Back in the Hang

Here we are.

What's been going on?

Christmas was good.  Bobaloo and I had five days to hang out and relax.  Here's the official Christmas picture:

I took a short trip to Minnesota to ring in the New Year.  It was the pup's firs road trip and she was a champ.  While up there I visited with girlfriends, had lunch with Bobaloo's parents, and spent a lot of time with my family.  The highlight was New Year's Eve where we got a whole crew of old friends together in a farmhouse to celebrate.  Luckily I left town before the cold snap because on December 31st it was a balmy -10.

Other goings on in no careful order include:

And some more pics:

1. Arts & Crafts 2. Serious Jill in a ridiculous sweater and dinosaur hat 3. DU Hockey game 4. The kiddos 5. All of us kids at the New Year's wang dang doodle

What's new with you?

December 5

'Tis the season for lists, isn't it?  For this one, I'm going to keep it in the family.

1. I wear my Grandma J's wristwatch everyday for good luck.

2. My mom loved to sign me up for things when I was a kid.  I've taken dance lessons, figure skating lessons, trumpet lessons, quilting classes, soccer, etc.  I did not/do not have the coordination, patience, or social skills for any of these things.

3. Bobaloo is the only person (until now) who knows that deep down I hate sharing food.  This was expressed in a single sentence uttered by me at the bar, "I'm going to order nachos but you have to order something else because I'm not going to share."

4. I know that when it is eight at night here it is six in the morning in Iraq.  I used to work the late shift and passed a mountain that had a light up "M" on it at night.  My older brother was deployed and I would look at the "M" and think about how I was finishing my day and he was beginning the next.  (The "M" stood for Mines, I pretended it stood for Marines.)

5. One of my favorite winter memories is my Pops and Uncle Doug taking me to the ski jumping tournament in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  The noise the skiers make when they jump is incredible.

6.  I learned the F-word when I was three on Easter.  I shouted it to my Grandma Cille and she started giggling so I kept yelling it around the house to all my relatives. 

7.  My family used to go to my Aunt Doreen's house on Christmas to go ice fishing.  I loved it and still think that it's my favorite cold weather activity.

8.  I used to watch my younger brother Kyle after school and every afternoon we'd eat a snack and watch Spongebob Squarepants.

9. My cousin Kira used to watch my brother and I in the summer when we were little.  When the neighbor girls and I would stage our basement production of Annie, she would always enthusiastically play Ms. Hannigan.

10. Bobaloo and I found our dog Nik at a shelter.  When we first met her she sat her ass right on Bobaloo's foot.  I giggled, knew she was the one and that we weren't leaving without her.

Join the Fun!

The Finished Project

Back in September I started painting clothespins, and here is the finished project...

 

Sorry the pictures are a little weird, there isn't a whole lot of natural light in the kitchen. 

We live in a rental and all of the walls are painted white so I was trying to add color without putting a bunch of holes in the walls.

I ordered my favorite pictures from Snapfish, put up some of my postcard collection, Bobaloo hung up some twine, and there you have it!

No matter where I serve my guests, they seem to like my kitchen best.

Bobaloo is the cook in our family and this way he gets all of his people hanging out in his kitchen.

October 4

October 4 is a big day.  8 years ago today Bobaloo and I woke up early in the morning and left Minnesota.  He drove the U-Haul and I followed behind in my car.  You can make it to Colorado in about 14 hours.  We decided to drive until we were tired and if we needed to take 2 days to make the trip so be it.

We reached a city in Nebraska called Ogallala and stopped to fill up the tanks.  At the gas station Bobaloo asked me if I wanted to stop for the night or keep going.  I told him I wanted to keep going.  And we did.

And that was as good as an I do.  We were in this together.  And we still are.

5 years ago today we woke up early in the morning, put on our Sunday best, and got hitched on a beautiful fall day in a canyon by a creek.

Did you know I met him at a Halloween party?  I did.

I even have a picture of that lucky night.

Get ready for the awesomeness...

Wow.

He told me his favorite Neil Young song was Sugar Mountain and we found out that we both didn't like Dave Matthews Band and he obviously made me laugh (see above).  I think that was all I needed to know about him.

September 03

Another month, another challenge...

Describe where or what you come from.  The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are.

I come from...

 

There is a lot of water there.  And it is a very, very cold place to live in the winter.

 

The house I grew up in is very, very blue. 



My parents used to (maybe they still do) have a competition with the neighbors to see who would keep their Christmas wreath up the longest.  It wouldn't be weird for that wreath to still be hanging up in August.  I think I get my quirky sense of humor from them.

 

This is me with my family, pre-Kyle.  He came later.  Much, much later.



Nice 'stache Pops!


 
 

This is us last summer.  We don't all get together very often so when we do we try to take a family picture (even if it's at a funeral!). 

They are my very beginning.  They are who I come from.

July 11

Today's challenge topic is, What is the worst injury you have ever had?

The summer before third grade I fell off my bicycle while playing bumper wheels with my little girlfriend.  The fall wasn’t too far from the house but I sobbed the whole way while trying to walk my precious bike home with one arm.  The pain was like none other I had experienced, I could feel a lot of throbbing up and down my arm.

I don’t remember why my mom was out of town that weekend but Pops was home to care for us kids.  I screamed and cried as he twisted my little arm back and forth while asking, “Does this hurt?  How about now?”  I spent the rest of the day on the couch watching cartoons with a homemade dishtowel sling around my shoulder.

The next day, Pops saw that I was still on the couch in pain and the swelling hadn’t gone down and knew it was time to bite the bullet and call the doctor.  This is the part where I explain in Pop’s defense, I was kind of a crybaby back then so there was no way to be sure if this was me crying wolf or not.

We couldn’t go to the regular doctor’s office (I think because it was Sunday) so I made my first trip to a hospital.  There, they x-rayed me, called it a broken elbow (who breaks their elbow?), and fitted me with a hot pink cast.

Pops felt so terrible during the ride home because I had been hanging out with a broken limb for a day and a half.  So, we made a stop at Target where I picked out a being-a-good-sport treat and all was well with the world.

*Baby Sparkles*

July Challenge

Queenie

Last night my dear Auntie Doreen passed away.  She was a woman who lived fiercely and loved wildly.  Though during her life she suffered much physical anguish and endured enormous trials, she did so with strength, kindness, and a sense of humor.

May her soul find a happy rock to fish from.



May 9

 

Today's Blog Every Day in May challenge is a moment in your day.  Easy peezy, lemon squeezy.

 

My backseat driver:

 

 

First off, don't you worry.  I took this photo at a stoplight. 

 

Sometimes Nik likes to comes along for the ride to pick up Bobaloo from work.  She doesn't look out the side window like a normal dog, she stares out the windshield.  Sometimes at stoplights she'll stare down the other drivers.  No matter what, when I look in the mirror her rather intense dog-face is looking right back at me.  Creeper!

May 5

 

I'm on a roll with this Blog Every Day in May challenge. Ambitious I know, but there are topics posted for every day. Go check it out. Today's topic is Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends.  What makes them great?  Why do you love them?  If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend so here goes.

 

There a few bloggers that I have been following forever (or since 2008):

 

Lora at Fever is my blog hero.  She is super duper smart, insightful, funny, and her posts always give me something to chew on.

 

Jacob at Busy Busy Busy used to post every Monday which was a great way to start the week.  He doesn't post as often now but when he does it's funny, funny stuff.

 

Jennifer at Chronicles of Consciousness has an awesome blog and great taste in music.  She should really come to see Widespread Panic at red rocks one of these days.

 

Amanda at The A-List always has me cracking up, she is hilarious and introduced me to the Morning Margarita once upon a time.

 

Here's a picture of my in-real-life best friend and I.



 

Her name is Jillian and I have known her since we were thirteen.  I don't think we liked each other very much at first but a year later we were inseparable.  We've been through a lot of stuff together, basically every after school special scenario you can think of.

 

We live 1,000 miles apart but are still thick as thieves.  If you ever want to see two grown women make a game of cribbage foul-mouthed and rowdy, come to one of our get-togethers.  Jillian is one of the most ambitious, smartest, and toughest chicks I know and has a heart of gold. 

 

She was my saving grace during a time when I really needed one and I love her dearly for it.

 

Trippin' on Travelin'

I am scared of flying.  Not so much of the heights, I find the airplane so darn claustrophobic.  This is why I prefer window seats.  The trip is more peaceful when looking at the plots of land and how they’re divided.  A few wispy clouds are alright too.  Truth be told, I still take a Clonazepam if it’s a morning flight or a couple of cocktails if the flight is after noon.  Friday’s flight is at 10:15 am.  I might just consider that close enough to noon.

Not being in control scares me the most.  When the plane is preparing to land, I slam my foot down on the imaginary brake in front of me to help out.  You’re welcome other passengers.

I try to not make a big deal about the actual flying part; I don’t really need to add to my neuroses.  I have a routine and that seems to help.  I guess routines would make a lot of things in my life easier, but I just find them so…routine.

I have started to make my bed every day, so I guess there’s that.

Bobaloo won’t just drop me off at the airport, he actually walks in with me and watches me go through the security checkpoint and waves goodbye when I go down the escalator to the tram.  Sometimes before that, we’ll sit at the bar and have a couple of farewell beers.

I touch the outside of the plane before I get in and pray for a safe trip.  I buckle up and get settled in my window seat and usually don’t make small talk with the person next to me.  If it’s a turbulent flight, I try not to make other people nervous.  I do not leave my seat, ever.  I have never been in an airplane bathroom.

I put my headphones on and read a book.  Usually, I can’t focus enough to read for real.  So I pretend to read a book.  Pretending to read is relaxing too.  I downloaded some new tunes for this trip.

It takes me an hour and a half to get where I am going. 

My dad picks me up and takes me straight to the bar for a couple of drinks before heading back to the house where my mom is waiting.

This post makes me sound like an alcoholic.  I’m not.  I just really don’t like flying.

Grandma J.

I went back to my parents for a few days for Grandma  J.’s funeral. 

Isn’t it weird to see people you haven’t been around for years?

My brothers and I are the younglings of the extended family and folks always seem surprised that we all grew up.  It is a weird feeling.

Grandma J. was ready to go so saying goodbye wasn’t hard.  I loved her and she loved me.  She gave me a lot during her life.  She’s someone who never really caught a break, but kept her wits about her for ninety years.

She was tenacious and resilient.  I hope that passed to me.

My two brothers and I have not all been together in four years.  I have two nephews that live far away.  The little one had no idea who I was.

Isn’t it weird to see people you haven’t been around for years?

All in all, things were nice.

That’s weird to say.

I played with the kiddos, sat by a bonfire, drank beer, played Trivial Pursuit and pull tabs, laid in the lawn, brunched, sat on a dock,  laughed with my brother, visited with family, saw dear friends, met new babies, hugged, and got hugged.

Not a bad way to spend a few days saying goodbye.

I think that’s how she’d have wanted it.

29

It has lifted.

Fresh hell gone stale.

My life has been filled with medications that don’t work, weight stuff, questioning my thoughts, bad thoughts, a train ride to Minnesota to wean off aforementioned meds and thoughts, a lot of missed work.  A lot of missed everything.

Doctors, Shrinks, paranoia, agoraphobia, anxiety, depression, self-medication, pity, the inability to breathe easy.  Not a clear or exact thought entered my head.  I had quite factually fallen on my face and was fortunate to have someone to pick me up. Every single time.

Eight months. 

And do you know what happened?

A couple of days after my twenty-ninth birthday, it all lifted.

Just like that.

With that said, I have missed you and your blogs.

And just so we’re all caught up on things: 

Happy Halloween, Happy Turkey Day, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, Happy Valentine’s Day, Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and Happy Passover, and Happy Easter.  I think that just about covers it. 

Happy, Happy, Merry, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, and Happy.

I like that sentence better.

Right on Target

MapQuest is made for people like me. I love it and do not feel comfortable going somewhere I have never been without having directions printed out. Also, I do not have a phone with internet or a GPS navigator so directions are a necessity. I can manage okay when people tell me “ go right” or “take a left at the stop sign,” but when people start throwing around words like “West” or “North” I freak out a bit because my sense of direction is pretty poor. This is especially frustrating in Colorado where every Smart-Alec feels the need to remind you that the mountains are always West.

This simple little reminder makes my blood boil for three reasons:

1. You cannot see the mountains at night.

2. Some of the roads go diagonally.

3. You cannot see the mountains in the city.

4. This “friendly” reminder is always said with a bit of condescension.

Also, I have just noticed that when Bobaloo is driving I always look out the passenger-side window when riding in the car; I never look forward and never pay attention to where the car is headed. Therefore, I never really know where I am or how I got there (insert life metaphor here).

This is where Target comes in.

He left and I was alone in a new city for the first time left to my own devices and sensibilities (or lack thereof). The one place I knew how to get to? Target. I took a drive to Target and was able to find Subway and the hardware store from there. From that point forward all I had to do was remember where things were in relation to Target. Why this was easier than finding things from home, I have no idea.

After a year we moved to the City of Golden. Do you know what makes Golden awesome? The Target is attached to the mall! Same story, different town. Again Target was located in such a location that it was easy for me to remember which highways or major roads were by if they were heading towards Target or away.

Maybe I should just get a compass.

Panic on the Rocks

On Saturday I was able to get Widespread Panic tickets for Red Rocks. To me, Red Rocks is heaven on Earth. Who knew such a wonder was in Morrison, Colorado? Who knew a heap of very old rocks could move and inspire people from all over the world? Nestled in the green hills of Morrison, you come upon gigantic rocks of red jutting out of the land and it is hard not to be dazzled by the terrain in this tiny community.

I had heard of Red Rocks for a few years from Bobaloo, who raved about this geological marvel. He kept telling me that words couldn’t do the park justice and it was something I would just have to see for myself. He described Red Rocks as his personal Mecca. The first time I visited Colorado we were seeing if the state was somewhere we wanted to move.

I was afraid to fly back then, so we packed up the old Ford Taurus and headed West from Minnesota. It is a fourteen hour trip and we drove straight through the night taking turns at the wheel and sleeping in the passenger street. The long stretch of Nebraska made for a rough drive. We made into Colorado just in time for morning rush hour and the hotel was not ready for another four hours. We were tired, hungry, and hopeful.

With time on our hands, Bobaloo suggested we drive up to Red Rocks so I could finally grasp it and he could visit the place he had come to for so many summers. I was exhausted and the last thing I wanted to do was go back in the car and traipse around town, but I sucked it up and grudgingly got into the car. You cannot see Red Rocks from afar, as we started on the winding roads the landscape started to change and the rocks became bigger and bigger.

We parked in the upper lot and the day was beautiful. My stomach fluttered when we entered the amphitheater, it was brilliant. I had never seen anything like it. The pictures Bobaloo showed me did not show the scale of how colossal the rocks that surrounded the seats were. I was astonished. The sunbeams reached the rocks and the different hues of red shimmered. I will never forget the heat of the sunshine on my face and the breath knocked out of me from climbing the stairs. Without delay the camera was out and I was trying to acquire the beauty of this magical place for my own recollection.

We checked out the geological exhibits and the gift shop and the rock’n’roll museum. There is a wall with a list of every performer who has played on the rocks throughout the years. I looked at the wall of entertainers in amazement and was eager to see a show there. When we left, I was revitalized and indescribably felt better about everything. Red Rocks was not a reason to move to Colorado but it certainly was something I wanted to be near.

Golden in the Winter

This is the town I live in.

The creek where Bobaloo and I have coffee.

The mountain.

The Coors Brewery. Nothing like the smell of hops early in the morning.

There's even chickens.

All sorts of statues.

This statue outside of the bar, drunk people like to ride the buffalo.

The watering hole.

I hope you enjoyed the tour, please visit again.

The Bus Ride

Coughing, wiping, sneezing, scratching. Gum chewing, cell phone talking, eating, and drinking. Snot, vomit, smiles, frowns, bitching. Chatting, napping, and wheezing. Disgusting and peaceful. Playing, drunk, and eating. Awake and working. Excitability and trudging along. Reclining, leaning, snoring, headphones, and upright.

She

I have written a couple posts here about my pops, it occurred to me the other day I never told you about my mom.

She’s the kind of lady who will fly her daughter home for Christmas because of homesickness and faraway sickness.

She is the quiet strong.

The backbone of the family.

She will dance with you in the kitchen when your five.

She’ll sing along to wee sing silly songs on your way to daycare. She has a sweet quiet singing voice.

She comforts you when life deals it's cards.

She laughs loud and often.

She fed, dressed, did homework, and played with us kids while working full time.

She is the kind of mom who let her kids spend a couple hours at Toys’R’US and pick out one toy at the end of the trip.

She’s patient, never loosing her cool.

Her hugs are warm.

She can throw-down in foosball.

She has raised three teenagers with humor.

She is a great daughter, a fantastic grandmother.

She can cook anything, always prepared to entertain a houseful.

She has taught me independence and patience.

Some women worry about turning into their mothers as they get older. If I turn out to be half the woman my mom is I will be happy.

I wish my doorstep was closer to hers.

"Tis The Season

It has been a while. I’ll use the excuse that my fingers were too cold to type.

The cold snap has put a damper on my disposition

and Christmas can be such an imposition.

In eight days I go to see my family. Everyone, including my brother who I haven’t seen in two years and a nephew I haven’t met. This makes me very happy.

In eight days I get to see all of my best friends, and my best friends’ spouses, and my best friends’ children. This makes me very happy.

I work on Christmas. I am happy to work on Christmas.

I work on New Year’s. I am unhappy to work on New Year’s.

Bobaloo, this one goes out to you...

Yesterday marked my one year wedding anniversary with my husband. I am generally not very good with the mushy-gushy and to be honest I felt a lot of relief yesterday, as in yay! we did it. With almost seven years of togetherness under our belts, this last year has certainly been the most strange and the most wonderful.

We have seen each other through job changes and encouraged one another to be better. A gigantic move there, a gigantic move back and the long stretches of road in between. Broken cars, broken hearts, life, death, and what goes on in between. We watched our patio garden go from brown and lifeless to beautiful and fruitful. We have seen one another drunk and happy and sober and sad and dealt with everything life had for us in between. We have stuck together for the amazing and the ugly of this last year and the normal in between.

We were married in a little mountain ceremony in Boulder. It was everything I could ask for in that it was outside, not fancy, and “us.” My little brother did a reading we picked out and I think it still holds true:

"An anonymous text from the Tradition says that, in life, each person can take one of two attitudes: to build or to plant. The builders might take years over their tasks, but one day, they finish what they’re doing. Then they find they’re hemmed in by their own walls. Life loses its meaning when the building stops.

Then there are those who plant. They endure storms and all the many vicissitudes of the seasons, and they rarely rest. But, unlike a building, a garden never stops growing. And while it requires the gardener’s constant attention, it allows life for the gardener to be a great adventure.

Gardeners always recognize one another, because they know in the history of each plant lies the growth of the whole world."

-Paulo Coelho (Brida)

Hello Again

Hello Again. Remember that Shelly Long movie? I used to watch it all the time when I was a kid. Weird. Anyway, I am glad to be back and during my little break I have been enjoying the summer blogging of others. Anyway, let me get you up to speed.

Where to start? The last couple of months have been full of a lot of great, some good, and a little bad. After the move back from California, I have been focusing my energy on getting my Colorado life back on track. It's strange, I am still unable to look at the whole "California" experience objectionably and figure out the why? of it all. I am still unsure what to think of the whole thing, but for now I am doing what a wise dude suggested and am not looking back; moving forward. Easier said than done sometimes, right?

I have never considered myself to be lucky in a good fortune kind of way, however, somehow we were able to get back here safe and sound and get our apartment back and find jobs quickly. In between getting back and my new job I was able to take a nine-day trip to visit my folks and friends in Minnesota and it was good. My parents are wholly amazing and they mended my spirit, always seeing my life from a different panorama than I do.

The job I have now is wonderful, it's exactly what I wanted from employment. I get to walk around, chat with people, fix things, break things, and make people smile. It's up in the hills where I have to drive through three mountain tunnels to get there, which makes me a little nervous, but it's beautiful.

After a couple of weeks of working there, I had a mentor-in-training say, "If you want to walk around in circles for the next three years and wait for a lightbulb to go off, you can by all means do that here." Seriously, on some days that's my job description. Holy buckets! My entire adult life I've been walking in circles waiting for a lightbulb to go off, and now I get paid to do that? Life is hilarious. And if there's a god, he/she's a regular barrel of laughs too!

Well, I'll be back to regular posts now. It's good to see you, my friends.