Camping.

Recently, I got an email about a friend of mine that is going camping for a few weeks. Although, I have little too no desire to camp for a few weeks, the idea did give me the itch to be in the woods. I mentioned something to Swallow about how it would be really good for me to go spend sometime peace and quiet in the woods. She quickly reminded me how earlier in the year, I had promised her that I would take her camping this summer. I thought to myself, "oh, shit she took me serious." With or without Swallow, I think its important for me to go spend sometime in the fresh air...breath in, breath out and move on.

To prepare myself for my camping expedition, I headed down to the Coleman outlet to see what kind of new gadgets or gizmos that I could add to my camping equipment. As soon as I walked into the store I was in heaven and the funny part about it so was Swallow. I went my way, working my way up and down every isle and she went her way shopping up and down every isle. Rather amusing when she kept asking if she needed stuff. After three days in the woods with me, I doubt she will ever camp again, but I am happy to take her for first official camping trip. She asked if she needed things like a compasses, water purifier, camp soap, or a camping watch. All I could do is laugh. God bless her at least she is trying. She did end up buying a sleeping bag that is rated to go down to 32 degrees.

I myself got a few new goodies to add to my camping equipment. I finally broke down and bought myself a backpacking stove and a 4 pound tent 2 person backpacking tent. I have wanted one for a while that ways 4 pounds or under so I decided to treat myself to one when I saw that it was discounted 20%. The tent I settled on is a true 3 season tent (would be four if I still lived in Florida). It sleeps two with 8.6 sq ft of vestibule, center height of 39 inches (so if it is rainy you can at least sit upright. Once I got home I immediately put it up in the backyard. It took a few minutes to see exactly how it went up, but after a few test runs with Swallow I should be able to have it up by myself within 5 minutes from start to finish. As we were putting it up, Swallow looks at it and says "good lord, two people are suppose to be able to sleep in there?" I looked up at her and said "yep, two people and a dog!" With that being said, I am sure our weekend camping trip should be rather entertaining.

I also bought myself a camping stove and a stainless steel cook set. All in all, I spent almost an hour in the store looking at new gadgets for camping. I'll probably be heading back down to the Coleman outlet for a few more goodies.

On the way back up from Castle Rock we stopped at REI. Browsing through the isles at REI made me quickly realized how much money I saved by driving to the outlets.

Sex in the City

For the first time in my life I went to a movie premiere...none other than the Sex in the City movie premiere. The movie is suppose to be released May 30th (today) but we had free tickets to the sneak peak put on by Bacardi Mojito. You just have to love the bar atomsphere...always free stuff, always happy people and of course always good stories to put together the next day!

Yesterday morning, Red asked if I wanted to go with her to see the movie, but I thought I had to work. I called Swallow and asked her if she wanted to go with Red. She immediately jumped at the chance to a) see the movie, b) see the movie before anyone else and c) to see it for free. When I found out I didn't have to work, I ended up scoring two tickets to the premiere myself. Although, not being a huge movie person or a sex in the city fan I could have just not gone. Wait, who am I kidding? There is no way I couldn't go, I loved the fact that I had the opportunity to see a movie, that hadn't been released yet, that my friends were dying to see. Oh and did I mention the movie theatre that it was premiered at serves liquor and free popcorn! Wow, talk about a great place.

Since I had an extra ticket, I drug Ames with me (she isn't a sex in the city fan either). I did have to bribe her with alcohol, but isn't that normal for all 23 year olds? Swallow, Red, Ames and I head to the movie theatre about an hour early. Red was convinced that we wouldn't be able to get in, unless we were there early. Frankly, I think it was more about the actual seat than not getting in, but that is neither here nor there. Okay, so we are at the movie theatre, we head to the bar to get a cocktail. The three of them get Bacardi Mojito drinks, but I can't handle that much sugar, so I stick the traditional Jack and Ginger. Ames and I look around and we are surrounded by addicts. There were three types of people at this movie, the gays, the sex in the city wannabe's (they all wore the dresses & drank the cosmos), and then the straight guys who were with their girlfriends. The straight guys were probably promised wonderful sexual favors if they went to this movie.

Swallow and Red go stand in the line to get in while Ames and I continue to stand at the bar. We basically refused to stand in line for a movie that either of us could careless if we saw. They make the announcement that movie is about to begin and in go the cattle. I swear it was like a cattle call, they were all rushing to the front. Ames and I meandered from our bar spot to the front of line where we just happened to meet up with Swallow and Red...imagine that, perfect timing. Finally the movie is about to begin. WOOOHOOO!

Although, I could honestly take or leave this movie. I would give it two thumbs up. Ames slept through most of it, but it kept my attention...at least I didn't fall alseep. I will admit I was texting a little bit throughout the entire movie. The story line was good. They pieced together the characters and what they had been doing for the last few years very nicely. It wasn't a guarantee happy ending type of movie. The plot was good, the setting was good, but the characters were the best. It was as if these people had never stopped playing the role of sex in the city stars. It was honestly, as if the show had just continued in a two hour fashion. If you are a sex in the city I highly recommend seeing it. If you aren't, well then, I'd suggest cleaning out your sock draw with a bottle of vino.

Difference of family & friends.

For a year that I was in college, I lived with my sister. I was practically forced to live with my sister. It wasn't actually forced, but it was highly recommended by a mother who paid my rent, bought my food, and sent money on a regular basis. At first, I was extremely against it. I didn't want my sister cramping my college life style. Partying until crazy hours of the morning, skipping a class or two, spending an entire day trying to recover from my excessive alcohol intake the night before. Keep in mind I was underage the entire time.

After moving in with Tumbles, I quickly realized how wonderful it was to live with your best friend and sister. Our roommates, were of course skeptical about living with two sisters. Although, Tumbles and I are different. We don't fight like cats and dogs. We don't share clothes, we don't share food (well I cook, but we don't share the snacky foods), we don't operate on the same schedule...the combination actually worked out fantastically well. Even our roommates thought so. After living with my sister, for a year I moved in with my adopted sister or best friend. That was another lovely situation. We had our rough moments at the beginning, but that was mostly because I was so into my new boyfriend at the time, that I never really gave the living arrangement a chance. It was as if, I focused all of my time on him. Trust me I have learned the error of my ways and have said my apologizes to Werd (we are fine now, thats what sisters or best friends do). Werd and Tumbles understood me, understood how I liked the dishwasher loaded, understood that I hate to be asked how my day was as soon as I walk in the door (it almost as I am being attacked).

I have lived with my boyfriend, I have lived alone, and now I live with three other people. Of course, some parts of living alone are better than others, while in some aspects I love having roommates. I love walking down the stairs and having someone to say hey, wanna go do x y or z thing. I love having people across from me at the dinner table, I love having that common bond about being under the same roof, and of course the safety in numbers game is always a plus. However, of late the roommate situation has made a strange turn of events. We have on particular roommate that is on some crazy drugs or massive amounts of alcohol at any given moment. Her temper is incredible to watch, straight up out of bad girls club or something. She throws things, she drinks to the point that she will literally forget about an entire day (the best part is, she drives to the liquor store to get more, BRILLIANT!)

She has gotten to the point that she hides in her room. Will not speak or acknowledge that someone is speaking to her, but will make it now that she hears what people are saying or continues to walk through the conversation (yes she will split the conversation in two by walking in direct line of the other person). Yet she is oblivious, to the fact that she is the one creating the tension. I agree we all have a part of this and not one of us are in fact innocent. Yet when three out of four us sit down and talk about the day, the house, the party, the work environment the fourth one is to tied up in Entertainment tonight to be bothered being social. She doesn't respond to emails, text messages, or voice mails. Yet she comes across as she doesn't understand how the living situation got to the point that it got. You might be able to ignore a problem in elementary school (like a fight at the bus stop hoping the next day it wont happen again), but this is life. This is the real world you can't ignore three other adults that are trying to figure how to make being home a happier place, how to ensure that you wont burn the house down because you are falling down drunk, or how about locking the front door and leaving the garage door open, BRILLIANT!

I can handle ignorance, I really can...sometimes people just don't know things. However, I have difficult time when they lie right to me. Perfect example- why did you throw the dogs toys all over the house? I thought Camden wanted to play catch. WRONG ANSWER. I watched her scream and stomp around the house and throw the entire basket of toys. Seriously, why lie about something so ridiculously stupid! Living with people that aren't attached to you in a family sort of way is a challenge. With Werd, Tumbles or Buster they were all family. They were in it for the long haul, they had the challenging conversation when they to be had, and they did it in a loving way. This on the other hand is like living with a total stranger, that has absolutely no respect for herself let alone the rest of the household. I admit, I am at the point now that I believe it is actually funny.

She actually greeted me this morning for the first time in about 3 weeks and said good morning, to which I replied "yes it is." She immediately stomped off and slammed the front door. Apparently, me agreeing with her that it was a good morning, was not the appropriate response. Although, I admit I was being a smart ass, I still thoroughly enjoyed the reaction from my three word response.

In conclusion to my ranting and raving. I am sad to say that I have lost a friend, however, I am happy to say that I will feel comfortable coming back to my house after a day of work. No longer will Swallow and I have to avoid the house because the drunk is home. No longer, we will have to ensure that the house doesn't burn down because of the ash tray out side being filled with paper. All in all, it is a win win for the rest of us...sad for her, but perhaps she needs more help than we can really give her.

Beer B Q!

What better way to celebrate memorial day, than with the new family that I have acquired for the RWDTC bunch. Swallow was suppose to go out of town for the weekend, and I was suppose to work, but some how all of our plans fell apart. On thursday of last week, we decided that it would be a brilliant idea to have a bbq on Sunday afternoon. I know roommates are suppose to ask about having a bbq, but instead Swallow and I told Hungry what are plans were. He was all for it, but the only problem is most people already have plans for Memorial Day. Oh well, we will invite some and see how the turn out was.

We were expecting around 30-35 people, and I'll be damned if we didn't have at least 35 throughout the day. We had the traditional bbq food grilled chicken, burgers, brats and hot dogs and then we had some none normal bbq food. Swallow made bacon wrapped jalepenos acompanied by my cheesy pesto bread, and of course...jello shots. What bbq wouldn't be complete without jello shots. Ames and Jro brought bug juice, very similar to hunch punch from my college days. Bug juice is everclear, vodka, sprite, hawaiian punch and don't forget to mention the fruit, gummy worms, gummy bears, and anything else gummy that they could think to add in the concotion. Apparently, gummy things soak up a ton of liquor! Highly recommend that you guys give that a try.

Throughout the day we play numerous tailgate games. What kind of bbq would be having if there wasn't a little friendly competition? We played flip cup, beer pong, and ladder golf. Ames and I were partners for everything. Unfortunately, beer pong did not land in our favor, but we kicked butt in flip cup and ladder golf. I have posted a few pictures of all the games in case some of you aren't familiar.

I really have made a little family, for myself and Swallow, out here. It is really strange to see how all the people that came over mingled. We all come from different backgrounds and different life styles, yet when we were all together we were like one big happy family. You would have thought all these people had been friends for numerous years. We even had a desginated photographer, so when I collect the pictures from my favorite red head I will post some of fun.

We woke up the next day to what looked like our house had been hit by a tornado. Oh well, that was to be expected. Besides a few stains on the carpet, and a 100 red cups on the ground, everything in the house was fine. Nothing broken, nothing damaged, and most of all nothing missing! Looks like I haven't lost my touch when it comes to throwing an ole fashioned beer b que!

1 for the Win Column.

Red Robin won 18-5! Shockingly, the other team that we played wasn't all that bad. Our bats were going, our infield was outstanding, and we actually had fun.

I struck three people out and went 3-4 with two RBI's. Not a bad performance. Swallow was our 1 and only fan...maybe she is our good luck charm. Although, I can't see her actually attending anymore of our games.

It is probably a big suprise to all of you that we didn't make it into the playoffs.

Back at the Stove

When I lived in Florida, I loved entertaining. I loved having everyone over for dinner, drinks, a party, or even just to hang around and play pool. I thrive on being in the kitchen. Last night, I met up with a friend of mine that I hadn't seen in a few weeks at the Dam Grille. I have about it had it with bar food, so as we are sitting there Swallow says why don't we have everyone over and you can cook. This was at 9 pm. Great plan swallow, we have absolutely nothing that I can whip up in a few minutes. So I respond with okay, let me go to the store, what do you want to eat. She responds with stuffed pork chops, cheesy garlic mashed potatoes, and a green vegetable. I just kind of chuckle and say "yeah, okay let me whip that up in ten minutes."


I leave Swallow at the dam and head to the grocery store. I am in and out of the King Snoop in about 5 minutes and head home to make dinner. Hungry was home and asked what I was fixing. I repsonded with "stuffed pork chops on the grill, onion asparagus and cheesy garlic mashed potatoes." He then looks down at his can of green beans and says, enough for one more? Of course, Hungry I always make leftovers. I am cooking away and in come the troops, Swallow, Boozer, and the mean bartender. They come around the corner and see that what I am making, and Swallow opens her mouth with "see I told you she would make whatever I wanted." I laughed as did the rest of the troops. Dinner was ready about 20 minutes later, and let it be known there were absolutely no leftovers. It felt so good to have a table full of people sitting around eating my food. :)

The mean bartender has put in his request to be added to the meal plan. He is welcome anytime. I love having mouths to feed. That is one of the only things I miss about living Gainesville and playing house. There were always people that wanted to come for dinner. After dinner we head down to the shitty pub. It seems to be our new favorite spot. It is close to the house, they have the best hamburger in Denver, and they have a shuffleboard. Ames and I are constantly being challenged on the board. We are normally unstoppable and last night started off just the same. However, we did end up losing the last game of the night...but hey even the best go down sometime. Feel free to challenge us at any time.


I am pretty disappointed that every bar that I have ever been to in florida doesn't have this game. I feel like I truly missed out on this lovely game. I guess that is why I am making up for lost time now. I was explaining it to Werd, and she was like "that is a game for old people to play, what are you thinking?" I explained the game to her again, but she didn't get it. So I thought I'd post a picture of it instead. If you get a chance to give shuffleboard a chance, I highly recommend it. Maybe I should invest in a table myself.

New People, New Place...Same Feeling.

I grew up playing Miss Sarasota Softball. For about 9 years of my life, Saturdays were filled with one, two sometimes three games for my parents and grandparents to watch. I played pitcher for a season or two (hey, my sister was a pitcher so of course, I had to follow in her footsteps). I found my calling at catcher...rather my true love being behind the plate. I was in every play, I got to call what pitches our pitchers actually knew how to throw, chat with the umpire and mess with the batters. It was perfect for me. I retired from fast pitch softball at the ripe ole' age of 14. I was all set to play softball in high school, but head coach for varsity gave me an ultimatum soccer or softball. It was an easy decision, you give me an ultimatum (9 times out of 10, you will lose). I choose soccer without even giving it much thought.

About a week after I quit fast pitch softball, my sister asked me to join the slow pitch softball team. Score! Back on the diamond for nothing but fun. No competition, well extremely little competition. We were a decent team, played once a week and never practiced. It was an ideal transition from fast pitch as a youth to softball as an adult. Over the last 8 years, I have played on a few softball teams, mostly co-ed...but 1 all women's team (I will never do that again). Some of which we were pretty good, others well we had a good time, and some the competition was intense.

Since moving out west, I have had to make all new friends and find a new softball team. I was lucky to find a softball team that everyone's heart is in the right place, but my god we are absolutely awful! As terrible as we are, there is good news to report...they have introduced me to a league of talent. During one of our games, I was recruited, (I must admit it feels pretty good to be the only players on an entire team to be recruited), to play for a team that only plays in Saturday tournaments. They travel all around the front range and play and as shocking as it is, the team is actually very very good! The girls throw harder than the guys and they hit their target in the numbers. No longer, am I the only girl that slides (that is a bummer, I always liked that to be my claim to fame).

Yesterday, was the first time I was able to play with this team. First game was at 9 am. I show up and a girl asks me to warm up (I try not to judge athleticism by appearance but sometimes I can't help it, this girl looked like she would have been better off being the water girl), I tell her sure I am all game to throw. First throw about 10 yards apart, rocket right to the chest. I was lucky to get my glove on it. We warmed up for a little bit and I began to look around, all the females throw that way, most with better accuracy and harder then the males on the team. I have my typical gator gear on, and she makes a wise crack about the gators. I kind of look at her funny, it just so happens that the team I was playing on were all Florida State fans. Even our jersey's had a Florida State logo. There were two girls on the team from Ohio State, so that was a good chuckle, but what are the chances that I find a team that are Florida State fans. I was just happy that I finally I found a team, where all the girls can actually play, I guess I'll just have to get over playing with Florida State!

Time for the game. Coach asks me what positions I can I play, since I will be the relief pitcher. I respond with the usual, I can play anywhere, I am a true utility player, although, I prefer to keep my teeth so I'd like to stay away from third base. He just laughs, and says left center it is. I love the outfield, so I am pretty happy. I play four innings out in left center, sit one inning (the only inning I sat all day), and then to the pitchers mound for the last inning. I went 3-4 with 2 RBI's in the first game. I slid into third base in the 3 inning and sliced open my knee pretty good, but I poured some water on it and kept playing...a little blood never stopped me. We ended up losing 14-12. Bummer, we are now in the losers bracket of a double elimination tournament. We get an hour break before our next game. I run to the drug store, got some supplies to bandage up my bum knee and head back to the field.

Next game we demolish the team. My bat was on fire. I went 4-4 with two stand up triples. The first at bat I hit a line drive that dropped in over the short stop, it was a base hit, but nothing spectacular. The second at bat I hit a line drive in the gap between left and left center, for a triple. Next at bat, I hit I notice that entire outfield had shifted to the left (assuming I was a pull hitter), perfect. I wait for my outside pitch and go for a line drive down the right field line. Stand up triple that easily could have been a home run. We were already up by 11 runs and the 12th run would have called the game, so I stopped on third. Luckily the other team came back with a few runs, so we actually got to play a full game (time wise anyways). Next at bat line drive up the middle. It was as if I could do no wrong. We went on to win that game 21-10.

To make a long story longer, after our initial loss, we won the next four to make it to the finals. One little snag, we were playing against the team that beat us in the first game, so we had to beat them twice to win the tournament. We beat them the first game of the finals, 11-4 but lost the second game 5-3. Our team was literally exhausted. Since we were in the losers bracket, we only had the one break after the first game. I don't think I have played that much softball in any one day in my entire life. I had a great time, but I am paying the price today. My leg is all torn up, and my arms hurt to lift...not to mention the nice sun burn I have on my arms and legs.

I pitched a total of 8 innings, not really sure why I pitched at all, but it did give our pitcher a chance to rest in each game. I struck out three batters, one watching and two swinging. Combined for the day I went 19-22 at bat with a total of 11 RBI's. I was on fire! After the tournament, I was asked to join their Saturday team on a regular basis and their Tuesday night summer league. It felt pretty good, to be invited.

Straight Up SLOBS!

If you drove by or walked into our house today, you would have thought we were straight up slobs! Driving by you will see that our grass hadn't been mowed in at least 6 months, edges hadn't been trimmed, weeds were the same height as I am, and we have a pile of dirt/sand about 4 feet high in the front yard. If you can get past the initial extremely sad exterior appearance, you enter into a house that the floors and the counters are sticky, their is dirt being ground into the carpet, a nice aroma of cigarette smoke, and the baseboards are no longer white (they are nice grayish color because of the dust). It is embarrassing, Swallow and I had finally had enough. We are usually the only person that cleans anyways. I think we were trying to out wait the others, but apparently, they won!

Swallow and I went to picked up the lawn mower (I am now a proud owner of a lawn mower), an edger, and some garden gloves. As we went to go pick up the lawn mower, Suds did pick about four maybe five weeds in the back yard (such the helper she is). As Swallow and I picked weeds, mowed the lawn, and put the excess grass clippings into bags, we are watched as Suds sits on the porch and gets lung cancer. Do we look like Cinderella? I think that should at least be my new name if not as well as Swallow's. Swallow, mowed the front and I did the back. She raked leaves and pine needles as I raked up the grass clippings. We were a team, and its a good thing we had each other to keep each other sane! I was unsuccessful when trying put together our broken edger (it has to go back).

Once we were finished on the outside and we came inside to start cleaning the interior. I threw the food that was left in the broken freezer on to the floor. I had asked Suds to clean out the rest of food that was hers away two days ago, but my guess is that she hadn't gotten around to it. Thats okay, just leave it for Swallow and I to clean out. Apparently, we are the cleaning crew. I don't care if you don't like to clean, you still have to do it. As I was cleaning out the fridge and throwing the rotten food on the floor, that I was on a rampage. Sitting on the floor looking up at her, I just smiled and asked "am I out of line or are my expectations to hire that we have grown adults that live like pigs?" She responded with, well yes we are currently living like pigs. We cleaned out each individual shelf in the freezer and took everything out of the fridge and cleaned that as well. The entire refrigerator looks as if it is brand new. The walls, shelfs, and draws are sparkling and they smell of lemon. It is fantastic!

Swallow and I are a good match for each other. We are both clean. We both have the same expectations of cleanliness. We don't have a problem rolling up our sleeves and helping out around the house...I just wish we weren't the only ones that did so. If you aren't going to help out others, the least you could do is not smoke a cigarette and watch them work. Have some common courtesy.

Glasses & Intelligence.

Recently, I found my glasses! I go through spurts of wearing my glasses. Every time I do wear my glasses, after not having worn them, I remember how much better I can see with them. Its crazy, to think that I don't make a point to wear them everyday. I wear them, take them off somewhere and forget to put them back on, then I forget about them for a week, a few weeks or even a month. It is a habit I have had since I was little girl. It use to drive my parents crazy. They bought me glasses, probably when they couldn't afford to and yet I'd leave them somewhere or forget to wear them. Luckily, I think it is safe to say that I have only lost 1 pair of actual glasses my entire life and that was during a move.

I found my glasses the other day and am trying to remember to wear them at all times. Well not all times, like I don't need them to read or to be on the computer...but for everything else it certainly does help. When I got these particular frames a few years ago, I wore them religiously. Occasionally, someone would comment on them, but not often. Now, whenever I wear them someone (usually always a different person) comments about how smart or intelligent I look with the glasses on. I politely thank them, as I don't want to be rude. I would really like to ask them, do I look like an idiot when I don't have my glasses on?

I began to think about it, and there are in fact people that I think look more intelligent with glasses on. I wondered if that was instilled in me from the time I was a young lad or if it something that I came across during my adolescents or if I am the only person that thinks that way. I started asking people at work, if people that wear glasses look more intelligent when they have the glasses on as appose to when they don't have the glasses on. I asked 13 people today, and 11 out of 13 said, "yes, you look smarter with your glasses on." I tried to explain that we weren't talking about me, but that was a lost cause because the conversation always came back to the fact that I was wearing glasses. I began to think, that my results were screwy because I did actually have my glasses on when I asked the question? Either way, 11 people agree that I look better with glasses.

When I got home, I asked Swallow the same question "do people look more intelligent when they wear glasses?" Keep in mind, I had already taken my glasses off. She responded with "well, you look smarter when you wear your glasses." I about burst out laughing! What is about glasses that help people actually see, make one believe they are smarter or at least look smarter? I did find an article on MSNBC about kids and glasses. Basically, Jeffrey Walline a professor from Ohio State University did a study with 42 females and 38 males from the ages of 6 to 10. He found that 57% of children thought that the people that wore glasses did in look smarter! The study is published in the May issue of the journal Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. I am pretty entertained that this issue seems to grabbing my attention now, yet the study I tracked down was just published. :)

I guess, I'll continue to wear my glasses. I wouldn't want anyone to think I was stupid, since I didn't have them on. That and I can actually see better with them on...go figure!

Safe and Sound

My baby made the journey across the country safe and sound! It was a rough day for the family. My mom called crying at 1:30 MST telling me that she had dropped the Camster off. I felt so terrible for having my parent ship my dog out to me. I know how wonderful they are with her, and I felt so selfish for having wanting her with me. I told my mom to go back and ask for Camden back, and that she and my pops could keep her. I would have done anything to reach through the phone to help my mom from crying. Although, it was apparent that Camden wasn't my mom's favorite from day one, she grew on her. My mom and dad too, fell in love with Camden.

Apparently the airline people took pity on her since she was crying and let her go back and hold Camden for a few more minutes. My mom gave her a few more treats and a little water (against my wishes, but grandma's will do what grandmas want to do). Camden also had a star bandana on enough ID tags to last a lifetime. God love my mom, she had bought Camden two new tags before she made the journey west. One was the typical ID tag, with her name and my phone number...the other was one was in the shape of a heart that read "Camden misses and loves her Gram and Gramps." I about died laughing when Swallow read the tag to me.

For the past few days, my mom has stressed the importance of bringing my ID, the secret identification number, and the new vet information. I show up at the United Cargo pick up, and the lady asks for absolutely nothing. She stated my mom's name out loud as the shipper and asked if that was the correct dog. Any person could have easily walked in with a leash and said yes that is the shipper...bingo free dog for them! After agreeing that my mother was indeed the shipper she points me over to set of stair cases. I walk up the stair cases (excited beyond belief) into a little room and the guys says who sent your dog? I repeated the same the name that the other woman told me to, and he gave me a document to sign that had my name and my mother's name on it. Never did anyone ask for my ID, the secret identification number or the new vet information. One signature and date and the dog was mine.

I signed the paperwork and he took me around the corner to get my little Camden. I was a little concerned as the first two dogs I saw, were obviously not her. I made that well known to the man, that this was not my dog. He said he knew, those dogs had been this since early afternoon (their owners had missed their flights so they were hanging out with the United Cargo Crew for the evening). He pointed over to Camden's creight, who was none to happy to see me. I opened the door and she was kosher but not lovely or friendly. I put a leash on her and we went outside to pee. Swallow got the pleasure of carrying the kennel to the car and I let Camden pee what little grass they had near the building.

All week, I tried to share with Swallow and Hungry how wonderful of a dog Camden really was. I don't think they believed me until tonight, when they saw her interact and actually listen to what I was saying. It is absolutely fantastic to have Camden be my shadow as I move through the house. I missed her so much! She got up from laying on the couch with me and stood by the door (like hello mom, I need to go out!) We haven't been together in 6 months, but it seems as though we didn't miss a beat. It is nice to be posting a blog with her laying at my feet. It is also nice to not have her bandana on (sorry mom, no bandana for the Camster). She looks good her in her new red harness! I'll even keep the red heart id tag on her so there is a little part of her always thinking about my parents.

Two Buck Chuck

I grew up having family dinners. There were a few things that were always standard about our dinners. We would sit around in assigned seats (not really, but I always sat in the same seat) and we would all talk about our day, the world, sports, news, practically anything and everything was up for conversation. My parents always included my sister and I in the conversation. It was never just an adult conversation. We always had bread and butter on the table and my father drank one of three things a glass of white wine, milk with ice cubes in it or seltzer. Growing up watching my father drinking wine with dinner made it a normal transition for me to be a wine drinker.

In college, we collected wine bottles. Normally they were all the cheap jug o' wine, but at least it wasn't boones farm or boxed wine. I did have a standard! I have continued on my standard of wine with dinner. I have actually become a little bit of snob when it comes to beverages. I would rather have a glass of water than crappy wine. My favorite of all times is Toasted Head Chardonnay. A bottle that I only buy on special occasions, because I feel as if it is to expensive ($14.00) for everyday wine. Yes, I realize that it is under $15.00, but if I am going to drink it everyday, I am going to have to scrimp in other areas, so I save it for special occasions.

My sister recently was telling me about Two Buck Chuck wine. I'll try anything twice. Once to see if I like it, and the second time to ensure that I didn't like it. Two Buck Chuck is a fantastic wine! It doesn't compare to Toasted Head, but it could quickly become my favorite comfort wine that I could drink everyday with dinner. I have only had the Chardonnay (since I can't or shouldn't drink red wines), but it was a dry easy drinking wine. Exactly the way I like my Chardonnay. Unfortunately, it is only sold in California and the Chicago areas. Lucky for me, I have a sister that travels for work and is willing to send some my way! :)



If you have the opportunity to try Two Buck Chuck (Charles Shaw) wine PLEASE DO...and if you feel the urge to send me a case or two, send me an email and I'll send you my mailing address.

Salary vs. Performance.

Since moving to the big city, I have become more and more addicted to sports. I am and still always will be a Boston Red Sox fan. After watching my grandfather listen to Red Sox's game on the radio in the dark and hearing him say at age of 86 he can die now because they finally broke the curse. Looking at his face when I gave him the Johnny Pesky autographed ball (which is prominently displayed in their main reading room). How can any dependent of this man ever been anything but a Red Sox's fan?

Out here, people are quick to rag on me for wearing my Boston hat. They are quick to point out that Boston became the new Yankee team because we bought the talent. They are quick to ask how long I have been a fan, for fear that I joined the team after they won the last series. However, after rattling off facts and figures about Boston, people are extreme quick to realize that I do know my team. All I have to say is at Wade Boggs played 3rd bases from 1982-1992 and he would take exactly 150 ground balls during infield practice or that he had 7 consecutive 200 hit seasons. After that people leave me alone, and I love it!

Growing up, I had to keep up with my sister, who some believe is a walking Cubs almanac. There is absolutely no way that I know even half of what my sister's knows, but I still have enough knowledge to talk a good game and keep people guessing. Occasionally I have gotten into some sports conversations with Hungry and Swallow (god bless Hungry, he tries to keep up with us, but you can tell he has no interest in participating). A lot of times he is around to hear the bashing of how the Red Sox buy talent. He recently sent me a link that compares salary vs. performance for each day during the season. Its an awesome chart, one I wish I could figure out how to post on my site, but hey the link is good enough for me.

A Joiner

The family is expanding! No Swallow isn't pregnant (although, I am sure she is thrilled to have me put that on the blog)! :) My little Camden will be joining the family tomorrow evening. While I am sure she has enjoyed her time Naples being spoiled beyond belief, she is headed out to enjoy the Mountains. She was pretty well trained, no people food, minimal couch time, slept until I wanted to get out of bed, and completely house broken...then she went to my parents. She had an actual perch (on top of the couch) to look out over the lake and woke my dad up at 6 am every morning to take a walk. There will be no perch nor will there be any 6 am wake up calls!


She will be flying out tomorrow evening on United Airlines. She went to the vet today and received the all clear, good to go status that the airline requires for her to be able to fly. Swallow and I will be picking her up tomorrow night at 9pm, and I can't wait! I am incredibly excited to have my baby back. I am sure she will miss my parents and my parents will miss her, but my father is probably thrilled to be able to sleep in longer than 6 am. I feel like a little kid waiting on Santa. I am headed off to Pet Store to stock up on some goodies for good ole' Camden.

Mother's Day

I am usually full of random useless knowledge and a little trivia. Since it is Mother's Day and all I figured I'd see how much of my readers actually know a little about Mother's Day.

• What were the first two states to celebrate Mother's Day?
• What year was the first Mother's Day celebrated?
• Who is credited with founding Mother's Day?

I wish I lived close enough to wish my momma dukes a happy Mother's Day in person, but unfortunately you win some and lose some. Enjoy your new Jag Momma. You deserve it! You are an exceptional human that raised at least one of the most impressive people, (the jury is still out on Tumbles). I thank god often for giving me such a supportive, loving, caring, and fun Mother. We have had some terrific times together. May we have many more to come! Happy Mother's Day! I am sure Cam will give you a kiss for me.

Red Robin Strikes Again!

I knew it was a bad sign when I turned around and saw my softball team at happy hour. God bless them! The Red Robin team decided that they needed to do some company bonding and what better place to do that then over a few shots and flowing pitchers of beer.

Majority of the team had never seen me in normal clothes, so some of them didn't recognize me, while others were impressed that I could clean up as well as I do. Gotta love the honesty that comes out of people after numerous rounds of drinks. They did numerous toasts or cheers throughout the evening. One that particularly sticks in my head was, "we have an 8am game tomorrow, everyone better show up, even if they are still drunk, hungover, or tired." That should have been a clue that it was going to be a rough morning. They began to slow down, when the tab for 13 was roughly around $280.00. Good thing it was on the company dollar. :).

I show up at the field this morning at 7:40. It was rough getting out of bed after shutting the bar down, but I told them I would be there, so there was no excuse. I also thought it might be nice to see what kind of shape the rest of the team was in. It got to be about 7:55 and we only had 3 other people besides myself at the field. I called the coach...NO ANSWER! Should have been clue number 3, but I thought to myself, he was drunk enough last night that there is a good chance he lost his phone, (it happens often). I start going through my phone, calling the few players I actually have numbers for...I got voice mail after voice mail. I thought to myself, these little shits are probably still sleeping. The only thing in our favor was the team only had 7 players so they wouldn't be able to play either.

A player from the other team, called the players hotline, only to find out our game had been canceled due to the terrible downpour in the middle of the night. I just kind of chuckle and think to myself, well you win some you lose some...at least we don't have to forfeit! I get back in my car and drive back home. I am pulling into the neighborhood when my phone rings, I look down to see that it was the coach. He immediately apologizes for not showing up, saying he slept through his alarm. I said thats okay, we only had 4 players there anyways and the game was canceled because of the rain. He says, "oh, I should have sent a text to everyone, when I got the call last night that the game was canceled." It was a good thing he was telling me this through a phone, because if he was close enough, I might have reached out and slapped him. Apparently the game got called off last night around mid-night, so he continued to stay out drinking.

It would have been so nice to stay in my nice warm bed and sleep in, but of course I didn't know that was an option, because my coach was too drunk to inform the rest of the team that the game was canceled. Well, he did tell a few people (the ones that were still out drinking at 12:15 in the morning) that the game was canceled...at least they got to sleep in!

Don't Stop Believing.

A few nights ago a friend of mine well call her "sea biscuit" was having a rough go at things. She essentially had alienated herself at work and was having a massive fight with her boyfriend. Sea Biscuit, needed a friend or friends, so of course the two people at work that can tolerate her the most step up the plate. I was the last one to get out of work, so I ended up being the sober one to go pick everyone up. After agreeing to meet her so that I could drive her home (she had had way too much to drink), I quickly remembered why I don't hang with her on a regular basis. The more she drank the more obnoxious she became.

It must be extremely difficult to be a liar. You tell 1 lie and you have to tell 2 more just to cover that lie up. Sea Biscuit is a compulsive liar. They were all drinking beer and playing pool. Since I got there late, I had the pleasure of sitting at the table and listen to Sea Biscuit, talk about how horrible her life is right now. They stories were fantastic, it was as if she should be a fictional writer. However, the more and more that Rome and I sat there listening to her we began to realize that her stories are overlapping but not matching up. For example, she said something about moving to Oklahoma to live with her brother who was going to medical school at OU. Within the next five minutes she asked us both to go New York City to visit her only brother who just got back from Iraq. I wanted to jump at the opportunity to call her out on that right then and there, but Rome reminded me that if we give her enough rope she will hang herself. Boy was she right!

Sea Biscuit did in fact hang herself. A while back we were suppose to hang, but she made up some story about having to take Rome to get her spare keys. I had no reason not to believe her, until she said something about getting a new car like Rome's for the only the reason that it is impossible to lock the keys in the car. I immediately, burst out laughing and Sea Biscuit just kind of sat there, like a deer in the head lights. Rome started laughing as well, as she had no idea that Sea Biscuit had created a ridiculously stupid lie that involved her. I let it go, as the last thing she needed was any more drama, but I made it well known that I don't have much sympathy for liars.

It wasn't much longer when everyone decided to call it a night. The next morning, I missed a call from Sea Biscuit, when I called her back, her phone didn't ring instead it plays the song "Don't Stop Believing." If that isn't funny, I don't know what is. I hope Sea Biscuit figures out that lying isn't going to get her anywhere. :)

Coors Field

I love my family, they continually crack me up. I got a call on Sunday night, that my cousin who lives in Maryland happens to be in town for a few days. I was like thats great when are you coming, his response was classic "I flew in last night." That is my family, at least the ones in my generation.

I happened to have the day off yesterday, so I got to hang out with him last night. We met up downtown and had a drink on the 16th street mall. I love that place, and he was also a fan. He mentioned a few times that , he could definitely live here. I just chuckled. That is what everyone says and it is hard not to agree with them. I love Denver. It is hard not to love this city. It has everything, I have ever wanted from a location.

Take last night for example, Ry mentioned that the Rockies were playing in town. I turned and said "do you want to go to the game?" He didn't think we would be able to get tickets, but come on unless the Rockies are in the playoffs, the only games that are sold out are the ones that they block off entire sections. Gotta love that kind of sell out crowd. Ry and I had a great time at the game, catching up on life, family, and sharing a laugh or too at the families around us. After the game, we headed back up to the Stapleton area, and hit up my mom's favorite place Bar Louie and had a drink or two with Hungry.

I always knew that my family was close and that I'd have visitors, when I moved here. I tried to explain that to Hungry a while back, he never believed me until last night. He was like I can't believe you have had this many visitors. You average about 2 a month. Score for me! I am sure that my friends and family do love and miss me, but the chance to come to Colorado is probably the real reason they are here.

Cinco De Mayo

Happy Cinco De Mayo to all! May the margaritas and corona's be flowing for all. Enjoy the guacamole and enchiladas. :)

Thanks to Swallow for making me some before she left! Love ya girlie!

Wild Weekend.

It has been a rather wild weekend. I worked a straight thru double on Friday night. That ended up being a 15 hour shift. To say, I was a little exhausted would be an understatement. Luckily, I was off all day on Saturday to rest, or so I thought.

Got up relatively early so that Hungry and I could go to his end of the tax season banquet for H & R Block at my favorite restaurant the Fort. That really is the only reason he took me as his date, because he knew how much I had raved about it before. Score for me! Although, it was typical breakfast brunch stuff, and by the time our table was asked to get in line most of the good stuff had already been picked over. We didn't even stay for the awards ceremony, because hanging out with a bunch of tax prepares is about as much fun as flossing a cat's teeth (Hungry came up with that one).

Came home, only to find out that I scored free club seats to the Rockies Game and there was a tailgating party before hand. Awesome! Right up my alley! Back to the good ole' days of college tailgating. We played a little beer bong, my partner and I won the 1st two games we played and then continued to get demolished by the UNC boys (University of Northern Colorado, I didn't know that). So when they said they were UNC boys, I asked what it was like to live in chapel hill, they looked at me like I had five heads. Luckily for me, my partner hadn't heard of that school either. :)

We watched the Kentucky Derby, (pleased to say that I didn't make any bets this year). I am glad that as soon as the winner was determined I walked away from the television. I didn't and still don't want to see the replay of the horse breaking two ankles and being put down on the track. That is just too much for me! So, back to the silly tailgating games. I was lucky enough to weasel my way out of the doing a keg stand. Although, I am sure I could have taken all the girls, because the longest any of them did was 9 seconds. Stupid girls! I probably shouldn't talk, I haven't actually done a keg stand in about 5 years, so I am pretty sure that my skills would be a little rusty.

We make to the Rockies game, only to find out that we have fantastic seats. Second level first row! Lovely lovely lovely, I especially liked the free look about these tickets. We stayed for about 6 innings and then headed to one of the local watering holes, to meet up with the rest of the group that didn't have tickets. I bumped into a few of the baker's crew, which of course ended with us having a do a celebratory shot, because I never drink with them. Funny Funny they are! At this point, my long day drinking was catching up to me. I was ready to go home and go to sleep. Ames got the pleasure of delivering me to my final destination. Swallow, burst into my room all bright eyed and bushy tailed early in the morning. Its a good thing she did, because I needed to go to work, and I needed a ride...unless of course I was going to have to ride my bike.

I got the pleasure of working another 9 hour shift. Terrible Terrible! Corporate World I am coming back and with a vengeance. I like to be one of the people sipping on bloody mary's to cure my hangover, rather than the one getting people bloody mary's. Oh well, you win some you lose some. After work, I met up with Ames and Swallow's new best friend for a beer and some pizza. Rather amusing that I order the traditional black and blue beer and I couldn't drink it. No alcohol sounded or tasted good. I quickly, I switched over to club soda with bitters (my new favorite drink). All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. One in which my liver will now have a few weeks off to rest and recuperate. I am really just not as young as I use to be!

If your a stalker, then by all means

Yesterday, I was asked by 502 and Morning Glory if I wanted to go to the State of Colorado Tattoo Convention on Saturday. I thought about it and thought about, and then finally decided that yes, I do really want a tattoo, I am still simply not ready to put something on my body permanently. I politely explained that to them and they laugh. I guess a simple, no I don't want to go would have done fine with those two, but me I like to give an explanation.

This brings me to my next point, about tattoos. I am beginning to think that I already a have a tattoo on my forehead. It says "if you are a stalker, I'd like to date you." My history shows this, when my high school boyfriend and I broke up, my sister use to say "you gotta give him points for being persistence." One time in college, a guy called the house like 25 times in an hour, finally Werd told him that I would go out with him if he would just stop calling. I still thank her for that. Then there was the SD, whom my friends would probably put into the stalker category. On to the present tense, I was hanging around with Baldy for a little while, when I realized that I just simply wasn't happy. It wasn't one particular thing, I just wasn't happy. That should end there. I always try to do the friend thing, I try very hard to keep at least the friend relationship up. That was the wrong idea. Last night we were out and about playing shuffle board (one of my new favorite games) when Baldy had to bring up us dating, and why it didn't work, why I just shut down, why I wont give us a chance. Apparently, when you flat out say, I was not happy, that is not a good enough reason to not be in a relationship. I tried with all my mite to keep the calm cool and collected demeanor, without exploding when I finally realized that continuing the conversation would be just utterly stupid. I said my piece again about not being happy and then I politely (or not so politely) said I would prefer if you were completely out of my life.

We ended up having to leave the bar, because he couldn't be friends. He couldn't hang out with me with other people (that he works with as well), because he wanted it to just be the two of us. He couldn't get it, that we didn't work. One thing that made me push him away the first time was he was simply too into me, too head strong. I am a slow go, I don't like to many text messages, multiple phone calls in one day, or showing up places he knew I was at. All of it was over the top and eventually drove me to be unhappy. It was about a week ago that we finally tried to be friends. We talked at work for the first time in ages, and slowly he has started with the text messages and the emails. I was at the bar with Swallow and Hungry when he kept hanging out at our table. At one point, Swallow said "are you and him trying to hangout again or is just annoying me." I just kind of chuckled and said "we are trying to be friends." He is simply over the top. Yesterday he had the audacity to bring up my blog and people on my blog. I have made it clear that I write my blog for me, and for the people that I care about to keep up with me on a daily basis. He was questioning me about hanging with Muscles. Seriously, that is ridiculous. Its my life, my blog, and my decision to hang with whomever I choose! If I am not happy, then so be it.

Although, I do have to give him credit, he was honest with me, that is more I can say for some. However, that is still no reason to stay in a relationship that I was not happy. If any of you know of a better reason (then I am not happy) to not be in a relationship, by all means do share. I believe honesty to be the best policy, yet he doesn't seem to be soaking up what I am spilling out.

May 1

It is snowing! Here is a photo of the kickball group playing in the snow!