Avs beat Canucks 5--4 in an overtime shootout . . .

. . . and someone wasn't happy about it!!! LOL The Colorado Avalanche took on the Vancouver Canucks last night at the Pepsi Center. The Canucks are ranked first in the division, and, apparently, there is quite the rivalry between the two teams. Robert, being from Vancouver Island, is quite the Canucks fan. So off to the game we went . . . in opposing jerseys.





We received lots of looks and comments at the game since we were holding hands and obviously a couple. Other fans found it very amusing to see obvious rivalry in the relationship! Anytime a side would score, people would watch our reactions to each other. The Canadians in the stands were particularly outspoken and very friendly. Luckily for Robert, there were several Canucks fans behind us. One of them took this picture of us while we were still playing "nice", although he told me he cut me out of the picture completely since I was "wearing the wrong jersey."

One very cute thing that happened during the game. Bug (who recently has become the text messaging and emailing QUEEN) watched the game at home with the babysitter and . . . even though Robert and I were AT the game, thought she should email me the score everytime someone made a goal. After the first couple of times she did this, she texted "I will update you everytime the score changes." Again, WE WERE AT THE GAME!! LOL LOL I thought that was one of the cutest, funniest things ever . . . and, by gosh, everytime a goal was scored, I could see the red light going off on my phone. At one point, when we were tied 4-4, she even took a picture of the television screen showing the scoreboard and emailed it to me. With that kind of enthusiasm, Robert and I are committed to taking her with us to the games from now on.

And . . . Robert was selected to play with a Canadian team at an invitational hockey tournament in Santa Rosa in July. And he's invited Bug and I to go with him. So she'll get to see him play. He's supposed to be the "goalie extraordinaire" . . . . I saw one email someone sent out describing him as having "the reflexes of a cat" in goal. Whoo hoo! Can't wait to see that!

All in all, it was a very fun evening . . . although someone never did quite get over the loss . . .

Freezing in Denver

Something not to do today in Denver . . . . it's 16 degrees and supposed to drop to 8. Has been snowing all day and expected to get up to 4 inches. I just want to go home, put on sweats, and snuggle with my Sweetie. But, being this is Colorado, everyone is in full work mode. No delayed school starts, no work closings . . . just business as usual. To top it off, our University president is having his holiday party outside at the zoo tonight!!! Snowing and 8 degrees . . . with an outside party. Granted, dinner is in a pavilion, but still. Trying to think of a way to graciously back out, but nothing's coming to me. . . . . Will make sure not to stick my tongue on any poles. :)

Birthday Weekend in Chicago

Trying to find time to update my blog is difficult these days . . . but that's a good thing because life is filled up with some pretty wonderful times . . . for a change. LOL Anyway, we had an incredible birthday weekend in Chicago on November 7 - 9. Bug's birthday was the 7th . . . can't believe she is 11 years old . . . . for her special day, she wanted to go to Chicago, have her birthday dinner at American Girl Place, see Wicked before it closes there in January, and see her friend Emily who is her friend and our former neighbor in Cherry Creek.


We started off the day with presents at home, then off to the airport. Robert was 2 days off of crutches and in a walking cast. Luckily, Southwest let him pre-board and Bug went with him, so we got decent seats and all together.


We arrived to a chilly, gray Chicago. When you live in Denver, it is EXTREMELY rare to have a gray day. So rare that we were happy to see gray skies for a change. The city still had a tremendous energy from the election 3 days prior to our arrival and, in fact, Obama was speaking on the day we arrived. Our cab took us right by Grant Park where he accepted the presidency.


We stayed at the Millineum Knickerbocker Hotel on East Walton Place, just steps from the Mag Mile. The hotel was great. I especially loved our bathroom and now know what I want in my shower if I ever get to build a house. Shower heads everywhere! It was great! After checking in, we headed to the 900 Shops for lunch and shopping. We dined on antipasto, cheese pizza, and the "famous" chopped salad at Frankie's 5th Floor Pizzeria . . .






Afterwards, we shopped at Bloomingdale's where Robert found some really nice Armani jeans on sale and where, unfortunately, the sales person AND Bug overheard me commenting on how nice his "bootie" looked in them as he was walking away from me after he tried them on. The sales person found it very amusing . . . and continued to talk about it through the checkout process . . . and Bug found it very embarrassing and told me I was never to make those comments in public again. I thought I was making a private comment . . . but nonetheless, I was scolded harshly by my daughter. And Robert, well . . . he seemed to enjoy it all and apparently he thought he looked pretty darn good himself . . . LOL! (And he did!)


After shopping, we went back to the hotel for a short rest before hitting American Girl Place, which has moved from its Chicago Avenue location to the Water Tower Place on Michigan Avenue, only 2 1/2 blocks from our hotel . . . entirely too close as we went there 2 days in a row for loooooooonnnnnnggg periods of time, but I digress. Robert had never . . . . um . . . experienced . . . an American Girl Place before, so he was a bit overwhelmed as we walked through the door. Bug, however, was on a mission. She had been studying a catalog we received in the mail for a good 3 days, so she was off and running, armed with a purse full of her money and anticipating Mom would cough up some birthday goods as well. She bought clothes and a dog for Samantha, one of the dolls that's about to be archived for who knows how long (apparently taking a marketing ploy from Walt Disney). She tried on a number of clothes for herself . . . rejecting ALL of the clothes I liked, but "loving" the ones Robert picked out for her to try . . . hmmmmm. Then she bought another doll, Mia, bringing her total doll count to 6. And she bought the matching outfit for Mia that I had purchased for her, a very cute skating sweater, skirt, and tights. Next, off to the Bitty Baby store, where we bought Robert's granddaughter, Kalynn, her very first American Girl. It is so sweet! And we got Kalynn and her doll matching red velvet and lace Christmas dresses. Before dinner (and almost an hour and a half after entering the store), we went to the doll hair salon where Annalisa, Bug's "look-alike" American Girl, had her ears pierced and her hair styled . . . the doll, not Bug. Although the cost is very similar. :( At the hair salon is where Robert's eyes really started to glaze over and he began repeatedly asking for beer and chicken wings (which, of course, are not available at American Girl Place). So we quickly ushered him towards the cafe, where we had dinner reservations. I had ordered the birthday package, so Bug and Annalisa received birthday crowns, a birthday sticker for Bug, and goody bags for the 3 of us. Annalisa received her own chair at the table.




After appetizers of warm cinnamon buns and cheese, fruits, and meats, we had dinner . . . . tilapia for me and chicken pot pie for Bug and Robert. The adults enjoyed some champagne while Bug enjoyed AG's famous pink lemonade. After dinner, a number of singing waiters arrived with a birthday cake and peppermint ice cream . . . YUM!!




We stuck the daisies that were in our individual ice cream servings behind our ears for this picture. . . because at that point, the estrogen had completely overtaken poor Robert.

The next morning, we slept late and then met Bug's friend Emily and her mother Beth at L'Appetito in the John Hancock Plaza for breakfast. It was great to see our friends. Bug and Emily didn't skip a beat in getting to "girl talk".

And after breakfast, guess where the girls wanted to shop first . . . yes, American Girl Place. (sigh) I was tired of it after the evening before, but it was Bug's weekend so we headed back out to AGP.

Fortunately, the girls didn't spend too much time there and we were able to shop other stores in the Water Tower Place. We introduced Robert to Frango Mints. And Bug got some really cute clothes at Abercrombie (not Abercrombie & Fitch) and Aeropostle. Unfortunately, Beth lost both her parking ticket AND her keys that morning, so we spent an inordinate amount of time looking for both, but eventually they were found and we grabbed a cab and headed to the theater district for our 2:00 matinee performance of Wicked. Thankfully, we were able to get a snack of Garrett's popcorn right before heading into the theater.

Wicked was SPECTACULAR . . . as always. My third time to see it in the past 2 years, and I think I could see it every month and never get bored. The songs, the clever script, the costumes . . . just one of my favorite productions of all time. It was Robert's first time to see it, and he thought it was great. And . . . he liked the beer they served at the theater! LOL

After Wicked, we got Beth's car out of the parking garage and headed to a little French restaurant called Kiki's. The food was so incredibly delicious. Bug's roasted chicken came with a huge amount of "pomme frites", so all 5 of us snacked off of her plate during the meal! And the desserts . . . magnifique! My mouse chocolatte was tres bonne!

The next morning, Sunday, started out with Robert and Bug going on a sugar high. While I was showering, they got into the very rich truffles we had purchased at the candy store the day before, as well as Robert going after some gummy bears and both Robert and Bug opening the Frango Mints and Caramels. That pretty much set the tone for bad eating for the remainder of the day. :) As we set out on our last day in Chicago, the first stop was L'Appetito again for some coffee and . . . (sigh) cookies. (And it gets worse.) Next stop, the Hancock Observatory. 94th floor, please. (whew) Here is the picture taken of us before we got on the elevator.

The views at the top were fantastic. 360 degrees. We were given headphones and audio boxes (narrated by Chicago's own David Schwimmer of "Friends") to enhance our tour. We saw Lake Michigan and Navy Pier, great views of the city, and it even started to snow while we were there. And the snow was inverted because of the heat from all the surrounding buildings, so it was snowing upwards!

On one side of the building, there is a window washing display where you can take pictures. Robert and Bug got really silly . . . which one tends to do when one has ingested nothing but large amounts of sugar and caffeine.




After a very fun morning at the Hancock Observatory, we decided we needed to consume some of Chicago's finest hot dogs . . . so off we went to Portillo's, located at Clark and Ontario.

The hot dogs were awesome! (as you can tell by the happy, stuffed faces)

Not content with our stomachs being filled only with candy, cookies, hot dogs, and french fries, we next headed back to the Mag Mile for Ghiradelli ice cream. Sundaes for all! Bug got a little overwhelmed with hers . . . see the glazed eyes?


After some"guy" shopping at Nike Town and a few other stores, we decided to go on a Chicago Trolleys Tour. It was a lot of fun. We toured the Gold Coast, saw Oprah's street, visited the Mag Mile, financial district, and theater district. Got caught in some Bears game traffic, but it was okay. Was able to stop at one of the trolley stops and get some more Garrett's pop corn (as if we had not consumed enough junk food for one day already). But boy was I happy to get some Chicago mix . . . cheese and caramel. Robert opted for cheese corn, and Bug went with the traditional butter.

Finally, it was time to head back to the airport. A quick pic on the way back in front of the very beautiful Fourth Presbyterian Church on Michigan Avenue, the oldest surviving structure on the Mag Mile.

It was a great weekend in Chicago! One we'll remember for a very long time. We're already looking forward to a return trip . . . when it's warm, so that we can spend time on Lake Michigan and at Navy Pier.

Chicago bound

Whoo hoo! Twenty-four hours from now I'll be in one of my very most favorite cities --- Chicago! Robert and I are taking Bug for her eleventh birthday. Tomorrow shopping and a birthday dinner at the new American Girl Place on Michigan Avenue. Saturday, meeting friends, more shopping, and seeing "Wicked" (and hopefully trips to get our favorite Chicago popcorn mix -- Garrett's cheddar and caramel). Sunday, more eating and more shopping. Aah . . . the anticipation. . . . I love Chicago . . . the people, the shopping, the arts, the energy. It's been a year and a half since I was there . . . on my birthday in 2007. Too long to be away. I want Robert to see the view from the top of the John Hancock Building and hopefully make a trip to the Art Institute. I can hardly wait!!!!

So glad I was there . . .

This is Bug and I on the night of President-Elect Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. As I wrote in a previous entry after the convention, I was so hopeful that evening that I had just witnessed the next President of the United States with my daughter at my side. Thankfully, America, that dream came true last night.

I am so hopeful for the future.

We watched the returns from home last evening, Bug, Robert and I. We were settling in for a long night when, unbelievably, Charlie Gibson broke in at 9:00 P.M. and declared the election had gone to Obama. California's 55 electoral votes, along with some other states, pushed him quickly over the requisite 270. We were estatic!!!

I had moved some of my favorite champagne, Veuve Clicquot, from Arkansas with me and had been saving it for a special night and special someone. America's historic vote warranted opening that bottle. Robert took it out on the balcony to open it, and the cork flew all the way over on top of the neighbor's roof!!

Chloe has the biggest crush on Robert and EVERY SINGLE TIME I got up from the sofa, she took my spot! Here is a picture of her watching the returns with Robert . . . and one of her testing the bouquet of the Veuve Clicquot. LOL

I survived the sharks . . . the Avs didn't

Lots of sharks in my life lately . . . First, on Friday, October 24th, Bug had her birthday party at the Downtown Denver Aquarium. A sleepover ( a misnomer because not much sleep involved) . . . but she and 4 of her friends had a great time. We started with dinner at Steuben's on 17th Avenue in Denver. The girls all ordered "The Bug Special", which is what Bug orders every single time we eat at Steubens . . . chicken strips, steamed green beans, and the best french fries outside of McDonald's.

They sat us at the back of the restaurant . . . imagine that . . . .just because I had 5 squealing, excited pre-teen girls . . . we were put in the back of the restaurant.

Here are Cat, Court, Izzy, Bug, & Ana . . .




Here is Bug with her cake . . . an extremely low fat cake composed of chocolate with chocolate chips in the batter cake (3 layers), with cookies and cream filling, topped by buttercream frosting. And the restaurant brought them all ice cream to accompany the cake . . . so thoughtful (heavy sarcasm here).



After what felt like a very long car ride with 5 squealing, excited pre-teen girls hyped up on LOTS of sugar, all while listening to the soundtrack of "Camp Rock", we made it to the aquarium where the girls changed into t-shirts and went on a tour.


After the tour of the aquarium and some games with the aquarium educators who, unfortunately, felt the need to bring a hideous, evil snake into the room, take it out of its cage and parade it through our group, we started making preparations to . . . sleep with the sharks.

As we lay in our sleeping bags (on the concrete floor!!), this was the view above us. And when all the lights went out, the sharks really started circling. As well as other extremely large fish and turtles. Once when I awoke, there were 3 sharks circling right over my head. Talk about a wake-up call. Barracudas, sharks, sting rays . . . all night long . . . in the dark . . .while sleeping on a concrete floor. But . . . the girls LOVED it . . . thought it was the greatest party.

The next morning, the Aquarium treated us to bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, bisquits, and juice for breakfast, then the girls were able to give the pirahnas their breakfast of shrimp, watch the tiger in the rainforest search for his whipped cream breakfast treat, and meet a macaw named Ricky.

It was a very fun birthday party . . . although my back took a few days to recover from the experience. LOL

And then last night, Robert and I went to the hockey game where the Colorado Avalanche played the San Jose Sharks . . . and the Avs got bit . . . I mean "beat" . . . 5-3. But it was still great fun for me . . . my very first professional hockey game. It was at the Pepsi Center, which is such a nice facility. And my guy was at my side, so it was a great night. Robert caught a t-shirt at one of the period breaks for Bug, so she was very happy when we got home. And I bought an Avs jersey to wear at the next game Robert and I go to as it will be against the Vancouver Canucks, his favorite team. Since he will be wearing his Canucks jersey, I thought I should have an Avs jersey on so we don't get pummeled by Avs fans. I'll make sure to get a picture of us so you can see. The game is in December.

This coming weekend, we're all 3 headed to Chicago for Bug's birthday trip. Dinner at American Girl Place on her actual birthday, then the next day we're going to shop, see Wicked, and have dinner with our friends that moved to Chicago in July. We're looking very forward to some Garrett's popcorn!

Wanted: Sleeping Pills . . . ASAP

This will be me tonight, sleeping with sharks . . . . and eels . . . and pirahnas . . . and other slippery wet things. Bug decided some time ago that she wanted to have her birthday party be a sleep-over at the Downtown Denver Aquarium. It sounded very fun at the time, but now I'm having some anxiety. After visiting the Aquarium, I now know that there are snakes in the building. Hideous, grotesque, evil snakes . . . . snakes and tornadoes are my irrational fears, so please . . . no emails or comments about any value whatsoever of a snake. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to think about them. I don't want them in my world. Yet, tonight, I will be sleeping in an enclosed area with them in the building. I would rather put on a wetsuit and spend the entire night in the shark tank.

The Harry Potter scene where the glass disappears and the snake escapes keeps running through my mind. I'm convinced one is going to escape during the night, make its way to my sleeping bag, and bite me. Never mind that there are also tigers in this Aquarium (part of a rain forest exhibit). I can handle a tiger . . . . but not a snake. So . . . if anyone has any Lunesta or other wonderful sleeping aids . . . . please get them to me by 7:00 tonight . . . . that's when the Aquarium locks the doors . . . and there I'll be . . . . until 9 AM tomorrow morning.

what was I thinking?????

The reason I haven't been blogging lately...

This is Robert. We met in Parking Lot D of Dick's Sporting Goods Park on the 4th of July following a Rapids soccer game and the largest fireworks show in the state. We were parked beside each other and could not even move out of our slots for a good 45 minutes or so. He reminded Bug and I of our friend Ken from Canada --- the height, age, hair color, and even his glasses were the same. And on the other side of us were some scary people, i.e., drunk and in a huge family argument. So Bug and I struck up a conversation with Robert. And . . . oddly enough . . . he's from Canada too, from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. (How cool is that???) And a former professional soccer player for Canada . . . now a mechanical engineer living in Denver. As unnerved as Bug and I were by the drunken people, Robert was a complete joy to be parked beside. He also coaches youth competitive soccer, so he and Bug had a lot to talk about. I was very sad when traffic opened up and we were able to pull away. He was behind me and I could see his headlights for the next 15-20 minutes as we made our way through the lots and open fields the police had opened up to move the traffic jam. I thought about him for days. Bug kept talking about the nice man from the parking lot and how she wished he was her soccer coach. I even called Colorado Fusion (Bug's club) to see if he was going to be coaching there in the Fall . . . no luck. . . . But . . . . as fate would have it . . . .

In mid-September, I went for the first time onto Facebook, looking for a potential claimant to see if the person had posted incriminating remarks on a profile and . . . on a lark . . . typed in Robert's name and . . . . there he was . . . on the screen in front of me . . . . what to do? what to do? . . . After a very long while of trying to get my nerve up, I finally emailed him . . . . reminded him of the Independence Day parking fiasco and our conversation. Not too much later, I got an email back from him!! Yes! He remembered me! And was so sweet in his email . . . said he was flattered I remembered him and mentioned "fate". We exchanged email addresses and phone numbers . . . . started emailing and texting, and the next week, Bug and I met him at the Rapids game at half-time. We were unable to get our schedules together to meet up again and that Thursday following the game, he had to have surgery on a fractured ankle and ligament damage . . . soccer injury. I thought about him the entire day of his surgery and texted him frequently over the next few days. On Sunday, Bug and I went and picked him up from his house to ease his cabin fever, and we went and saw The Dark Knight and went to dinner. It was so comfortable being with him ---- felt as though I had known him a very long time.

The following Saturday, we made plans to go to the soccer game together. In the afternoon, Bug got a call from a friend to spend the night . . . she wanted me to call Robert and ask him if it was okay if she didn't go (she was concerned he might not want to go if it was just me!!!! Seriously, she said that!!!!), so I called him and he assured me it was fine if it was just the two of us. We had dinner beforehand then went to the game. It was cold and shortly after half time, he put his arm around me . . . and it was just the best feeling in the world . . . we fit together perfectly. Oddly, we attracted two different Rapids mascots who kept coming up to us, trying to separate us, acting as if they were going to put the moves on me . . . both felt terrible when they looked down and realized Robert was in a cast. But it was as if our energy had attracted them to us. I was able to meet one of his friends at half-time, who later texted Robert "nice catch", which I thought was really cute.

After the game, we drove through Starbucks for lattes, drove back to his house, and watched Jerry Maguire on TV. Apparently, it's a very romantic movie . . . LOL . . .because we were sitting so close . . . I don't think a piece of paper would have fit between us. The rest is history so they say. We've been pretty inseparable since and having a lot of fun.

Last Monday night, October 13th, we even celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving. Here are a few pics . . .

Admittedly, not a great shot here of me . . . .but all of you who know me know how much cooking stresses me out!!!

Robert brought me flowers and Bug a funny pumpkin . . . isn't it the greatest to open the door to a man bearing flowers???? Chivalry . . . it still exists!

Robert zapped Bug with a little whipped cream before we sat down to dessert . . . . my very first home-made pumpkin pie . . .

I'll try to blog more, but am enjoying spending so much time with Robert and Bug. Besides soccer, he's a hockey goalie on an adult men's team, rides mountain bikes and motorcycles, wind surfs, snowboards, water skies, snow skies, plays golf and tennis, and practices martial arts . . . so I'm thinking I have an active future ahead of me if things continue to go as they are. :):):)

Wish me luck!!!!

Playing hooky in the Rockies . . .

Yesterday, my friend Tom and I decided we needed some outdoor time so we both took off of work, rendevouzed in Boulder, where he lives, and drove to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a gorgeous day, and we had high hopes of seeing elk and some changing aspens . . . . we were not disappointed. We went in at Cub Lake trailhead and within five minutes encountered these guys . . .

They were so gorgeous and not at all disturbed by us. Well, the male looked a little disturbed, but I suspect that is because other males were scattered around, in the trees, bugling, meaning this male would have to defend his place with the females by nightfall. (And the sound of bugling elk is pretty disturbing --- if Tom had not been with me, I would have been really freaked out.)

We continued on . . . this little guy was sitting on a rock and . . . again, not disturbed by us at all as I took his picture . . .

Not much later, I looked down and a snake slithered right by my hiking boot. I completely froze and couldn't find my voice. When Tom (finally) realized something was wrong . . . he looked down and saw the snake and said "Oh, no worries, just a rattler." ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME???!!!! "Just a rattler!!!!" I tell you . . . . these Colorado boys are a different breed . . . . just a rattler . . . . he then said, in complete awe, "Oh my God, you're trembling," as if that was a completely unnatural reaction to a . . . . RATTLESNAKE!!! He finally coaxed me onward with promises of our great picnic at the lake we had planned.

Unfortunately, all of the pictures of me are on Tom's camera, and he on mine. But I was very proud of myself. We hiked the 2.5 miles to the lake, and me with a fairly heavy pack on my back. He had one too, but the man is uber fit . . . former elite tri-athlete . . . . even beat Lance Armstrong in the swim portion of a meet once, only to get his booty kicked in the bike segment.

Anyway, we made it to the lake and laid out our blanket for the picnic. . . .

Tom scored huge brownie points when he pulled out a Diet Dr. Pepper he had packed for me . . .

We had lots of critter visitors, who apparently found us quite interesting, especially when we unpacked our food. Ducks kept landing in the water right next to us and waddling up; a mountain jay (which looks like a blue jay on steroids) tried to interrupt our party on several occasions and once when we were lying down, soaking up some sun, we heard noises and looked up and a chipmunk was within inches of us. And we could not shake him the rest of the picnic. I tried throwing some carmelized walnuts away from us so that he would spend his time gathering and hiding them, but he would just eat them and come back. At one point, he scooted under our blanket and just sat there like a lump . . . so we had our picnic . . . me, Tom, and our little lump right between us. It was so bizarre. I didn't take his picture because he was so close to us (inches away) that I was afraid he would freak out and bite one of us if he was frighted by the camera noises. Chipmunks, apparently, are known to carry rabies in these parts.

But we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, pigging out on crackers, Cotswald cheddar & chive, sundried tomato pesto, carmelized walnuts, scallopini chicken, pasta salad, and fruit. Tom had also brought some wonderful dark chocolate . . . . but we were too full and still had another 3 or so miles left in the hike. Oh . . . and we had a wonderful zinfandel from the Andretti Winery in Napa.

After lunch, we headed out to find Fern Lake Trail. And the ferns were so pretty, littered next to the streams. It was such an amazingly beautiful day. Unfortunately, we were having such a great time that we were late coming off the mountain and Tom's 14-year-old son was not thrilled about having to wait at school. Thankfully, Bug was already scheduled for extended care since I'm normally at work.

Aside from that timing glitch, it was a great escape from work and the city and one of the funnest days I've had since moving to Colorado. We were like a couple of school kids, playing hooky from school, laughing and enjoying each other's company, with seemingly no cares in the world . . . .just for a day . . . . but it was great to spend time in the beautiful Colorado mountains.

Food poisoning . . . .

Geez Louise!!!! Bug and I went to a restaurant north of Denver on Saturday night to celebrate (1) her acceptance into a competitive children's choir; (2) her team's 5-0 shut out for the second week in a row in soccer; and (3) my having passed the horrible licensing exam that I took in August. So we were excited about our dinner. The restaurant we chose always receives rave reviews and is located in a community where I'm thinking of buying a home. Well, I ordered fettucine with calamari . . . . and it darn near killed me. I knew something was wrong when I started eating it, and only took a few bites, leaving more than 3/4's of the meal on the plate. But it was enough to get me. I woke up at 1:00 in the morning and it didn't subside until about 5 the next night. Bug was terrified, as were the dogs apparently. They (unfortunately) did not leave my side the entire time . . . . didn't matter if I was in the bathroom, or in the bed, or crawling back and forth in between . . . they were RIGHT beside me. I didn't have the energy to even speak their names, much less try to get them to move. Poor Bug had to take care of me, the dogs, and herself all that day. Although, clearly, I need to have a little nutrition talk with her . . . . learned yesterday that her diet consisted of brownies for breakfast, pizza rolls for lunch, and popcorn for dinner. That's my kid!! I threw up so much that I strained my vocal cords and have almost no voice now --- which everyone seems to find it very amusing when a lawyer loses her voice . . . Me? I'm not so amused.

And being laid up made us miss our hike on Sunday as well as the Rapids game. Not happy about that at all. Hopefully, we'll be back out on the trails this weekend, and there is another game Saturday night.

Anyway, I'm on the mend otherwise and not looking forward to eating out any time soon.

Second hike . . . Red Rocks

Bug and I completed our second hike yesterday. We drove to Morrison and hiked the Red Rocks Trail and Morrison Slide. Unfortunately, after coming off of the Morrison Slide, I started down the right path on the Red Rocks Trail, then hesitated because I saw other hikers going the opposite direction of me. I asked "which way to the parking lot", not realizing there was a parking lot at another trailhead which looped into the Red Rocks Trail. So I made what ended up being a 2-mile mistake, which turned our 4-mile hike into a 6-mile hike. That cost me a "Camp Rock" DVD because Bug was NOT happy with me. This hike was much more strenuous than the one the week before. We ascended 600 feet over several switchbacks, and part of them were gut-busters to us newbies. And with my mistake, we had to ascend another 200 feet. But, it was good for us ultimately. And we saw the most gorgeous 8-point buck --- he came right down on the trail in front of us. Stopped and then headed down the mountain. I can't believe we were that close to him. We hear the elk are on the move in Estes Park, so we're going to head up there soon. And, in Colorado, the leaves change in September, so our goal is to be out in the mountains every weekend for the next several weeks . . . can't wait to see the Aspens change.

On Saturday, Bug had her first soccer game with the new team. They won 5-0 --- pretty cool! Saturday night we went out for Indian food and then played tennis. I have lessons again tonight and my double play on Wednesday. It's gotten so cool here now that I'm having to play in long pants and jackets. We actually had to turn the heat on in the house Friday night. Wild --- I'm use to Indian summers and air conditioning in September. I can't remember the last time I had the air conditioning on . . . . we're even having to close the windows when we sleep because it gets so chilly.

But for right now, I'm happy remembering the beauty of the Red Rocks. :)

First Hike in Colorado

Yea . . . finally! I took my first hike in Colorado. Bug and I went to REI yesterday and I bought hiking boots. Thanks to my friend Brad, I knew what type of boot to get and to get waterproof vs. breathable. And he guided Bug and I where to start for a first hike. So, today we drove to Evergreen and hiked at Elk Meadows, a beautiful "open space" in Jefferson County. We parked at the base and took Meadows View trail to Painters Pause, back to Sleepy S and hooked back into Meadows View. It was great! A 5.5 mile hike with varied terrain, but not too great of an altitude ascent. It was pretty warm for the last mile and Bug got a little foul, but she was fine after getting back to the car and air conditioning. We saw lots of trail runners, mountain bikers, and even horses on our path.

Here are a couple of pictures from the hike . . .

After the hike, we were very hungry and found a great little restaurant called "Cuisine of Himalaya", which had Indian, Nepalese, and Tibetan food. I was so proud of Bug . . . she tried all new foods . . . . naan, spinach pakora, vegetables korma, saag, tandoori chicken, chicken curry . . . all from a buffet.

It was a good day. And, thankfully, it's September 1st. From May 2nd - August 31st is a tough time for me. Mom's birthday was May 2, followed by Mother's Day, then June brings Father's Day and the anniversary of my father's death in 2006, July is the anniversary of my mother's death in 2005, August 23rd was their anniversary, capped by Dad's birthday on August 31st. I'm sure at some point in my life, that "season" will become easier . . . . but not yet.

A day of the DNC . . .

On Thursday, August 28, 2008, thanks to my dear friend Bob, Bug and I were fortunate to attend the Democratic National Convention and witness history in the making. It was such a great experience. I checked Bug out of school at noon and we drove back downtown for lunch and a look at protestors. Bug's favorite scene was when the mounted police arrived with the horses in riot gear --- neither of us had seen horses in riot gear before. All was peaceful, thankfully . . . . a few protestors, but nothing too over the top.

Here is Bug at our table at the Corner Bakery, where we had lunch before a quick tour on the 16th Street Mall . . .

On historic Larimer Square, all the flags of the United States were flying in honor of the convention. I took a close-up of the Arkansas flag . . .

More flags . . .

Bug and I left my office with my friend, Kevin, to walk to Invesco Field at 1:30. We were able to get through the gates a little after 3:00. It was HOT! And I had forgotten to bring sunscreen. Luckily, some was passed back through the line. And the DNC folks had huge barrels of water waiting for us outside Invesco. I felt very fortunate to get through when we did --- some people were in lines for much longer. When we arrived, the show started with various members of the military talking about why they supported Obama as their future commander-in-chief.

CNN's tent was right below us. Can you see Wolf Blitzer? I remember seeing him in Little Rock during Bill Clinton's campaign first Presidential campaign.

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, warmed up the crowd . . .

Unfortunately, I had put my camera back in my purse and couldn't get it out and unzipped before Olympic Gold Medalist Shawn Johnson had finished leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance, but did manage to catch Jennifer Hudson singing the National Anthem, and it was so beautifully done.

Sheryl Crow was great. I enjoy hearing her live more than just listening to her songs on the radio. She's so pretty . . . she came down the ramp in front of us all dressed in white, looking very tall and thin . . .

Stevie Wonder . . . WOW . . . I can't believe I got to hear him live . . . I use to sneak my sister's 8-track tape of his greatest hits and sing to the top of my lungs with "Sir Duke" and some others.

Al Gore . . . hmm . . . wouldn't our world be different today if he had been our president for the past 8 years? He gave an incredible talk, so impressive. . . . .

Joe Biden make another quick talk before Obama came out. There were a ton of speakers, not all of whom I'm posting. Some of the most poignant stories came from those of "regular folk" who have suffered because of the policies implemented under the present administration. Their stories were so compelling . . . several of them had been life-long Republicans . . . until now.

Here is Bug holding a sign they gave us at the convention. They also distributed American flags for everyone to wave.

I'm so sad that my pictures of Barack Obama did not turn out well. By the time he came on stage, around 8:00 p.m., it was already dark and the pictures did not turn out well at all. But he was so engaged, so captivating in his speech . . . . people all around me were so hungry for his message. Everyone there . . . all races, ages, socio-economic levels . . . you could see in their eyes and their demeanor . . . everyone there wanted change . . . someone to believe in . . . someone to help make day-to-day life a little easier. I have never felt such a collective "hope" in my life. Even Bug noticed it. And it meant a lot to her when Obama said, in a video message played right before he appeared, that he "was shaped more by the absence of my father than by his presence." She tugged on my arm and said as I leaned down "me too, Mom . . . I'm like him." . . . . I was so blown away that she said it, but even more so by the fact that she meant it. That old adage "that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger" is, apparently, a concept that a 10-year-old can grasp when she has lived it personally. So, I love that she feels a connection with Barack Obama and that she understands adversity can be a blessing in disguise.

Here's a shot of the stadium . . . . Can't you feel the energy?

It's going to be a long 10 weeks until the election. But my hope is that on August 28, 2008, with my daughter at my side, I personally witnessed the next President of the United States. . . . Thanks, Bob.