No. 13: Thanksgiving at the Beach

No. 13: Thanksgiving at the Beach


Below is the post I wrote a week before Thanksgiving, scheduled to post on the Tuesday before Turkey Day.   So much for making plans. 


It's funny how things work out.

When I put No. 13 on the list, I always assumed it would be Thanksgiving in Florida with Belle or maybe another Thanksgiving in Cozumel like we did as a family when the kids were little.  I even considered Thanksgiving in Galveston.   But that's about as far as my mind went when it came to beaches.

And then someone new sees the list and says "Hey. I can help with Thanksgiving at the beach."

Which is how I'm ending up spending this Thanksgiving at the beach in Oregon!

A totally new state for me.
Certainly a new beach.
And with a lot of family, none of it my own.

It's hard with three kids in three different states.
The Big Guy doesn't really like to fly.
Bunny has to work the day after Thanksgiving.
Belle has already done Texas this month and has travel plans for December, so she isn't leaving Florida.

Where I live in Colorado is really hard to get to.

So. Thanksgiving at the beach in Oregon.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and I will report back on No. 13.

Instead, on the day that I was supposed to drive to Denver to meet my friend Diana for lunch before flying out on Monday, I woke up with a fever. And cramps. And ...ahem...intestinal distress. And when I stood up...I fell down. I now know the meaning of "orthostatic". It isn't much fun.  Then my intestines decided that a good ol' bleed would get my attention.

A quick call to my sweet neighbor and off I went to the ER while Carlos was whisked away to his pre-set date with the kennel.   Texts to my travel companion and my lunch date were quick and to the point.  "Change of plans...." 

The rest of Sunday I pretty much slept. When I was awake I told anyone who would listen that I had a flight scheduled for Monday. They all shook their heads "no" . Lots of poking and prodding and IVs produced no answers, only the promise of an upper AND lower GI  Scope for Monday morning. I didn't care- that's how drained I was. 

When I returned from my adventure in GI scoping on Monday, Diana was waiting in my room. Everyone needs a friend like that. No questions asked...just "I'm coming."   She stayed with me all day, asking questions, listening, making sure we understood the doctors. Of course, they weren't saying anything beyond "You aren't getting on a plane. You could have any of these things. We really don't know what's up. You could bleed to death."  I lost lots of blood apparently.  (Sometimes ignorance is bliss because the numbers meant nothing to me but made my nurse co-workers raise their eyebrows when I told them my hemoglobin numbers.)

By Monday afternoon my flight had been rescheduled for Wednesday, I was feeling much better and could almost stand up without falling over. Three out of three doctors still said "You aren't flying anywhere."

Never underestimate the power of a woman on a mission. 

Tuesday morning I felt even better, could totally stand upright on my own and still no one could give me an answer as to what went wrong.  One doctor came in and said "Crohn's Disease, no question." but Diana and I dismissed him immediately. That didn't sound like a diagnosis I wanted.  I was still getting on a plane Wednesday afternoon.

By lunchtime the doctors were wavering. There was no reason to keep me. Their choice was to release me to my cabin in the  woods where there was at least a foot of new snow on the ground, no food in the house (I was supposed to be gone for the week, remember?) and no one around except the cat, who does NOT know how to dial 911 ..OR... have Diana drive me to the airport, pour me onto the plane, have me picked up on the other end where I would be surrounded by people who would keep an eye on me and require me to do absolutely nothing.  Guess who won!?

Oregon was lovely and sunny and the sunset on the West coast was amazing and the people were welcoming and I rested and ate and walked on the beach and worked jigsaw puzzles. 

This is how I spent the afternoon.

Drawing in front of the fireplace. 

Saturday night I got a call from the doctor. Ischemic colitis. Random, probably a one time thing. 
Sunday I flew home. 

I promise, I was VERY thankful. 

Life's a Challenge

Life's a Challenge...

and I don't mean that in a bad way, at all.  But I have been thinking about how I haven't done ANY of my Sixty by Sixty challenges in ages.  The List remains incomplete and unused.

BUT.  I have challenged myself a couple of different ways recently.  So maybe my challenges are just going to be more internal for a bit rather than activities or places.

My most significant challenge has been asking for, bargaining for and finally getting a much needed pay increase.  It's taken a few months and means I will have to change employers (although not actual jobs which is confusing but that's the way it is...) but it also means that not only am I getting a pay increase, but so are the two nurses that I work with.

The view out my work window.

A good reason to love my job.

I realized at my yearly review that I better be happy with the standard 3% increase as no one was going to say "Great job! We need to give you 20% more than you are already making."
At least not unless I asked.  
And I was NOT happy with 3%. I work my tail off, I'm a great employee and I have gone above and beyond this past year. So I said, no,  don't think so, I need more and outlined why in an email. A lot of back and forth but finally they came up with an agreeable amount.
Lessons learned?
Know your value.
And the one I always tell the kids: If you don't ask, the answer is always "no".


The other thing that I have had to challenge myself with is driving in the snow. I mentioned in the last post how Colorado was kind to me last year. Not so this year. There have been a few good snows, some ice and tons of cold weather. Over New Year's Eve I drove to Denver to stay with my friend Diana. It snowed all day on New Year's Eve, with about 2 or 3 inches accumulating in Denver.  BUT! At the cabin the inches of snow were piling up. Fifteen of them at least.

Snow from Diana's deck in Denver. 

An inch or so....manageable.

On New Year's Day I had to make the decision... drive home through the passes or through the canyon? Two ways to get from Point A to Point B and I had to weigh the pros and cons of each.  I've had scary drives going both ways. Drives that involved cars going off the road, cars going into the river, cars going into the mountains. Part of me wanted to just say "Eh, I'll wait and drive back to the cabin on Wednesday when the snow has melted." But my time off is limited and I needed to be brave.

Snow at the cabin.

Deep.

The mountain pass won and guess what?  It was a piece of cake. The anticipation of the drive was WAY worse than the reality. Roads were clear, snow packed in a few places, but the most dangerous part of the trip was pulling out of the Stop and Rob after getting gas. By the time I arrived home there were close to 18 inches of snow on the ground but my driveway had been cleared by the neighbor.
Lesson learned?
Like Nike™ says "Just do it."

Food. Salmon and brussel sprouts to be exact. Both über popular and neither my faves. I have tried salmon  many many times in an effort to acquire a taste for it, but nope.
It's ubiquitous.
People like to make it for meals. It's good for you. Ugh. I just couldn't.  But like a good girl, I've kept trying.

Finally, at my favorite restaurant in town, I tasted my companion's maple glazed salmon and then tasted again.  And again. Surprise! It tasted good.  Have my taste buds changed? Not sure. Have not had the opportunity to try salmon again but I'm willing to give it a go.

An acquired taste, I think.

But these were pretty good. 

Same with brussel sprouts. They really DON'T taste that great but I've had them prepared creatively enough that I can tolerate them. I recently had Brussel sprouts with bacon, parmesan, and cashews. YUM. Maybe it was the bacon that elevated them. Isn't everything better with bacon? They were so yummy that I made Brussel sprouts for dinner last night . Mine had balsamic vinegar and honey. Again, they were pretty yummy.
Did my taste buds change? Maybe.
Lesson learned?
Tastes change. For many things. Never quit tasting. Or experimenting.

So. Challenges. Not on a list. But little mountains to climb. And plant my flag on top.

My mountains.

My flag. 

June 18th

June 18th,  9:16am

Well.
Here's the deal.
It's summer in Colorado and there are a million more things I want to do than sit in front of a computer. I do that at work. If I had a laptop and could sit outside and write, I would do it. But I don't. I have a big ass desk top computer that sits upstairs and an iPad and neither one of those works for writing on this blog.
So this morning I will do a wrap up of the last 6 weeks or so...

I saw a fireball. Seriously. A meteor that went over my head, no more than 50 feet away it seemed. Probably more but literally so close I was amazed, confused, and somewhat thinking I was hallucinating. But I saw it. Over the road, into the woods next to me. It wasn't dark, just almost so. Carlos and I were walking, he stopped, I turned to look at him and there was a softball size ball of fire just arcing over the road and off it went into the woods. I waited for a forest fire but it didn't happen. Logically I should have marked the spot or gone into the woods to look for it....but instead we walked on as if nothing had happened. Then I came home and googled to see if it was possible to see what I saw. And of course it was. Meteors arc through the sky all the time. I see them at night, early morning.  Frequently they will survive their entry into the atmosphere and land, burning up as they approach the earth. So why couldn't one land near me? It did.

There was a Kentucky Derby party in Twin Lakes at the wonderful old Twin Lakes Inn. Hats and ties required, mint juleps served. Love making new friends.  And how cool that Justify went on to win the Triple Crown!

Guess which hat won the prize?

Not mine!

I went to Denver and stayed with friend Diana. She invited two other ladies over, one known to me, one not, and it was a wonderful dinner/wonderful evening filled with champagne (me)/ margaritas (them ) and lots of laughter and great stories. Dinners with friends are THE BEST.   A trip to Costco netted some gorgeous geraniums that the deer promptly ate as soon as I got them home. They are just now recovering.

Beautiful table, beautiful friends, fabulous food. 

Dinner in Denver with Diana, Laurie and Pam.

While I was in Denver, a bear came by and knocked down my hummingbird feeders and broke them. He visited neighbor Sue's house also and broke all of her feeders. So. Bird food and hummer food put away for a bit.

Kaiser, the carved bear, had nothing to do with these shenanigans.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married. A high school friend that lives further north in Colorado came to visit and we got up at 3:30am, put on our WalMart veils, mixed up mimosas and watched the spectacle.  That was also the last time I turned the TV on. What a beautiful wedding and the gospel choir could not have been more magical.  Susan and I managed to make it out to dinner in Salida on Saturday night...again fabulous food, fun dinner and great company. I truly have the best friends...new and old.

Shallots in Salida.

Drinks and food at the bar.

Me and Susan enjoying a Saturday night. 

A Saturday was spent with a friend in his little convertible Beemer driving to Red Cliff for lunch at the only restaurant in town. Beautiful way to spend an afternoon and I got to watch Ole Miss play baseball during lunch.

Great old building outside the only restaurant in Red Cliff, 

Mango's Mountain Grill.

No mangos on the menu that day, though. 

Tried to hook Bunny up with some of the baseball players from Ole Miss but she kept texting me back that they all had girl friends. But they were so cute!   Irrelevant in that Bunny's friend boy was just signed by the Red Sox and she was there for the draft. Exciting for all.

Isn't this an adorable picture? 

This boy has worked so hard to get to the big leagues. 

And no, Bunny does NOT get to be on WAGS.

Belle has been working on finding her own path. She spent a week in Florida attending Private Flight Attendant Training School. Doesn't she look the part? 

Belle being business like!

If you have a private jet that needs a flight attendant, she's your girl.  She knows her flight safety, how to plate your cheeses and crudités and, in a pinch, how to kill someone. 

And.... work is the pits. Old doctor gone. Now we have the "Doctor of the Day". Understandably the patients are upset and confused. The big mucky mucks sent out a letter that confused everyone even more. I spent my days in May doing nothing but explaining where the old doctor was, who the new doctors will be, what will happen now and what I can and cannot do. Exhausting.

So. There you have it.

This may be the last post for the summer.  As this is my first full year with four seasons I am finally "getting" it.  In the winter you hunker down, light a fire, eat comfort food, read a lot, watch Hallmark movies (ok, maybe that is just me) and wait for the sun to reappear.

Once it is Spring (we kinda skipped over that this year) you enjoy some pretty days followed by dumps of snow that melt quickly and more pretty days.  Garden planning starts, weeds get pulled, beds prepared.

Now we have hit summer with full force and it gets dark about 9pm, light at 5:45am.  I come home from work, walk the dog, make dinner which is eaten outside at either the beautiful blue table or on the porch at the little mosaic one, play in the yard, visit with the neighbors and discover it is past my bedtime. Morning comes too quickly.   But I know this too will change once we hit the summer solstice and the days go back to getting shorter.   In the meantime....I intend to enjoy all of the Colorado summer I can.

Don't you want to have dinner with me here? 

Come on!

This weekend is FIBArk. Friday night I have plans to see Devon Allman/Duane Betts play live- second generation Allman Brothers. Under the stars, next to the river, mountains in the background and all free. Last weekend was camping and fishing. (One fish caught, one rattlesnake avoided, lots of sun baked into my skin.) And repeat....
(Previous FIBArk posts so you know what the party is about HERE and HERE.)

Fall will not be much different, just requiring more clothes, a little flannel, red wine instead of Lemon Drops or champagne, until the evenings close too early and the chill gets too much.
Until then...

Magic on a Saturday Night or No. 63: Another Restaurant

Magic on a Saturday Night: No:63 Again


One of the things I did in November when I was in Colorado was go visit my friend Diana in Denver. Her house was our getaway when we needed civilization after a month or so at the little cabin in the woods. Even when she was living in China, she graciously left her house available so Bunny and I could visit and get our dose of Target, hair cuts and mani/pedis. Some things are just better in the big city.

My request to Diana for our quick weekend was a dinner out some place that required heels. Or at least a place where a little bit of a dress up wouldn't seem out of place. That's harder than you think in Denver where pretty much jeans will take you everywhere.

Diana had been craving a steak dinner and that sounded good to me so she made us reservations. But it was a surprise! She wouldn't share where we were headed, only that we were going downtown.

The November weather was lovely (and unseasonably warm) so we parked and walked to our dinner destination.

Here's where the magic came in.

Excuse the blur...I was too excited to take pics!

First: Dinosaurs!  TWO Tyrannosaurus  Rexes walking down the street. Honest. I was so tickled.
I got my picture with them but was so excited I forgot to ask just what they were doing out and about.

Dinos so large they got their heads cut off. 

A few more blocks down and we spy a Lamborghini.

Drool. 

Is that the sexiest thing ever? 

Okay, in Houston that is not so unusual. Lots of money, lots of flat streets, no random rocks on the road, no snow. But in Denver, Lamborghinis are kinda rare. Driving in the snow can be a problem when your car only has a five inch road clearance. Anyway.... one Lamborghini.  Then another.

Notice there are Lamborghinis on both sides of the street. 

Then....SIXTEEN of them.   All parked in front of the Ritz Carlton hotel.  So gorgeous. And exotic. Since Bunny is such a car nut I had to take pics.

Rows of Lamborghinis. 

At $200K a pop, that's a few million dollars worth of cars in one block. 

Yes, there was a policeman watching over them. 

All of these cars were part of a group, the Gia Lai Team, which does road rallies every year. Life is rough, huh?


Ok, so dinosaurs and exotic cars.  What next?

A few more blocks and there are fire works!

Serious. I asked Diana why but she had no more idea than I  did. So we both just assumed they were in honor of our dinner out.

I adore fire works. 

Obviously, by the time we got to the restaurant, expectations were running high. Denver has tons of farm to market little restaurants with yummy food.  Unfortunately, when you make plans a few days before, that's not what you get. What we did get was a good dinner at Denver Chophouse and Brewery.  Our steaks were perfect.  I had a house beer. (Full disclosure: also some not-house wine!) Mashed potatoes that were good. All in all, a decent but not exceptional meal.    What was exceptional?   The company. Diana and I caught up, visited, plotted, planned and Lord knows what else.  There is nothing better than a good friend. We could have been at McDonald's and still enjoyed the dinner.

No pics. 

Diana and I always forget to take pics together. 

Sigh. 

And really? Could anything have matched the expectations that had been set by that walk through downtown? I don't think so.

No: 63: One more restaurant added to the list.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

Also, this dinner out was my birthday treat from Diana, a little early. (Our birthdays are 2 days apart and we know how the day can get lost in the Christmas shuffle...) And TODAY is my birthday! How is that for blog post planning?!  

No. 14 Again and No. 60 Finally.

 No.14 Again... and No. 60 Done. 
(but mostly just where I begin the birthday celebrating...)

No. 14: Go to the Nutcracker Market was the very first challenge I completed.

It was a great Christmas market with lots of interesting stuff but I expected a bit more in the way of hand made products, not quite so many imports.  But I had never been before and it was definitely worth it.

 So when my friend Cherrilla sent me an email titled : 35 Indie Craft Fairs Every Creative Person Needs To Visit....well, what was I supposed to do? Ignore it?  I think not. 

I went through all of the dates/locales and lo and behold! one of them was in Denver. That's just right around the corner. (Sort of.)  And I already had plans to go up and visit my friend Diana that weekend.

So plans were made and off we went. (Bunny and I - she wanted to see the friend boy.)

We made a total weekend of it and why not? My birthday is next week and friend Diana's is two days after mine.   So we both celebrated a little early.

Friday night was the Parade of Lights in downtown Denver and we did a parade like you're supposed to- with a little kid in tow.   Diana's little great nephew came with us. Diana and I both have raised kids, we figured we could handle one three year old for a parade. Ha! Bunny and her friend came and saved our butts. Nothing like two teenagers to entertain a three year old when you have to wait over an hour for the parade to begin.

 Aren't the lights beautiful? 

Like stars.

 A giant white tiger balloon.

 A toy float.

 Samoyeds wearing lights. 

 A twinkling gingerbread house/float.

 And a twinkling marching band!

 Look at the mane on that horse.

Sigh.

 Three year old and friend- sharing Pez, not a drug deal. 

And at the end of the parade- a giant penguin balloon. 

There were floats and balloons and fire jugglers along with horses and dogs and high school bands, all decorated with lights.  The weather was above freezing. The friend boy had never seen a big city parade. The little boy had never seen a parade at all.  All in all, a pretty perfect night.

Saturday we went to Georgetown to see the Christmas Market. Again, perfect weather and a lovely day.

 The movie "The Christmas Gift" was filmed in Georgetown. 

It starred John Denver and this taxi cab.

(And yes, this is absolutely the worst pic ever.  Of me. The cab looks pretty good.) 

A wonderful little mountain town with buildings dating from around the 1860s, 

decorated for Christmas.

I confess these guys were the highlight of the day.

Aren't they just little nuggets? 

The Christmas market wasn't very Christmas-y but the little town was adorable and we saw mountain goats on the drive there.


Saturday night Pam from Simple Details stopped by for a quick visit. She's another December birthday.  The Sagittarius ladies were ruling Denver over the weekend!

Then dinner was devoured at Hillstone's Restaurant. I'm counting this as #5 for No. 60: Hit five restaurants in Houston that I have never been to before. We eat out all the time but always end up at the same places. Time to branch out.  

Hillstone:  Snazzy restaurant in the Cherry Creek area of Denver. 

Even though Hillstone isn't in Houston, it was definitely a new restaurant and it was definitely branching out. And I haven't been in Houston for a while to complete No. 60, so there's that.  I said in the beginning I could bend the rules and I have and I will.
I had a beautiful birthday trout accompanied by a couple of India Pale Ales.  Branching out in the beer department has been another challenge- although not one on the list. Also I got to dress up and wear heels! Woohoo!

Sunday was the main event. After taking Bunny and friend to breakfast (At Snooze, another new restaurant for me. One that required a one hour wait. For breakfast. ) Diana and I headed off to the RiNo (River North) art district for the Firefly Handmade Market. And it lived up to its name.

A cool little event center in a very cool, up and coming part of town.

Beautiful handmade items, delicate jewelry, artisan soaps, jams and sauces, and fun printed items.

There are some very very creative people out there. The market was inspiring. Possibly a few Christmas presents were purchased.

And I didn't take a single picture because they had that "No Photos Please" rule. (O! Or maybe because I was lazy. Or see above about presents that are supposed to be surprises.)

So while I didn't really complete anything new, I am crossing off No. 60 for good and counting No. 14 as done twice. And I got a start on celebrating my birthday. I have always envied, admired and wanted to emulate the people who manage to spread their birthday celebrations out over an entire month. I truly think that is something to aspire to.

Maybe next year!
Maybe a new challenge???


(And did you notice? Not one single photo of me and Diana together. That should be another challenge. I never seem to get pics taken with my friends. Need to master the art of the selfie or at least learn to hand my phone/camera/iPad to someone to snap...)

Honorary #62: See the Chihuly Exhibit!

Honorary #62: See the Chihuly Exhibit

Back in October 2012 my sweet friend Ann posted pics that she and friend Allison had taken at a glass exhibit at the Dallas Arboretum. Not just any glass exhibit but Dale Chihuly's works of art, sprinkled across the landscape.
I was intrigued.
Amazed.
Jealous.

From the Dallas Show

I plotted how to get to Dallas but that was a particularly crazy Fall (See here for an explanation on that...) and it just didn't happen. 2012 closed and so did the show.
I didn't think much more about it.

Back in March of this year, my brother Steve posted photos on Facebook of the Chihuly Exhibit at the Desert Botanical Garden outside of Phoenix, Arizona. I knew I wasn't going to be anywhere near Arizona,  so while I still wanted to see the exhibit, I did not pursue it.

Chihuly in Arizona

But some things are just meant to be.

Right before we left Colorado in June I got a flyer in the mail. Chihuly at the Denver Botanic Gardens from June until November.
Fate.
Kismet.
Flat out gonna happen.

The girls and I were headed back to Colorado and just by coincidence, we were flying into Denver. Then my friend Diana sent me an email from China. She would be back in Denver the same time that we were back at the cabin. Plans started to shape up.

Same boat, different garden.

Denver Botanic Garden

Thank goodness she checked the times for the day we were headed back to Denver. The exhibit closed at 3pm instead of its usual 8pm.  That meant I had to get those girls up early, close up the cabin and get on the road in order to make it in time.

SO organic. 

Looked like plants...but no.

Where there's a will, there's a way. I figured I had been taunted by this exhibit enough. It was meant to happen. Girls were up before 9am- packing, vacuuming and cleaning.  But not complaining. They had come in plenty late past their curfew the night before. They knew better than to peep about the early (for summering teenagers, at least) hour. We were in Denver by 1:30 where I unceremoniously dumped the girls and grabbed Diana.

At first I didn't even realize these weren't lily pads. . 

O!

I am so glad we went.

This was supposed to represent fire coming across the prairie. 

I'll go with that. 

The Denver Botanic Gardens by themselves are gorgeous. I had never been before, but I will be back.

And the Chihuly Exhibit?

Technicolor, anyone? 

Wonderful.

Dr. Seuss joined hands with Lewis Carroll to create a fantasy Wonderland.

Dr. Seuss, right? 

I think these guys were my favorites.

Look!

Proof I was there!

I want to go back.

(I'm making this an honorary challenge because it was something I wanted to do, didn't get around to, still wanted to do and somehow ended up making it happen. And I'm so happy I did. And that is the whole point of this list. To do the things I want to do, even if a few hoops have to be jumped through to do them,  and make things happen. )

Castles, Paris and Dreams Coming True....

Of Castles and Paris and Dreams Coming True....


A  million years ago when this baby was six and she had a thing for Cinderella and castles,

Belle doing her best Cinderella imitation.

 I took her to Paris with this friend, Diana,

Diana with my two beautiful girls.

 and her two beautiful daughters,

Kayla and Courtney.

Friend Diana wasn't a big traveler then (she's certainly gotten over that!) but she had promised her daughters she would take them to Paris.

I love to travel and so she invited me along. The hubs, being a sensible man, said "Ok, go. But you can't leave me with THREE kids. You have to take one." Since Boy screams on airplanes because he can't clear his ears and Bunny was only four, Belle (my easy traveler) got to go.  

We had a fabulous trip and the five of us went all over Paris, to Giverny, to Versailles, then took the Chunnel to London and had a few more fabulous days there.  It was totally magical - a dream come true.

(This is where I wish I had completed No. 24: Organize all those photos.  All the Paris pictures are printed, not in my computer. When I asked what I should bring with me on this trip/move I never dreamed that all my photographs would be the one thing that I didn't bring but that I wish had.)

Bunny never forgave me. She says she is still owed a trip to Paris. She reminds me of this multiple times every year and has been reminding me for the last 11 years. 

Fast forward to last Saturday night.  Diana's oldest daughter got married in a fairy tale wedding in a beautiful castle.  It was a Cinderella event.  Bunny and Belle and I went.

Dunafon Castle. Yes, a real castle. 

Right here in Colorado.

And all of us together with Diana and her girls made Bunny remember that she STILL has not been to Paris.

Imagine  my delight this morning when I clicked on one of my favorite blogs, French Essence, and the author, Vicki Archer, is offering a week stay at her vacation home, Le Petit Bijou, in Provence for one lucky winner. While Provence is not Paris, it's close enough. If I can get to one, I can get to another. 

*image

Why yes, I could spend a few nights eating at this table.

So, I'm entering her little contest and crossing my fingers. And if I can't win, then why don't you? Here's a link to enter.   SOMEONE will win and if it isn't me then I would just as soon it be someone I know. 

And then maybe we can all have our "happily ever after". 

And Bunny can get to Paris.  And Provence.

It would be a dream come true.