computer died. Dan thinks it is the hard drive and we will try and fix it in the next few days. Meanwhile, I am timesharing on his computer. pout… tears… sadness…

Friday Ian enlisted in the Air Force. He isn’t sure when he will ship out as he is waiting for a job opening.

Today we went to the Upper Huerfano to pick choke cherries. The bears had been there first, so we got more rosehips. sigh…

Tomorrow I plan to do a lot of baking for the Spanish Peaks Celtic Festival where I will be holding two bake sales. At least that will keep my mind off the lack of computer.

A cool September morning

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The mornings have been getting cooler, and Autumn is getting closer! I’m harvesting squash out of the garden and finding 101 ways to serve it. 🙂 Tomorrow we are off to the hills to harvest choke cherries. We harvested rosehips last week and most of them were on the edge of over ripe. I didn’t get as many as I’d like, but we will see if there are any up higher.

In a week, the Celtic Music Festival will begin to roll. I have two bake sales to get ready for. Wheeee!!! I’m going to try to do little pies as well as cakes, breads and cookies. First one is at Uptop, the old La Veta Pass ghost town. The second one is in La Veta on Sunday. I’m a bit nervous about this, but looking forward to it too.

A very odd day

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We borrowed my parent’s truck on Friday and went to Pueblo. We had some parts to pick up for a job Dan has on Monday. Plus, we decided to buy some groceries and Morgan needed some school clothes. We ran around and did the job shopping first. Then we went to lunch at Wendy’s. Morgan biffed the door and did the whole spin and land on the floor thing. She felt so ditzy.

Then we went to the ARC. It’s a second hand shop, and while we looked at tons of clothing, the only things we got were a pair of sleep pants for Morgan and 6 tiny bread pans for me. Figured that it would be useful to have them when I do the bake sale for the the Celtic Music Festival in a couple of weeks.

Then we went to Old Navy. Morgan found 2 pairs of jeans, a top and a pair of exercise shorts. After that, we went to Walmart and found her 3 sports bras. All total, about $65 worth of clothing. Sort of an expensive month when we add in the $20 I paid Gardner school so that her athletic fees would be paid. Oh well. Hopefully, I will get some more hours and not be so short on cash the rest of the month.

Then we drove home. It was a crazy day, but a fun one.

Blanca and a Snake

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I forgot two things that happened last week.

First off, we finally found Blanca a new home. She now lives up in the mountains away from the trains and has 35 acres to roam in with a canine friend named George.

Second, we have had a real plague of mice this year. Last week, Dan opened the cupboard under the sink to find a bullsnake sitting there. :::::shudder:::: I am so very glad that Dan found the snake and not me!

Home again, home again…..

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We arrived home at midnight last night. Oh, and of course I had to get up and go to work this morning. Yawn…..Yawn….Yawn…. I’m just a little tired.
I am still laughing about the white thongs and the wedding dress! Plus, the fact that the Justice of the Peace was confused over who was the bride and groom cracked us up. The Chinese buffet was great, and afterwards we went home and relaxed. We had a pizza party and watched movies for dinner. Not the traditional wedding reception, but we didn’t mind.
The next day, the 28th, was Bryan’s birthday. After sleeping in, we goofed around for a while. Then Dan and I went shopping. I got prezzies for the boys… yes, all three. Talon and Gavin got these little dragons. Bryan got more ammo for his Nerf guns. We also grabbed lunch.
Then, Bryan, Katie, the grandbabies and Morgan went to Hebber Lake. They went swimming. Dan and I went with Stefan, Anabell, and some of his friends out to a ranch where he goes hiking. We had a jeep drive and then took a hike. Yes, I took lots of pictures. 🙂
When we got home, we had barbecue. Pork, chicken, eggplant, squash and corn. Yummm… Then we had cake and ice cream. Oh, and lots of beer and other alcohol. Movies were watched and Stefan, Anabell and I went off to a coffee house to meet with some of his friends. It was a nice end to the evening. Funny bit was all of his friends reacting to the ‘oh my god! His mom is Just like He Said she was!!!!’
By the time I got home, Morgan was asleep, and Dan and Bryan were silly drunk. It was so funny. Funny bit was Bry and Dan wrestling. They were about matched.
Next morning, I woke up with a migraine. Dan woke up with a hangover. Tons of aspirin later, we left by 7:30am. Of course we forgot things which Bryan has promised to mail. Sigh…. my teacup… Oh well. The drive was interesting. Trying to deal with a headache in a car is not good, but I survived. It was HOT! I was so glad when the sun went down.
Oklahoma was Still under construction. So were parts of New Mexico. Most of Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico roll up the sidewalks on Sundays. We had a heck of a time trying to find food that wasn’t fast food. Oh well.
Over all, the trip was great. It was lovely to see everyone. However, Arkansas in August is like crawling into a wet hot dryer. Uggghh….. Next time I will go in December, like I did last time.

Arkansas and wedding bells

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Yesterday was one long drive. Oklahoma and I 40 except for OKC, were one long cone zone. Road construction mess. It took us 18 hours instead of 13. Gods were our asses flat!

We arrived at midnight, and everyone woke up. Gavin and Talon weren’t too sure about us, but it was very late. After way too little sleep, we woke to giggles in the hall staring at Nana and Granpa sleeping in the living room.

We got up, showered, ate doughnuts and drank coffee. Then everyone got ready for the wedding. We headed down to the city hall. As we waited in the county office to get the paperwork, another bride and groom came in. I about died…

The bride wore a white strapless minidress. A really cheap prom dress style. That wasn’t so bad. However, the formal White Dress Flipflops got me.

The groom wore a plaid shirt 3 sized too large, South Pole jeans down around his hips and his hair was in a spiked mohawk. All I could hear in my head was “White Trash Wedding” by the Dixie Chics.

The Justice of the Peace was cute. We all walked into his office, and he wasn’t sure who was there to get married… Bryan and Katie, or Dan and I. We were all dressed nicely, and you could see the confusion on his face. Five minutes later, Bryan and Katie were married. I took lots of pics and will post them soon.

After the wedding, we went to the New China Buffet in Searcy. Yum!!! We’ve been relaxing this afternoon, as none of us have too many braincells. Far too sleepy. Katie and Morgan went off to get pizza for dinner. Dan, Bryan and Stefan went off earlier for beer.

Tomorrow is still up in the air. Something about jeeps, shooting and beer. LOL…

What a crazy day!

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We tried to sleep in! Then Brandy wanted our attention. We got ready for a leisurely day… hahahahahahaha!!! Silly us.

Apparently the phone rang at nine. We didn’t know. At 10am, Erin rang to see if we could help Morgan move. I said yes, and started to get ready to go down and help. Hahahahaha. I checked the phone because it said we’d missed a call. The restaurant had called. Karen needed me to bake.

So, I showered and headed to work. Made bread, two coconut cream pies and did a lot of people ‘mopping up’. A refrigerator blew a coil or something and died. So, everyone was a bit frantic. Ooooooommm……. Lots of smiles, backrubs, grounding and other energy work along with the cooking. Phew! Ate lunch and finally got home around 3pm. Took a brief rest and tried to catch up on all the other calls I’d missed.

Meanwhile, when I was gone, Barbara Yule called with computer issues, and my Dad came by. He had pictures for the La Plaza Inn website for Dan.

I made arrangements with Pauline to pick up her washer and dryer and then called John to meet us at the house Morgan and Erin were renting. By 5pm, I finally had everyone in place. Wooohooo!!!! After that, I picked up some stuff that I’m taking to Stefan and Bryan in Arkansas. Gads those books are heavy.

Now to go do some sewing. I have jeans to hem for $$ and then I have two dresses to sew for the trip. Wheee…. If I am lucky, the only things I will have tomorrow will be a Huefano County Cat Coalition meeting and then helping Morgan and Erin pack. sigh….