Monday Morning Fuzzies

After the hectic pace of last week and a weekend spent in Littleton, my brain refuses to get online. sigh.

Friday morning we left early for the Denver Metro Area. Our first stop around noon was our hotel. It was the Hilton Garden Inn. Oh my gods, what a clusterΒ  F&)(c(*)(*!!! We booked the room through Priceline.com. Paid for it on December 6th. This is rather normal for us, as we do our best to get a good deal on a room. And to be honest, we’ve been going to Denver a lot lately on business. We started checking in when the clerk asked for payment, and refused to register us. We explained that we had paid on line over two weeks previous. “Sorry, we never do it that way”, was her line. That started a 90 minute disagreement. We had proof that we’d paid online. Emails, bank statement, etc. She wouldn’t budge. We asked for the manager. “Sorry, he’s gone for the holidays”. Grrrrr….. So, we paid again. This stay had just hit the $200+ mark. We normally pay about $80. Her only consolation was that she gave us tickets for breakfast, as they don’t do a free one. Whee…. $40 worth of breakfasts. We were not impressed.

However, the disagreement had taken so long that we left without ever going up to the room. Instead, we went straight to David and Mari’s house. We had cooled off a bit on the drive over and spending time with David and Mari mellowed us right out. We chatted about knitting while Dan worked on Mari’s laptop. Around 3:45 we had to head out the door in order to be to my sister’s house on time for dinner. Lots of hugs and kisses and promises to be back soon. πŸ™‚

We made it to my sister’s house in 32 minutes. Not bad for across town at the beginning of rush hour on Christmas Eve. Dinner was deli stuff, beer, wine and …drumroll… Cheesecake!!!! Now, you have to understand that I can’t eat dairy of any kind. However, my clever sister Lori made me a SOY cheesecake using a Martha Stewart recipe! Oh my gods it was good. We ate until we were ready to burst and then spent lots of time looking at old pictures that my Dad took. It was a really good evening.

We went back to the hotel, which was an alright room, but not as good as others we have stayed at. We had a cup of tea, a shower and then crawled in bed. The fridge kicked on every 30 minutes with enough noise to wake us up. We tried to sleep in to make up for various long nights and it didn’t work. Between the noisy fridge and a very hard bed, neither of us slept well. We were up by 8am. We got dressed and headed down to breakfast. That was nice. A buffet of fruit, pastries, cereals, and eggs/meat to order. We had omelets, fruit, juice and coffee. Afterwards we headed to Lori’s house in Littleton.

Lori’s was a beehive of activity. Bill was working the smoker while Lori, Mom, Dan and I worked on the rest of the feast. Dad was being a holiday paparazzi taking photos like mad. πŸ™‚ Maybe that should have been Papa-razzi. πŸ™‚ Lori was doing her best to see how many times she could put rabbit ears behind people’s heads.

We opened presents before lunch. Everyone liked the hats I made. I was a bit nervous that Sean wouldn’t care for a lime green polar fleece hat, but he liked it. Mom and Dad loved their book. Dan got Kobolt tools and a tiny pair of vice grips. I got a beautiful Talavera serving bowl. Dad of course took more pictures

Around 3:30pm, we sat down to a dinner of barbecued smoked pork, beef tenderloin, grilled chicken, potatoes au gratin, sweet potato casserole, home made bread, green beens and hominy, and cranberry chutney. It was heavenly. Once again, ate way too much. And yes, I had another piece of the cheesecake as well as a slice of the orange cake that Lori made. Dad took pictures at meal time and had Dan take some too, so that everyone would be in the pictures.

In an effort to not explode, Dan and I went for a walk around my old neighborhood. We went down to the Sundial/Rose Garden and then to Sternes Park. We scared the geese into the lake and had a good time. When we got back, Lori had a game for us to play… Apples to Apples. It was fun, and I won twice. LOL. Afterwards we watched the last quarter of the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals football game. It was really good. However, it was late and we were all sleepy. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel. I will have to return a plate to Lori as I have the last of the cheesecake!!!

When we got back to the hotel, I went to make a cup of tea. No tea cups, no spoon. We looked everywhere. Everything else was where we had left it, but not the tea cups. I went down to the desk and complained. Okay, I stormed down to the desk and growled. The clerk blinked, stammered and went to see if our cups were in the kitchen. He found them and our spoon. His explanation for the removal of our cups were that they looked like the hotel dishes… WRONG. Sorry, Walmart gold and brown cups with a leaf pattern on them and a 1960’s spoon do not look like industrial silverware and Black cups and White plates. GRRRRRrrrr….. We were not pleased. Oh, and Dan figured out what was going on with the fridge. When they put it in the little cupboard, they forgot to tighten down the board that holds it in place and keeps it from vibrating out of the cupboard. He tightened it up and it was quiet. Sigh… So, we washed our cups, had tea and watched the second Mummy movie with Brendan Fraser.

Next morning, we did sleep in a bit, but were still down in time for breakfast. That bed was way too hard to be comfortable!!! We packed up and left by 11am. Home to Walsenburg by 2pm. I swear that there were spy cameras, because we no sooner walked in than the phone started ringing. We finally got to return the truck to Dad around 3pm. We had dinner at Subway, because neither of us wanted to cook. We cleaned up the Christmas stuff, and unpacked from the trip. After that, Dan did some work and I played around on the computer. We were so tired, that we crawled into bed by 9.

And now for a little Christmas past…

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Wind, eclipses and Yule!

The wind has been blowing hard enough to toss all the loose bits in any yard clear to Kansas. Lots of semi’s flipped on I-25 in the last day or two. Only good thing was that the wind blew all the clouds away and we got to see the lunar eclipse. It was really cool.

Today is Solstice and the beginning of Yule. πŸ™‚ Here are pictures of our decorations. πŸ™‚

 

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Snow!!!

We got about 6 inches of the stuff by morning. Morgan was disappointed that school was not canceled. She had great hopes of watching Babylon 5. Oh well.

Here are some pictures. The cat is one of the ferals we call Red Tom. The rest were taken from the top of the stairs or on the sidewalk.Dan of course is doing the shovel work.

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INside sports for Snowy Days

Not what you think! Geeze some people have dirty minds!

It finally snowed. So, none of us have felt like going outside. Not even Brandy.

So, today was rearrange the furniture day. We did this 6-8 months ago, and I had one plan and Dan had another. Guys won that time. This time, we did what I suggested a while back. I think it looks good. Dan is happy. The house looks much more open.

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Dads and Daughters

Yesterday, Dan and I went with my Mom and Dad to Colorado Springs. Dad went to Memorial Hospital for a bladder biopsy. He was nervous and I don’t blame him. He had bladder cancer and this was a checkup to make sure that everything was still gone. One he was all ready, Dan, Mom and I went to get some lunch. Funny bit is that Mom had two older men with white beards hit on her. One even had a Santa Hat on and asked her if she’d been good. Of course, she said. LOL.

Dad got the biopsy done and then we headed home. We stopped at Bingo Burger for dinner. We enjoyed it, but Dad had trouble tasting food, so he and Mom will probably go another time to see if he likes it. Dad was also a bit loopy on the pain meds, but it was okay. We got home around 8pm.

Today was busy. Dan and I went to the County Commissioner’s meeting and Dan introduced himself as the South Central Workforce Chair and gave them an update on what has been going on in Workforce. After that, we got a few things done including a little bit of rearranging in the living room/office area. Then around 5pm, we headed for Gardner. Tonight was their Holiday program. Since there were so many kids/families of different religions, they chose a non-Christmas theme. Instead they celebrated Mexican culture. Lots of kids singing songs in English and Spanish as well as a small play about a fiesta. Morgan was the Iguana who organized everything. It was a riot, especially when she turned and hit her head and then fell over the screen that the stage hands moved too close to her. It looked like part of the play, while it really was a accident. However, she laughed and made it look like it was planned. She has a bump on her head, and that is about it. The whole program was wonderful. Afterwards, we all had cookies and treats that the families brought. John and Beth came up with Logan, so I got to see my grandson. πŸ™‚ He is so like his dad.

We got home around 9pm, and Morgan is now doing homework for finals and Dan is doing classwork too. I’m catching up on my blog and then bedtime. Yawn!!!

Calm-er?

Sort of. Maybe. Perhaps… It was a bit calmer this last week. We still had computer jobs, but most of them were in town. La Plaza needed their cash till adjusted. Marianne needed her ‘well computer’ checkup and we had a school board meeting to attend. Oh, and I did up about 40 holiday cards. Not too bad all total.

Friday were a bit hectic. I started off my morning by meeting John at the bank to notarize the separation agreement for the divorce. Also got my name taken off of the joint account. I paid the water bill, filed the separation agreement, mailed off umteen holiday cards, and went to George’s to get breakfast for us. We love sausage pete’s with green chile strips. Yummmmm.

Saturday,I got up early and went for a job interview at La Plaza for the new First Choice grocery store. I think it went well, but have to wait for the next interview and the store to have the construction finished. Then we borrowed my parent’s pick up truck and drove up to Canon City. We went to visit Adam, Judith and Brendan. They have a house up above Canon City. They have a micro farm. Geese, ducks, chickens, pigs, goats, dogs and cats. πŸ™‚ Dan fixed Jude’s computer and we all had a great visit.

After we left, we headed to Pueblo to get a few groceries. Funny bit is that we saw John and Beth in Walmart! LOL.

I have to admit that some of panic and stress I have been dealing with over the job situation and the divorce have finally settled. After two weeks of not being called in to La Plaza, I figure I’m done. Her business, her choices. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. Meanwhile, I’m applying for other jobs and trying to drum up business for LoboSavvy. As for the divorce… I filed my financial paperwork on time before the December 3rd deadline. John managed it on the 9th. His delays in doing that is what prompted me to push for filing the separation agreement on Friday. Next week is slated to be busy and I didn’t want to mess up the filing date of December 15th. So…. it is now done. Nothing else to do until the court sets a date. For all intensive purposes I’m as divorced as I can get until the Judge drops the gavel.

Big Deep Breath!!!

Not to continue to de-stress. Next big event is Xmas with the family in Littleton. Dan and I have made reservations at a hotel and are borrowing the truck again to go up. Mom and Dad will stay with Lori. Should be fun. Hopefully, I’ll get to see Mari and David again too. The rest of today is going to be a take it easy day. Too damn cold to do much else.

Life in the Crazy Lane

Or how I spent the rest of my week.

Wednesday we packed and headed to Colorado Springs for Dan’s conference. We stopped in Pueblo for a Bingo Burger. Yum!!!! We stayed at the Crown Plaza and while it is a rather posh hotel, it wasn’t as nice as some we’ve stayed in over the last month. Dan ran off to his meetings while I showered and then curled up in a chair with my book. Ah, heaven. After a bit, I went to Subway for dinner and Dan came back around 9pm.

Thursday we were up early and Dan headed off to his meetings. I packed up the room and then settled in a corner of the huge lobby near a fireplace and a power plug. I settled in with my newspaper and book. Around 9am, I went up to talk to a guy about a Youth Council that is a part of Workforce. Afterwards, I plugged in my computer and went to work reading emails and writing stories. Around 10am, the lights flickered and then went out. Hmmm…. the fire was lit, my laptop had a battery, and I was fine. I got to watch the hotel staff run around like headless chickens handing out glow sticks and trying to find out why the lights went out. Apparently an area of Colorado Springs had a power outage. I scared the hell out of a hotel staff member when she walked past me and didn’t notice me. She screamed. I smiled, and said I was okay. Later on, a staff person gave me a glow stick and a bottle of water. Power finally came on an hour later.

Dan finished his meeting around noon and we headed to Denver. Dan got himself added to more state boards functions. LOL… He should never volunteer… teeheehe…. Our hotel was once again not a good as some of the others, but a free dinner buffet and breakfast were bonuses. We ran some errands, saw MegaMind in 3-D which was a hoot, and then went to bed early.

Friday, we slept in, had a good breakfast and then ran a few more errands while waiting for our client’s computer to arrive. We found a really great restaurant called the Beruit Grill. Heavenly food! Our client’s computer finally arrived and we headed over to sent it up and get everything running on her system. We finished around 9pm and then drove home. It was a long day. We got home and in bed by 1am.

Saturday was spent running on inertial. We returned Dad’s truck, worked on La Plaza’s cash till and then did some shopping. The household cupboard was BARE! After that, I did laundry. Skunky clothes as well as everything from the trip made for a ton of laundry. We talked about Alpha Dog and LoboSavvy over dinner and then crashed early.

Today is suppose to be quiet. LOL… We shall see.