Political Overload.

Okay I get it...I understand, I comprehend, I actually grasp the concept. I am sure that you are all sitting there thinking what in world am I talking about. I have been raised to pick the best candidate, I have been raised to voice my opinion by VOTING, and I have been raised to following my heart, but of course listen to my head along the path. Yes, that is easier said than done, but at the end of the day if you don't follow your heart what good are you anyways.

Here is where I am at...I totally believe I am in political overload. I get the fact that the Democratic National Convention is in fact here in Denver, it is in fact 10 minutes from my house. It has in fact brought 35,000 tourist to our county. This will probably be the only time in my life that I will be in any town that the is the housing the DNC. People back in Florida are jealous that they are not here to enjoy or partake in the festivities. I can't blame them, if I were there and they were here, I'd probably be jealous as well...but oh if they could only know. I am seriously sick of the political arguments. I was raised to think that you don't talk about politics or religion when alcohol or mixed company are present. It seems to be the only thing that people are capable of talking about. Last night I had the lovely pleasure of listening to two people actually yell at each other about their political views. One was arguing that the other's opinion was wrong because they didn't have enough knowledge to talk about the great depression. Seriously, why is it that people can't just appreciate the fact that people across the country will have differing opinions?

The delegate gave me an Obama bracelet that I have been wearing, he also gave me an Obama '08 shirt, but I haven't had the right opportunity to wear it...yet! Normally, I am not a political junkie, however, hanging out with the delegate has lit a little spark about politics. I don't believe that I am the type that goes off on rampage expressing that everyone that doesn't agree with me is wrong, in fact I don't believe I have ever even vocalized my opinions about politics to anyone but my family or maybe the delegate. I try my hardest to stay away from conversations that can only end in arguments or screaming matches as they did last night. If someone knows the facts and figures and wants to calmly discuss politics over a cup of juice with no alcohol involved sign me up. I am getting emails, I am being dragged into conversations I don't want to be apart of because my opinion is different or so they think (the best part is that no one has ever actually heard my opinion, they just see my shit eating grin and my refusal to discuss the topic and they immediately assume that I don't agree with them)...fine by me!

The next issue I struggle with is the fact that people say I am not voting! Seriously? I just want to throw my hands up. It is in fact the same people that are begging me to vocalize my opinion! Why on earth would I ever discuss any sorts of politics with someone who says well at the end of the day, I refuse to vote anyways. I thought my generation of all people would be the ones that want to turn this country around for the positive. They would be the spark that would ignite the fire, the movement, the strike that knocks down all the bullshit...but no! Apparently, the only thing my generation has done is been able to teach people how to yell, scream, kick and punch about politics, but when push comes to shove their voice will never actually be heard. I have no problem that the only time my voice will be heard is when I hit the polls in November. It will also be heard when I pop the cork on the champagne and toast to the fact that I was part of the movement that will lead this country in the right direction.

I am headed downtown for the day, to enjoy and partake in the festivities. I am thrilled to be apart of it, take in the energy and really enjoy the life that our men and women are fighting to keep. Remember even the little stuff counts, think about what you do and say when you are referring to politics...it isn't nice to belittle someone because they don't agree with you.

Gators at the Olympics

It is crazy to believe that the Olympics have come and gone! I am definitely more a fan of the summer Olympics than the winter, but that is only because I love to watch swimming! Something about a rock hard body in a speedo just makes unable to do anything else. Their bodies really are just fascinating, and the well I guess the actual sports aren't so bad either. :)

As usual I look for Gator successes...and I pleased to report that the Gators sent 33 athletes and 4 coaches to Beijing. We came home with 14 medals! As a whole, I am pretty impressed with our performance.

Final Gator medal count

5 GOLD, 4 SILVER, 5 BRONZE

Caroline Burckle (U.S.): Swimming - 800-meter free relay - Bronze
Kerron Clement (U.S.): Track & Field - 400-meter hurdles - Silver
Kerron Clement (U.S.): Track & Field - 4x400-meter relay - Gold
Matt LaPorta (U.S.): Baseball - Bronze
Ryan Lochte (U.S.): Swimming - 200-meter back - Gold
Ryan Lochte (U.S.): Swimming - 800-meter free relay - Gold
Ryan Lochte (U.S.): Swimming - 200-meter IM - Bronze
Ryan Lochte (U.S.): Swimming - 400-meter IM - Bronze
DeLisha Milton-Jones (U.S.): Basketball - Gold
Heather Mitts (U.S.): Soccer - Gold
Dara Torres (U.S.): Swimming - 400-meter medley relay - Silver
Dara Torres (U.S.): Swimming - 50-meter free - Silver
Dara Torres (U.S.): Swimming - 400-meter free relay - Silver
Novlene Williams-Mills (Jamaica): Track & Field - 4x400-meter relay - Bronze

Great job to all of the Gator Olympian's, I am proud to say I am part of the Gator Nation. :)

Gator Time!

Super excited that Gator football is starting up. Although, it doesn't look like I will actually be attending a game this year, it is still exciting to be part of any of it! I literally believe that I bleed orange and blue. I think my love for the gators has actually grown fonder as I am further away from them.

Week Update.

It has been one hell of a week! Last night made me thankful that I lived in Denver and that I was friends with Swallow.

I came home from work and she had decided to drive home from the mountains unexpectedly so she wouldn't fight the DNC traffic this morning. I came home to find Sam I am and Mikester on the back porch chatting. I was happy to see that the Mikester was here to spend time with and also distract Sam I am. It made my heart happy to see her with someone that cares about her. As I was chatting with the two of them, Swallow came from out of nowhere and said "wazzzzzzzzzup girl, did ya miss me?" "Of course, I missed you" I replied. Swallow and I sat and chatted with the two outside and then came inside and actually caught up. We were both exhausted and suppose to go to bed early, but we didn't...we went sat up and actually talked. It was just the two of us and we sat and talked non-stop for about an hour. It was a great uninterrupted conversation that flowed with such ease that made me realize how much I love that girl.

It seems the past month we have been non-stop with visitors, activities, and stress that we haven't really had the time to think let alone catch up with our lives. It was so wonderful to hear that she had a fabulous weekend in the mountains with Duck. You could see the grin from ear to ear as she gushed on with gory details of the weekend. I am really happy for Swallow, I don't know a better candidate to absolutely adored. :) As we sat and talked she asked about the Delegate and I. We are doing fabulously or at least I think so...she mentioned that she hadn't seen me happier since we met and moved to Colorado. That alone made me feel absolutely fantastic. He has been a great support system and a person that can make me laugh when I need it the most. Although, most will say that we don't have a lot in common, I look at my parents and think opposites attract. The thing that is amazing about the delegate is he keeps me on my toes without even putting for effort, or he hides it very well. So we will see, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

The DNC is in town and my god it is an absolute mess! Majority of the people that live here have been adamant about staying away from downtown, but I want to do just the opposite. I really feel like going and walking around downtown for the pure reason of when else in my life with I have the opportunity to do so? Protesters are everywhere, abortion signs and pictures are on people walking as young as little kids, peace signs are on billboards and people are here to celebrate and excite the democratic party. Whatever your political stance is, it is an exciting place to be...definitely busy, but also exciting. :)

5 best canned beers!

I always love the headlines that draw you into reading an article. I thoroughly enjoy the thought process when it comes to titling an article. Authors have to be creative, catchy and yet informative to really draw people into their article. I believe that MSN.com and CNN.com have both done extremely well, trying to keep the titles catchy but truthful. I sometimes feel that I miss out on good articles because their titles aren't intriguing enough. I guess at the end of the day, if I really cared that much, I could click on the articles that do not grab my attention, just to see what I am missing. I am not that concerned about it, I think I will continue to only read the articles that grab my attention.

For instance today, I clicked on Top 5 Canned Beer article while on MSN homepage. I was saddened as I read the article that I had never even heard of the first four beers let alone tried them. However, as I got to number 5, I was happy to have not only heard about the beer, but also because it has been placed in my list of my top 10 beers. I am happy to report that it is Colorado's own New Belgium's Fat Tire. I am now on a mission to find and try the four other beers. We already know that I rank fat tire pretty high in my list of great beers, I am interested to see if the other four break into my top ten beers. All of my top ten beers serve a different purpose. On a hot summer day an ice cold Corona with a lime hits the spot, or if I am going to play a game of flip cup or beer bong Yuenling light goes down so easily. If I could however have only 1 beer for the rest of my days...it would without a doubt be Boddingtons.

Here is a list of my top 10 beers in no particular order:

1. Boddingtons
2. Corona
3. Kwak
   
4. Bare Knuckle Stout (which I still can't find, if you can get it feel free to send me some!)
5. Murphy's Irish Stout
6. Yuengling's Black and Tan
   
7. Yuengling Light
8. Sam Adams Summer Ale
9. Fat Tire
10. Shock Top
    

Week in Review.

Wow, what a week...what a reality check. This is a week, I can honestly say I am glad that it is over, but I am not sad that it happened. I am sad in the big picture, but I can learn for it and move forward so I don't see it as a total loss.

It seems like I have been a none stop week. I somehow got the pleasure of work a ton of shifts that I really shouldn't have been scheduled for, but hey that is neither here nor there...in the big picture I enjoy being busy, especially this week. I had a kick-butt interview last week for a job I thought would be something fantastic. It would be challenging, yet extremely intriguing, and financially stable. I really felt that the interview went in my direction and then I get the news on Wednesday that they went with the other candidate. Oh well, what can ya do? My interview skills are good enough to get me down to the final two, but must need a little polishing because I haven't gotten the big break just yet. It will come, but it still sucks. While I was wallowing in my failures on Wednesday, I had the great offer from the Delegate to come over for dinner and relaxing evening. That seems to be just what the doctor ordered. However, on my way over to the Delegate, I got a call that brought me back to reality and rather quickly I must admit.

My roommate Sam I am, lost her niece 5 and nephew 2 extremely unexpectedly. Talk about a jolt back to reality, real quick. It was a simple reminder that life is precious and shouldn't be taken so seriously. So what I didn't get the job that I thought I was perfect for, at the end of the day I have my family, my friends, and my safety. I don't have camera's in my face, drama in the media, and the big question of what happened to my family members. It has truly been a whirlwind for my roommate's family. You hear stories on television about little kids going missing or dying unexpectedly, but you never really believe it is going to happen to you or even someone you know. Although, it didn't directly happened to me, it hit home because of Sam I am. What do you say to your friends when they are going through something so tragic as the loss of innocent children. As far as we know (which is almost nothing), the entire situation is a mystery. It is truly heartbreaking to see someone you care about go through such a life altering event. Although, the initial autopsy results are back, more test are being done before anything is announced.

Last evening, trying to stay busy and out of the house so that Sam I am can have her support group over and not be bothered by me and swallow, we end up at the shitty pub. Swallow, Ames and I go to watch the Bears game and play a little shuffleboard...Jack and the delegate come to join us and of course have a good time. How can anyone not have a good time when Swallow is consuming alcohol, she makes everyone and anyone laugh. After a terrible loss for da bears, a few losses at shuffleboard for Ames and I, the group decides they are hungry. Lovely...just lovely. I am back to not eating after 9 pm, so I could careless if we go eat or not, but the rest of the group wants to head to Old Chicago for cheap late night happy hour food. While at Old Chicago, I must have apologized to our server 3 times for our table being so loud, before I realized that no matter how many times I apologize Swallow and her best friend KK is never going to stop being loud. Oh well, I given in! Finally everyone finishes eating and I get to drive the drunks home. :)

We are finally home and there are still a few of Sam I am's support groupies at the house. One of which, I have decided is an absolute moron. She literally doesn't use her brain at all, and ended up offending a few people as she continued to speak. I have never been a huge fan of this chick before, but hey I thought I was being a little to critical. Never again will I second guess my first opinion of people, I will forever trust my instincts. I am now of the mind set that she is thoughtless, inconsiderate, and down right retarded! Even the delegate was speechless, which I guess looking back at it now was the best option...but I still think that open communication is extremely important. Although, we are learning what works and doesn't work for us, if everyone communicates than together we are unstoppable. :)

I am ready for my anti-drama filled life style back...I really think I will appreciate it more now that I had a heavy dose of un-necessary excitement.

Corporal Punishment.

I am absolutely addicted to CNN.com. For some off the wall reason, I love the way the website is laid out, the way the articles are written, and the topics they choose to high-light every 15 minutes. I try to read it a few times a day, sometimes more but usually never less. Today as I sat down with my morning cup of coffee (no different then any other day) I typed in the web address and see a headline about 223,000 students endured corporal punishment...awesome a headline that grabbed my attention!

I click on the link to find that it is still legal to use corporal punishment in 21 states. Of those 21 states, 13 use it on a regular basis. As I was reading the article I began to wonder which 13 use it on a regular basis. Growing up and being educated in Florida and getting a degree in Education, I was convinced that Florida couldn't possibly be among those 21 states. Oh how wrong I was! Not only was Florida on the list, but they were also among the 13 states that use it on a regular basis. How could I miss this? During college, I volunteered in elementary schools on a regular basis and I'd like to believe I have a fair grasp on the education laws for the state of Florida (or so I thought). I have a ton of friends who are teachers and they have never once mentioned anything about this...how could I miss this?

This isn't a blog to post my opinion right or wrong about corporal punishment, it is simply to educate people that it is still happening in our classrooms. I was pretty surprised!

Fantasy Football.

For the past two football season I have been the league commissioner in fantasy football, but I was absolutely thrilled when Nads stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park. Now it is just filling out the the league. This is the best of both worlds, I don't have to do anything but go through the draft and pay attention each week. The rest of the stress and problems are on Nads shoulders. I absolutely love the fact that people that were bitching and complaining about not getting invited to play last year, have been invited this year but have yet to sign up. Seriously, people? Needless to say our draft is August 28th at 2 pm Eastern time. Hopefully, I don't have to work...that could make my fantasy season off to an ugly start!

If you have been invited to play, sign up! If you want to play give me a shout and I'll pass the info to Nads to get you in the league.

Let it Snow!

Just got the above picture in the mail, absolutely crazy but magnificently beautiful. 81 days until the slopes open on November 7!

The Perfect Present.

I am always up for a sporting event, a concert (even though I can't hear the music), or a day at an amusement park...but when push comes to shove I hate forking out 7 dollars for a beer. Trust me if I was the one raking in the profits from those over priced beers, I too would charge that, but being the little guy I hate having to spend so much. I thought my prayers were answered when Reef sandal came out with the flip-flop flask (see right), and yes it does come in handy from time to time. However, it isn't all that convenient, since you need to carry a key with you to unlock the flask (trust me I have been out several times and realized that I don't have the key). I keep it on my key chain, but if I don't drive, there is no sense for me to carry keys...come on people I am not that big of ditz!





Hungry recently sent me a link to beer belly. I am always a little concerned when it comes to links Hungry sends, but I thought anything with that title should be pretty interesting...and sure it was. Although, the actual beer belly isn't for me, I would however, be happy to sport the wine rack any day! As most of you know I was not blessed the same way as the other females in my family. Unfortunately, it was just the opposite! However, if I was to be sporting the wine rack it would serve two purposes. One I wouldn't have to buy over priced cheap beers and two my boobs would match my butt! It is actually extremely reasonably priced. I would imagine the only negative is the added weight.

As I was reading it, I immediately thought that it seemed like a brilliant idea, until of course all the liquid is gone and the person is back to be flat chested. Oh, but as I continued to read, that problem is solved by simply blowing the bra back up. How amazing! I am not sure I will be running out to buy myself one of these but maybe just maybe one of my loyal readers (POPPA DUKES) will do so. If I were you guy, I definitely check out the beer belly site, it was informative and perhaps the best answer to over priced drinks!

The Eye of the Storm.

Growing up in Florida, during the summer months your favorite channel is actually the weather channel. When there is a hurricane or a tropical storm coming towards Florida, everyone is addicted the storm's path, preparing your home, gathering your supplies, and of course people of my generation enjoy getting a day or two off of work. Granted during the actual storm, most people don't have power to watch the weather channel, but as soon as the electricity comes back on so does the weather channel. You get to see the destruction and of course watch Jim Cantori be blown away in the storm. My aunt always said if "Jim Cantori comes to your town, get the hell out!"


Moving west, I have gotten out of the habit of watching the weather channel. I got an email today about Tropical Storm, didn't think much about it...but I did turn on the television. It wasn't on for more than a minute before there was breaking news about the storm. If I was in Florida, I would know everything about tropical storm Fay, but living in Denver I don't have a clue. I actually like it that way. Although, I feel bad for my family...I did get a chuckle to hear them all talk about how they are preparing. Take my parents for example, I talked to my dad who said he has been prepared for 2 days and they have enough supplies to last about a year, my mom said in a very calming voice that she isn't concerned about it, and then there is my sister who has to practically beg her husband to help prepare the house because his strategy is just not do anything.

Now that I actually know there is a tropical storm that will be hitting my loved ones, I will be paying more attention. My thoughts and prayers are with all of them...but I am not the least bit jealous. Hopefully none of them lose power, being without air conditioning in August is absolutely miserable.

Day of Games.

The weather has been terrible in Denver! Instead of complaining about the weather the Delegate and I went and made the most of it. We made it a day of games...no not sporting events actual games! Since the Delegate and I were going to go downtown to play pool at Wynkoop, I offered to give Swallow a ride so she didn't have to worry about driving after the Broncos game.

Delegate comes and picks up Swallow and I and we head down to the Wynkoop brewery, as we wait for Tuesday to join us. The Delegate and I square off in the first match on the pool table. Surprisingly I was doing fantastically well on the pool table...the Delegate turns to Swallow and asks if I am a pool shark. She chuckles and says "I have never seen her play, but she is pretty good at everything else so it wouldn't surprise me." I proceeded to win the next four matches, three verse the Delegate and two against Swallow, AND then the unthinkable happened. I lost my mojo. Tuesday showed up and I couldn't win to save my life. They were all still close games, but the Delegate was eventually the winner. I did get a chuckle as soon as we played 7 games and the Delegate was up 4-3, we somehow were only playing best out of 7...funny how we were playing an undisclosed amount of games until he won! So I offered to play 9 ball, and he won the first game. Oh man, I have really met my match now. Luckily I was able to win the second game, but that was it. I lost the next two games before conceding! Lucky for me, the stakes were that the loser had to say "I surrender, I don't have the skill level to win!" For all of you that are reading this, laugh all you want...you know it was killing me to admit defeat!

After pool, we headed home for dinner. The menu consisted of an extremely boring steak and garlic potatoes...and for it being my first meal to prepare for the Delegate, the mashed potatoes were terrible! You would have thought, that I crawled into a dumpster and got some week old mashed potatoes and heated them up. It was that terrible! The steak on the other hand was very good, or at least I was lead to believe that, the delegate had three helpings. :)

After dinner, we played a good game of Rummikub. I have had this game for numerous years, but had never actually played it. Delegate says it is one of his favorite games and that he has has only lost one game, until he met me. He taught me how to play on Friday night and since then has lost 4 games. He was none to thrilled, but eventually he was saved by the bell. Swallow called and we had to go pick her up at the light-rail station. All in all, I was the overall loser for the fact that he beat me in more games of pool than I did in Rummikub, but at least I am yet to be defeated at his so called favorite game!

Sucked In.

I must admit that I really do love the Olympics. I find myself cheering for people I have never even heard of, simply for the fact that they are Americans. Not only am I cheering for them, but I feel some sort of personal connection with the American athletes. I even find myself paying attention to events that I didn't even know where Olympic sports. For instance, I got sucked into the women's final badminton match. The best part of the match is that the two women competing for the gold were both from China. It wasn't as if it was just the highlights, I turned on the television and saw a little bit of it, when upstairs got my coffee and computer and came back down to watch on the big screen downstairs. I needed my computer because I wanted to learn the rules of badminton. I didn't know anyone actually played badminton outside of a family bbq, so of course I didn't have a clue how to serve, how to score, or how many points they play. After a little research, I seem to be a pro (well, at least I know the rules).


I am not alone, I was talking to Ames the other day about being sucked into random sports. She enlightened me that she watched 2 hours of canoing! I thought she was kidding, but sure enough that also is an Olympic sport! Now explain to me how golf isn't an Olympic sport yet canoing is considered one.

It is a rainy day here in Denver, and I am actually kind of glad it is. It gives me a chance to kick back and relax. I can watch as much of the Olympics as I want. Currently, their is 2000m rowing on the television. The US took the Silver medal in the womens, but we didn't even have a competitor in the men's final. Apparently, we aren't a big power house in the men's division. Look at me I talk like I am actually on the team. Now on to the men's 2 man 2000m rowing, twin brothers are representing the US. I was a little disappointed to learn that this is the first international event the boys have ever competed in. I understand that they did their part, by earning their spot in the Olympic trials, but something is to be said about experience. Unfortunately, we finished in 6th place...at least we had a chance to compete in the finals for the gold. Lord knows they did a better job than I ever could!

We have about a week left of the Olympics and I hope to be able to enjoy many more random events.

Used Tires.

When I was a kid, I can remember my dad coming home and saying he got new tires for one of the family cars. My mother was less then thrilled when she found he had purchased used tires. It has been an on going family joke, when poppa dukes says he is going to get a new tires or that he just got new tires. To my knowledge he has never made that mistake again, but I wouldn't put it past him if he tried again sometime down the road.

I really didn't know that there was such a market for used tires. Looking back at it now, I can only remember my mom making a big deal about the used tires, so I thought for sure that no one else in their right mind would ever do that...oh how wrong I was. Last night, the Delegate and I drove over to Lakewood, so he could buy 3 used tires from someone he found on Craigslist. I did find the entire story rather comical. First that finally met someone else who shops for used tires, secondly that we were only buying 3!

When we meet up with the lady she explains why she is selling the tires (does anyone really need to know why, but I digress), and we look at the tread. The delegate was correct, these $20.00 tires will last almost a year and will save him about $700. Okay, so the question I still have is he only bought 3...Does that mean he will buy a brand new 4th tire or will he search for an equally used 4th? Where is the logic about buying used tires? He was a good sport about me picking on him with the used tires. All in all, had I known that there was such a market for used tires I probably wouldn't have picked on him so badly. I guess I need to remove myself from the sheltered life I am currently leading.

Loser

Unfortunately, I am a loser! I played the Delegate in tennis last night and I lost 6-1, 6-3. It wasn't bad, it was down right ugly! I got my butt handed to me on a silver platter.

As my family will appreciate, I finally found someone who hates to lose as much as I do. Competition is always fun (or at least I have always thought so, but typcially I come out on top). However, I think the times might be a changing. The delegate played the game rather intelligently. He placed his shots perfectly, and left me wondering how I could have beaten such a great player before. I really was in the presence of greatness. :)

As for now the delegate seems to be the winner, but I see many more tennis rematches in our future. Hopefully, he wont quit now since he won.

Motivating Factor

Crazy how everyone in life needs a motivating factor, a "why" as Hungry calls it. I am suppose to run a half marathon in October and to be completely honest I have absolutely no desire to run even the first mile of it. I have no desire to have anything to do with it, except of course to pick up my t-shirt. I am suppose to be training alot harder than I am. I can blame it on a ton of different things, but at the end of the day its all about me and my motivation to run. Well, I have already signed up and paid for the darn 1/2 marathon so I might as well run it. I hate wasting money, so at the end of October I will be running myself 13.1 miles for the simple pleasure of saying I did it.

Last night was amusing to me. I came home from work to run some errands, I was going to hit the gym (for some great significant run) right when I was done running errands, but it was getting close to 5pm so I decided I would just come home. Now in the back of my mind I am thinking that the 5pm is a great excuse to not go work out, but at the end of the day that isn't who I was raised to be. Hungry got home we got to chatting and I was trying to convince him that he wanted to go with me, if for nothing else than a swim. In the mean time, Swallow came home with a bottle of vino. I asked her if she wanted to go as well and before I can even finish my question I get a "hell no!" She instead opened that bottle and had a ciggarette. That alone convinced Hungry to go to the gym with me. Before we left for the gym Swallow had already finished 2 glasses of wine and was starting on her 3rd. God love her! We waited till about 6:45 to head over there because majority of the 5pm crowd would be gone and I would get in a decent work out and swim. He wasn't thrilled about going but he tagged along.

My swimming is vastly improving, I am swimming almost 1/2 mile in under 12 minutes. The goal for myself is under 10, don't ask why thats my goal...but it is. I have never been a real strong swimmer, if you ask my mom she will tell you its my "strongest weakness." I can't lie, she is correct. Most sports come incredibly easy, however, swimming never was one of them! However, I am improving everyday, I even had a few people compliment me on my form and speed. Rock on! That is the motivating factor in itself. I know that I have major strides yet to overcome in the pool, but I am improving everyday. I even have some random fools asking me for help or asking how long I have been a swimmer. If you look at my back you can tell I am no true swimmer, but at the end of the day I look half way decent doing it. Its also a killer exercise.

On our way home, Hungry thanked me for dragging him to the gym. Its always nice to bounce motivation off of each other. Maybe we can start training for the half marathon together instead of apart. Because as I see it, the 1/2 marathon is an entirely different set of motivation than just getting off the couch and going to the gym. I need to find a motivating factor for the long term, because I absolutely hate running! If someone can enlighten me with a reason or a goal or even a sad story I am sure I will be more inclined to continue those long runs.

Tattoo Saturday

Well, I never thought that I would actually be the type that would have a tattoo...oh how life changes and you never see it coming.

I have wanted the landscape of the Maroon Bells inside of an Aspen leaf for along time. I never thought that I would actually go get it done. That all changed on Saturday. Tuesday, Werd, and I all went to Blue Door Tattoo shop to see about getting something done. Tuesday wanted the tribal sign for "live for the moment" and I the leaf with the mountains. Werd was simply there for moral support.

We show up at the tattoo parlor and Werd looks in my direction and says "focker, are you okay?" I respond being the tough chick that I am with "of course, why do you ask?" She then says, "you are ghostly white and sweating like a pig, maybe a tattoo isn't really the best idea!" Luckily for me they didn't have time for us and asked if we wanted to make an appointment. I elected not to make an appointment, because I really need it to be on a whim if I am going to get it done. Tuesday on the other hand found out that her tribal sign is so detailed that it would have to be really big, so she elected to wait and find something else to put on her body.

As I was listening to the tattoo artist try to convince Tuesday about the tribal sign being at least double the size she wanted, he started making other suggestions. One of which was absolutely humorous to Werd and I. He said "pick any symbol you like the look of and tell people that is means what you want it to, because majority of the time no one will know that its wrong." I about died laughing right then and there. That is exactly why I never understood why people put those symbols on their body permanently. Some people believe that it says faith and love while it really could say moron or idiot!

So tattoo Saturday turned out to be a big bust, which was probably for the better. I really do want a tattoo, but I am getting mixed reviews. My parents were surprisingly supportive, but random strangers have asked about why people want to ink up their body. I have never dated anyone with tattoos, nor have I ever been a huge fan of them. So why is that I really want one? I told High Five that I wanted a tattoo, because it was sentimental and he said why not get a picture framed and hang it on the wall. Same sentimental value...he actually has a point!

Any thoughts on getting a tattoo?

Tourism Cont'd.

Friday morning Werd and I were both starting off a little slow, but that didn't stop us from enjoying a beautiful day downtown. We wanted to check out the Great Divide Brewery...lucky for us it was free with four free samplings afterwards. Awesome!

We had mentioned the tour the previous night at drinks with Ames so she tagged along for the adventure. I love it when Ames says "I will follow you, because I don't know how to get anywhere even though I have only lived here 5 years." Werd and I both chuckled, but she was right she didn't have a clue where we were headed. We head downtown to grab some lunch at the RockBottom Brewery. It was only adequate, but the service was actually pretty decent...we were all surprised since our server started off as a complete bimbo. After lunch we head to the brewery only to find out that they don't open till 3. Thats okay we will walk around downtown and kill 20 minutes. As we are walking Ames decides that she desperately has to go to the bathroom, lovely! What perfect timing.

We stroll into the first bar that we see open at 2:45 in the afternoon. The StarBar...down right scary. Big sign only paying customers can use the restroom, shit I feel like I am back in NYC. Oh well, we order a round of shots because there is no way that any of us want to actually sit in this bar or even be seen in this bar. The bartender is easily 50+ years old and had maybe 5 teeth to her name. We order Washington Apple shots, but she has no idea what is in that...unfortunately being in the bar industry Ames and I look at her like she is insane. We try to tell her what is in it, but she insists on making us something called a Red Slipper (a shot that not one person I know has ever heard of). It was Crown Royal, Peach Schnapps, Red Bull, and Cranberry juice...to make it even more interesting it was a drop shot! Oh good lord! They actually ended up being delicious. Below is a picture of the shot (more like a drink), but what can ya do. On to the brewery tour.



We head to the brewery for a 10 minute tour, get our free four 1oz samples and then stay for a beer. I should have known not to order a beer, but everyone else was doing it so I might as well too. On the tour I was utterly grossed out. I am not sure that I will ever be able to drink Great Divide again. Throughout the entire tour, I asked Ames four times how on earth this company passes health code. I am not an expert by any means, but I know for sure that it should at least be cleaner than it was...and don't even get me started on their quality control methods. Lets just say they could take a blind bum off the street, have him drink a case of beer with no food in his stomach and he could do a better job. Needless to say, I couldn't even get through half of my beer.

Ames has to head out to get ready for a bachelorette party so Andrea and I head to Wynkoop brewery for some good beer and to play pool before we meet up with Tuesday for the rockies game. We each have a beer and went 3-3 on pool and then headed to Jackson's for a pre-game bucket of Coors Light (its our tradition). Tuesday shows up and everything is great. No issues until two idiots see us and want to come mingle. Lucky us! They bought a couple rounds of shots and then quickly realized they weren't getting anywhere with us. What a shame! One of the morons actually had a tattoo on his ass that read "your name." Lucky for us, we decided to show it to us. Perfect time to head to the game. We had just missed the rain delay, so it actually worked out really well.

The game was relatively boring, but the Rockies won so that was a plus. While Tuesday headed home, Werd and I went to meet up with Ames and the bachelorette party. Talk about LAME! We followed them to two bars before we realized this really was a waste of a night. It was getting late so we headed home for the evening. :)

Tourism Overload.

My best friend Werd came to visit for five days. It was absolutely amazing to see her, but I don't think my liver will ever be the same. I am officially old, I just can't hang with the big dogs...I better learn how to stay on the porch.

She flew in late Tuesday night. We hit up Baker's for a drink after I picked her up at the airport. Random things always seem to happen when we get together to enjoy a cocktail or two. This particular evening had to do with a married man, not sure what his name is so we'll just refer to him as the idiot! The idiot was drinking a coors light with a wedding ring on, he injected himself into a conversation that I was having with a friend of mine. She was pretty intoxicated, and I volunteered to drive her home so she didn't have too. She supposedly had someone picking her up, but I did see her get into the car (she did however, it make it home safely!) The idiot continued to talk to us (very intoxicated) and half way through the conversation he no longer had a wedding ring on. Funny how those things just happen to disappear when a guy talks to 2 attractive females. Apparently, he realized he wasn't getting anywhere with us and his ring magically appeared again. Baker's was pretty dead, and we had had enough fun with the idiot so we called it a night after two drinks.

Wednesday morning, we got up pretty early...remember Werd was still on Florida time, so she was awake by like 7ish. Cesar, Werd and I had some breakfast and than hit up Elitch Gardens for a day of OVERPRICED beer and rollercoasters. Halfway through the day, Seabiscuit joined us for the adventure. Unfortunately, it started to rain so we called it a day and headed to Jax for happy hour and oysters. We each had an oyster shooter (that was an interesting experience for Werd, but she took it like a champ), and another round of drinks. Happy Hour was ending so we headed out to the Whiskey bar. I just got done telling Werd about how I love going to the Whiskey bar because I walk in and then all say my name. Of course, that didn't happen this time, so she thought I was just an idiot. :) Oh, its all good, we had a few rounds of shots and a couple whiskey on the rocks. Swallow came to pick up Cesar so they could head up to the Whiskey Bar. So it was down just the girls. I should have gone home then but oh no, we went to Hamburger Mary's for some food. It was an interesting adventure that had us home and passed out at 11pm. Lucky for us we live in a city that has great public transportation so we in the clear.

Thursday morning, I got everyone up early so that we could head down to Canon City for some white water rafting down the Royal Gorge. I just did the same trip with my father 2 weeks earlier, heck if I could go every week, I definitely would! Luckily for us it was just the three of us on the boat with the tour guide Tim (who happened to be my tour guide last time too). We had paddles but we didn't really have to use them, he knew that we were basically there for a leisurely ride down the gorge. Well as leisurely as any ranked 5 rapids can be. The rest of the Rafting pictures are posted on my picasa site.

We finish up with the rafting trip and then head to a local bar in downtown Canon City. Its probably the only time in my life that I have ever sat at a bar and ordered coffee, but I was so utterly cold I couldn't help it. We filled our stomachs and then headed to the Holy Cross Winery for a tour and a tasting before we make the two hour journey back to the Denver. Unfortunately, for us I didn't make an appointment for the tour so we didn't get to do that...but we still did the tastings. For all of 3 dollars we got to sample 12 wines and 1 port. The wines were pretty decent, however, much different that I expected. They only had two traditional whites that I thought were adequate, but by no means worth the $24 dollar asking price. The two I liked 2 both happened to be red. One was a Cabernet Franc and the other was a Colorado Merlot. They had a few sweet wines, Sam I am ended up purchasing an Apple Blossom wine that tasted like liquid skittles.

As we strolled back into town, we headed over to Bakers. The delegate was there drinking with some friends and Werd hadn't met him yet. It is always nice to go into that place, its like cheers everyone knows your name. We sat outside with some of my friends and before you know our table had grown from 4 to 11 in a matter of minutes. Werd and Delegate got a chance to mingle and hit it off quite well. I believe he passed the test, but she did say that Tumbles has the final say. After a few rounds of shots and a couple beers we headed across the street to get some food. Everyone followed along, and being in the industry majority of the time we don't pay for anything. Funny, how when it was Werd's turn to pay we always had a tab, but if I went to the bar it somehow always got taken care of. Thursday was a long night, we ended up closing down the bar. Gotta love it!

I know I am only to Thursday but we I'll have to finish the rest of our adventures another day. Trust me there is a lot left. :)

Pig Roast

One of the great things about having a wide variety of friends is there is always something to do. After my mud volleyball tournament, I got invited to a REAL Pig Roast. WOW! That was the first time in my life I have been that close to an actual whole pig on a grill. Keep in mind the grill was about the size of a queen size bed, but it was amazing.

When I first got there, I asked if they named the pig...they hadn't so I named it Apple. Because they should have stuffed an apple in his mouth before they grilled him. They most likely weren't amused, but they did refer to pig as Apple the rest of the evening. They cooked him for about 10 hours and it was down right amazing. Moist and delicious, melt in your mouth tasty! Of course, every pig roast wouldn't be complete if they didn't have good ole' bud light out of a keg and a beer pong tournament (brackets and all). My regular partner Ames and I were unstoppable, but she had to down to the Springs to be with her boy so I had to recruit a new partner. If she had stayed, we probably would have won the entire thing, she was carrying the team the entire time...I was just along for the ride and the occasional clutch shot. Just as Ames was walking out, Swallow, Cezar and Tuesday were walking in. I quickly recruited Tuesday to be my partner. We won 1 game and ended up losing in the finals. All in all we had a great time!

I always thought that I wanted to have a roasted pig for my wedding reception, but after attending this bbq, I realized that it might be better to save that for something great bbq in the backyard rather than my one and only wedding reception. My thanks to the brothers who invited me...next party is at my house :)

Mud Volleyball

Lately, I have had a real desire to give back to the community. Of course, don't get me wrong, I was raised to volunteer and give back...but never have I had the real drive to do so until just recently. That sounds pretty terrible, but honestly I am at that age that I am really looking for ways to give back. For instance I am trying to train for the Denver HALF-marathon and I have signed up for a few 5k's to keep me in the spirit. I am only signing up for the 5k's that are for a good cause because to be honest I could go run 3.2 miles without paying 30 + dollars for no good reason.

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to play in a Mud Volleyball tournament. It was for the March of Dimes. The tournament raised in excess of $250,000. There were 300 teams in the one day tournament. Good thing it was 1 day, otherwise I don't think I would have wanted to come back the next day. For those of you who know me know I absolutely hate to have my hands dirty. I am just not a fan of having dried mud caked on my hands. However, it was for a good cause, so I did my best not to think about it.


We got the pleasure of playing 5 real games and two fake games. We weren't really all that good, but we had a blast. I got the pleasure of making some new friends and give back to the children..double plus good! The only negative, I can think of is that it started at 8 am on a Saturday and I had still had dirt in my ears on Sunday afternoon...keep in mind that is after 2 showers! As soon as I get my camera cord I will post all of my pictures.

Week Re-cap.

I feel like I haven't written in forever! My apologizes, but I do have a good excuse...I haven't had any time, and I have people to attest to it! I just recently sent my parents back to Florida and they are probably in need of a vacation from their vacation. While they were here, we were literally busier than one arm paper hangers. They toured the Coors Brewery, took in an Outlaw Lacrosse game, went to Water World, played 3 rounds of golf, ran a 5k, spent a day playing in Boulder, had a few wii tournaments, and took in an outdoor concert. All in all I think they had an great but exhausting time. It was fantastic to be able to play with the fam. It seems that is all we did.

I must admit I am pretty lucky. To have parents as amazing as mine is pretty cool. When I came back to work, a few of my friends asked when my parents were coming back. They all loved them. It was great to hear my friends call them mom and dad. I felt like I was back in high school when my house was the true party house. I am sure that since the move to Colorado my mother has been uneasy about me being so far away without the ability to jump in the car and come visit. However, after this trip I think both feel that I am in the right place surrounded by fantastic people.

I didn't think I would, but I miss them already. Too bad Tumbles and Wonka weren't here to partake in the fun.

Live Strong

I got a surprise in the mail the other day, and it made my entire day! More than a year ago me and SD were talking about the Livestrong bracelet. I never wanted to wear one because they were always so big, and he said if he ever found one that was small enough for my little bitty wrists that he would send it to me. Sure enough, I opened up the mailbox to see an envelope with a return address of Pittsburgh. I had an immediate smile and I smile every time I look down and see it on.

SD really is a great guy! I miss him, I am hopeful that our paths cross again. I was so guarded and not quite making the best decisions at the time that he was in my life, but I have realized how wonderful he is. Hopefully, he has found someone worthy of us love and admiration. SD, you are a fantastic guy and great friend...I miss ya buddy!

White Water Rafting.

With my parents being here for an 11 day vacation and my new method of living like a tourist, what better reason then to take on another new adventure with them in tow. Thursday the three of us piled into the car on our way to Canon City to take on the Royal Gorge! For those of you who don't know about the Royal Gorge it is ranked in the top 5 places to go white water rafting in the country. Of course, it isn't ranked #1, BUT it is ranked #1 in Colorado...Score! Sign me up!

So, we get up Thursday morning and start getting ready for the journey. I slept in a little, so I didn't have time to hit the gym for my last day of Cardio before the race, but hey ya win some you lose some. We stopped for gas and breakfast in Castle Rock and then made the rest of the two hour journey down to Canon City. Half way there, I realize that I forgot my bathing suit. Oh my, a white water rafting trip without a bathing suit could be terrible! Driving down I-25, I see a Walmart. Perfect, I can run in and buy a disposable bikini. We finally get down to the Royal Gorge, I change into my suit and my mother immediately asked why I didn't get a matching suit? I look at her as if she has 5 heads and say something to effect that maybe it's time that she gets her eyes checked. She said "oh, is that the rage to get something that is the same colors but different patterns?" To my surprise I look down to find that I did in fact buy a suit that doesn't exactly match. The bottoms were white with pink poke dots and the tops were pink with white poke dots. That could only happen to me. Good news is, I wasn't entering a fashion contest.

The Royal Gorge was absolutely amazing. It was about a 3 hour trip down 9 rapids ranging from 1/2 all the way to 5. This particular part of the river was ranked in the top 5 in the country. The guide asked if anyone wanted a fun leisurely ride that they didn't have to paddle, I quickly raised my hand. I am all about not paddling...lets just say that my superior upper body strength is pathetic! If you get the opportunity to raft through the royal gorge I highly recommend it. Canon City isn't anything to really write home about, don't get me wrong its a quaint little town, but not much to do. While we were on the gorge madre went and walked across the largest draw bridge in America. That must be some bridge, because it cost her $23 to walk across it. RIDICULOUS, if you ask me...but then again I am petrified of heights. Just looking at her pictures made me nausea. I will post the pictures shortly. :)