Holy Guacamole!

For Cinco de Mayo I went to a Greek bar with my friend Rachael.  Last year we met up at an Irish Pub.  It's our tradition.  I'll have to think about where we'll go next year.

So while we didn't get into the spirit of Cinco De Mayo, everyone else around me seemed to.  So much so, that by yesterday afternoon I had a serious hankering for a taco and guac.  I was thinking about stopping at Chipotle on the way home but then remembered that I am trying to save moola.  I also remembered that in my freezer I had...

Fishless fish! 

All thanks to my coupon-clipping last week.  So I picked up some wine and tortillas and skedaddled home to attempt cooking fishless fish tacos with guacamole.  And do you know what?

They didn't turn out half bad!  Bobaloo even said that he enjoyed them.  So, I consider my twice-a-year-cooking-adventure a success.

¡Buen Trabajo Jillito!

December 18

Today's blog-a-thon post is wishcasting.

Maybe instead of a New Year's resolution, I will have my New Year's wish.

I wish for balance in the new year.  That my mind can nurture calmness and focus, that my body is healthy and cared for, and that my soul finds an inspired purpose.

As you wish for yourself so I wish for you also.

 

 

December 10

Show & Tell

I started making my Christmas tree out of sticks and twine.  The finished project (and a better picture) will be soon to come.

blog-a-thon

December 7

One Sentence Saturday:

Today I listened to Elvis Presley sing "Blue Christmas" and gave the bartenders elf names.

Join the fun!

December 1

Time to dust the cobwebs off this old thing, eh? 

I am linking up here for the kickin' it old skool blog-a-thon and today's prompt is selfie. I cheated and dated this one for yesterday.

Bobaloo took this so I don't think it technically counts as a selfie but it's the best one I had on my phone.  The photo was taken on Halloween.  Can you guess who I was?

I am happy to see November go.  Boy, that was a busy month.  A lot of fun was had but now I am ready to make some mac'n'cheese, watch Christmas movies, and get the house decorated.  Speaking of decorations here are some of the spooky ones that we put up for Halloween:

Happy Tuesday!

Yikes! I am just coming off of a 5-day weekend. 

The 4th of July went well, Bobaloo and I went to Red Rocks to see Moe and Blues Traveler.  The show was good and the fireworks were spectacular!

 

 

The rest of the time off was pretty low-key.  The darn brakes went out on the car so we stayed close to home.  We did check out the Forney Museum of Transportation where they had a 60's Cadillac exhibition.

They had some vintage Burma-Shave ads there too.  As I am not the biggest fan of Bobaloo's "New Years beard," I especially got a kick out of this one:

The answer to a maidens prayer is not a chin of stubby hair.

 

It's been a busy couple of weeks and my brain is still spinning a little, I am looking forward to things settling down a bit.

3-pack

I was lucky to grow up right next door to a family that had three daughters around the same age as me.  They sort of adopted me as their fourth which was nice because I got stuck with two brothers.

Here's a pic of us at Halloween:

I'm the runty mouse on the left.

My brother and us four girls went trick-or-treating together every year until we became teenagers.  And every single year, Amy (redheaded spiderweb) would trip in front of the same house on the same crack in the sidewalk.  Every single year. 

When I was about five I was oddly obsessed with tape and destruction (construction) paper.  It was weird, but my parents kept the tape and paper coming because it kept me entertained and quiet for hours.

Around this age my family was introduced to the concept of birthday parties.  I don't think my parents grew up having them so the idea of inviting a bunch of kids over was a bit foreign.  So when I turned five, my parents invited the family next door over for cake and ice cream and they brought me a present.  I tore through the wrapping paper and what had they got me?

A three-pack of Scotch!

I am sure there were some other things too, but the joy of a three-pack all to myself is what I remember.



Friday

Bobaloo and I both were able to leave work early on Friday so we headed to the tavern and met up with some friends to kick off the long weekend.  This evening also turned into a reminder of why I don't drink whiskey.

 

 

Saturday

I spent Saturday morning cleaning and finishing up the second bedroom project while Bobaloo volunteered at Red Rocks.  Later, we had some friends over in the afternoon for some beer, tunes, grilling, bubbles, and general tomfoolery.  Our neighbor got chickens last week and he invited me over to feed them. So cute!  It ended up being a pretty late night.

 

Bubbles, Nik the HomeDawg, and the rock band.

Sunday

See Saturday's description.  More of the same.  A lot of goofiness.  Plus I watched one of my fave flicks:

 

"I just like to smile, smilin's my favorite"
 

Monday

We checked out the annual duck races in Morrison.

 

 

 

All in all, a good weekend was had.  And I killed some brain cells.

 

 

Friday

Friday was a mellow evening at home. I attempted to cook dinner (eggplant ziti) and the house is still in one piece. I am trying to save moolah for some future fun so Bobaloo and I just stayed in.

 

Saturday

The last Saturday of every month Bobaloo volunteers at Red Rocks. While he was busy with that, I cleaned and did a little bit of yard work. Hopefully, we can get some plants started in the yard soon. It was a beautiful day so we had a couple of friends over, drank beer, and listened to tunes. There were also some buzzed up craft projects taking place but that's a post for another time. All in all, a great day.

 

Sunday

We shook off the cobwebs Sunday and headed to the Holiday Bar for the annual deviled egg competition. Bobaloo made his eggs Greek-style for this event. The day was gorgeous so we chilled out on the patio and had a few beers. Bobaloo's friend Billy came with and we were Bobaloo's egg groupies, called The Eggheads.

 

A great weekend was had and I was sad to see it come to an end but am looking forward to some fun plans ahead.

 

 

2013

I found this cool listy list at Librarian Girl’s blog Pop Culture Librarian, her blog is awesome and funny and you should read it.

Ready to get reflect-y?

1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before?  I went to my first NFL football game.  I took a train trip by myself.  I went to Pikes Peak. 

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions from last year and will you make more any for 2013?  I don’t think I made any last year, not really my style.  I didn’t make any for this year either.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?  A couple of my girlfriends had babies that are adorable and didn’t object too much to my snuggling.  My sister-in-law also had a baby, who I would like to meet soon.

4. Did anyone close to you die?  Way to be a downer questionnaire.  Yes, both of my grandmas.

5. What trips did you take?  I took a couple of plane trips to Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Bobaloo and I took a short road trip to Wyoming.  I enjoyed being a homebody this year.

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?  I would like more peace of mind or a maybe a car.  Let’s go with the car.

7. What date from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?  Probably the day the world didn’t end, 12/21/12 just because it was just so damn goofy!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?  I found a much needed new job.  I love it.

9. What was your biggest failure?  I lost touch with some folks who are important to me.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?  Only of the mental kind.

11. What was the best thing you bought?  I bought an alpaca wool blanket for my mom for Christmas and she loves it!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?  Pizza, for being consistently gooey and awesome and there for me.  And Bobaloo, for similar reasons.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?  Doesn’t do much good to say mean things here.

14. Where did most of your money go?  Who knows?  I had a lot of fun, so probably towards that.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?  Getting Fish!  Getting a job!  Getting a dog!  Getting to move!

16. What song will always remind you of 2012?  I listened to Vetiver’s “Roll on Babe” quite a bit while walking or getting ready in the morning.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder?  Considerably happier.
ii. thinner or fatter?  Thinner.

iii. richer or poorer?   I’m love-rich.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?  Traveling.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?  Worrying.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?  It’s over.  Bobaloo and I spent Christmas Eve at the local watering hole and it included rum and dirty jokes.

21. Did you fall in love in 2012?  Always.

22. How many one-night stands?  This is kind of awkward.

23. What was your favorite TV program?  I finally got into Parks and Recreation (thanks Netflix!) and I really like New Girl.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?  Nope.

25. What was the best book you read?  Ooh.  Only one?  I really liked Moloka’i by Alan Brennert (fiction) and Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne (non-fiction).

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?  I went to my first Wilco show this summer and it was nice. 

27. What did you want and get?  A Presto Pizzazz Pizza Oven. 

28. What did you want and not get?  Waste not, want not.  Or, want not get not.  I don’t know.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?  I didn’t really see too many movies that came out this year.  I found Goats on Netflix and enjoyed it.

30. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?  I went to Dave & Busters (best steak in an arcade setting) with some really great friends, drank rum, and won some tickets.  29.

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?  Infinite amounts of cash money.  Would I really be happier though?  I’d like to think so.  I don’t really prescribe to the age old idiom, “mo money, mo problems.”

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?  Thrift store chic?  I kind of stick to the same old stuff, although I bought my first pair of skinny jeans and they totally accentuate my chicken legs.  Bawk!  Bawk!

31. What kept you sane?  Ha!

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?  Lovie Smith.

33. What political issue stirred you the most?  Not the time, not the place.

34. Who did you miss?  Near and dear, near and far.

35. Who was the best new person you met?  I have met so many awesome people and strange characters it is impossible to pick.

36. Tell a valuable life lesson you learned in 2012:  Geez.  Where do I start?  Asking for help is not weakness.  People are more often than not compassionate if you give them the chance.  It’s okay to take space and time to sort out emotions and feelings and that kind of crap.

37. A song lyric that sums up your year.
After all that I've been through, you're the only one that matters
Climb to safety
You never left me in the dark here on my own
Climb to safety
I can feel the water rising, let me be your ladder
Climb to safety
I promise you'll be dry and never be alone

Here's to another year!

We had our first big snow yesterday and it was pretty chilly too.

 

“Conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative.” -Oscar Wilde

Cut me a break here, I’m trying to get back into the groove.

December is my least favorite month, always has been.  I spend an awful lot of November worrying about December.  Self-fulfilling prophecy or time proven truth?

 

This December has been nice and there has been a bit of peace to it.  I am happy about my four day Christmas break. 

Coffee sampler pack, a book from my mom, dogs, a pizza oven, Tuba Christmas, movies, Christmas Eve at the bar, and perhaps some snowshoeing.  And hands down the best part, four days with Bobaloo.  Color me lucky, for real. 

 

I was thinking about one of our first winters together when we were dating.  We went to a lot of coffee shops back then.  One of our favorites, Bob's Java Hut, is still there.  The Mexican Mocha is where it’s at.

More often though, we’d haunt Pandora’s Cup.  It’s not there anymore.  We would order mochas with homemade whipped cream from tattooed baristas, head up to the smoky upstairs by way of the creaky wooden stairs.  We played Word Dojo for hours, pumping dollar after dollar into the Megatouch.   I would read our destiny from the City Pages and smoke Camel Lights.

Bobaloo isn't much of a coffee drinker and isn't so much into video games.  Every weekend for a couple of years, he would sit and drink coffee and play nerdy word games with me.

After, he would put my mittened hand in his and off we’d go with the snow crunching under our feet until the next weekend. 

It was that kind of cold last night. 
 

Just a memory I don’t want to forget, that’s all.

 

Smack Talk, Shuttlecocks, and Ducks

I enjoy games. Not a whole lot will make me happier than playing Yahtzee on the patio on a summer day. I also really like Jenga.

I am by and large not a competitor as I do not have an athletic bone in my body and never really get psyched for the big game. Badminton is about as badass as I get. Plus, shuttlecock is a hilarious word.

Invite me to play a board game, cards, or trivia though? BRING IT ON.

My trash-talking, ready-for-action self is ready for the cut-throat competition. I turn into a different person. One who uses phrases such as IN YOUR FACE! and PUT THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT! There are other phrases loudly expressed but I can’t really think of them when I am not under pressure during an intense game of cribbage.

My best girlfriend Jillian is similar. She’s even more competitive and also has a knack for talking smack. Our cribbage games are interesting to overhear. We almost got into fisticuffs once over a game of Trivial Pursuit. If Jillian ever reads this: I am still right. Luckily, our friendship survived and we were able to carry on with our games.

Camping and Cribbage

Bobaloo is awesome and will play Yahtzee with me. He’s not such a fan of the trash-talk so I keep it to a minimum. Cooperation, not competition.

We also have had a two-year rock-paper-scissor tournament going on. He has consistently won EVERY game for the last two years up until a couple of weeks ago. I won, and the smack talk began. It went on for a good half hour or so. Yep. He wins 100 times; I win once and won’t shut up about it. He reclaimed the title last Sunday so my victory was short-lived. He is a quiet winner. Never bragging, never rubbing it in. Dignified.

Then something happened. Something unprecedented. The 4th of July duck races.

He won the first race (well his duck did).

He cheered his duck on.

Pictures were taken of the winning duck.

We even held a ceremony for the duck: Bobaloo won a tee shirt. We celebrated the duck victory hard (with a pitcher of beer).

He was a proud champion.

He was happy as a duck in water.

Lessons

I was fortunate to be able to take some free classes in November. While reading the Westword on my way home from work I saw the “A Taste of Judaism” ad. I enrolled and a nice woman from the URJ called to give me directions to the synagogue the class was held at. The class was not meant to convert, but to educate.

I was a little nervous, because I didn’t know quite what to expect and sometimes I can find new social situations a little unnerving. I do not consider myself a very religious person, this is the first time I have voluntarily gone to faith-based education in about 10-15 years. The Rabbi started right in with the lesson and for three weeks he covered Jewish spirituality, ethics, and community.

I was very moved by the Rabbi’s enthusiasm for his faith and congregation. My perspectives on many things have shifted, and I am thankful to give myself the space I need to shift.

I am very grateful to have learned about the rich history and culture of Judaism and walked away from the class with a renewed sense of serving your community and taking care of those within it that cannot take care of themselves. The Rabbi spoke a lot about tikkun olam, which from what I understand, is to strive to improve the world through social action. In the Rabbi’s congregation, being part of the Jewish community includes helping others inside and outside the faith. This is done by working in food banks, giving blood, holding fundraisers and all sorts of other ways to donate time, money, and compassion.

What a great lesson.

Today is the first day of Chanukah.

Happy Chanukah.

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

There are many things I am pretty darn thankful for this year. At the top of the list, I am thankful that my older brother made it home safe and sound to his wife and kids from Afghanistan earlier this week. It is also his birthday today and it makes me so happy that he came home just in time for his birthday and the holidays.

Bobaloo and I are still trying to create traditions for ourselves out here because it is just the two of us for the holidays. For a few years running now we have gone to a wonderful buffet on Thanksgiving at the Table Mountain Inn. We are going back again today, solidifying its place in our traditions. No cooking, no cleaning, no leftovers. That's my kind of Thanksgiving.

One of Bobaloo's favorite TV shows is WKRP in Cincinnati. I never watched it until a couple of years ago. Here's a clip of a WKRP Thanksgiving episode. Funniest thing ever. It's a little long, the best parts are at 2:oo and 5:30.

WKRP Turkey Drop - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

I hope everyone's tables are bountiful with food, love, and laughter this year.

Easter, Visits, and a Birthday

Boy, oh boy, my last post was St. Patrick’s Day. Bad blogger, bad.

Here’s the rundown of what has been going on lately:

Easter. Bobaloo and I dyed Easter eggs and I made a trout-shaped cake. We even blew up peeps in the microwave.

My brother and his family passed through town a week ago and I was able to spend some time with my two adorable nephews and visit with my bro and sis-in-law. We ate Jason’s Deli and sat around the apartment. It was a beautiful day.

My pops passed through town as well. He stayed for a couple of days and we had loads of fun. We went to the Buffalo Rose and listened to a small band and had beer and cocktails. By the way, my hundred days of soberness is up. Success! Bobaloo and I also took my dad up to Black Hawk where we spent some time in the casinos and ate pizza and drank beer and cocktails.

I turned twenty-seven last Tuesday. I am not quite sure how I feel about that. I looked at last year’s birthday resolution and feel pretty good about what I have accomplished this last year and where I am at today. I’m trying to think of one for this year, but nothing seems to come to mind. Perhaps I’ll skip the resolution this year because I made a New Year’s resolution instead. I don’t know.

Other than that, I seem to be at a complete loss for words and ideas lately.

Parade of Green

I started a one sentence journal, an idea I got from The Happiness Project. It’s not necessarily a thankfulness journal where I remind myself to be grateful for the things in my life. Instead, I try to sum up the day or event that happened in one sentence. I started this on the fifth of March and let me tell you, if someone found this journal they would think my life is somewhat bent; but fun.

I hope to be able to look back at my sentences and remember the events, thoughts, and feelings of the day, and then the years. So far, it seems to be working. For example, my sentence last Saturday was: I don’t like parades as much as I remembered.

You see, Bobaloo and I went downtown for the St. Patrick’s Day parade. I had visions of sitting on a blanket on the curb. As a child I would catch candy, plug my ears during the marching band, and hoot and holler when my favorite floats passed by. Everything about the parade was splendid from the fancy princess waves to the mini Shriner cars.

It’s a gloomy awakening when you realize that you are not six anymore and parades just don’t do it for you anymore. The noise, the crowds, the children with kazoos all make for a frenzied display. It didn’t help that this particular parade was completely random. Seriously, everyone was in the parade. Instead of watching the whole four-hour ordeal, we tooled around Denver in green and watched the monkey business that is St. Patrick’s Day. All in all, our St. Patrick’s Day adventure was amusing and I cannot wait to go back next year.

Have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day and I’ll leave you with a blessing from the spoon-holder in our kitchen:

May your troubles be less,

And your blessing be more.

And nothing but

happiness,

Come through your door.

Resolutions

Happy New Year!

I’m a little late, but so be it. Did you make any resolutions this year? I usually do not, but this year I decided to quit booze for one hundred days. Yikes!

Do you know what one hundred days looks like?

I made a paper chain and every day I cut off a link.

Wish me luck!

I wish you and yours a blissful and blooming new year, and good luck with those pesky resolutions!

A Homemade Christmas

All of our Christmas decorations are in a storage unit in California this year. After work one day, Bobaloo found some fun shiny stuff that the AT&T store threw away. Knowing my propensity for shiny stuff, he put it in the Groovaru and brought it on home.

This is the stuff Christmas trees are made of..

.

"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.

Gobble Gobble

Has everyone recovered from Thanksgiving? Good.

I have been living 928 miles from my family for the last four years now. It is hard to be away from the pandemonium that is the holidays with them. Amidst a little homesickness, Bobaloo and I have been starting our own traditions. I am usually not a huge fan of the holidays, but now that I get to do them my own way I look forward to them more and more.

When we first moved out to Colorado we would do traditional Thanksgiving feasts. This year we had our second annual buffet at the Table Mountain Inn. No cooking, no dishes, no drama. I ate my weight in vegetables, Bobaloo ate his fair share of turkey and we were happy and full. I napped, he watched football. All in all, Thanksgiving was a success!