I am so lame...

So, no trip to Golden today. Instead, I decided to work on cleaning up the house in anticipation of the new addition tonight...a boxer puppy we've named Mugsy! I'll be taking a bunch of pictures, so stay tuned.

But, this is not why I'm lame. Right now, I'm sitting on the couch watching 7th Heaven. Why oh why do I care who Lucy is dating????

Review

Well, despite my argumens to the contrary, I've pretty much fallen into the literary coma I was trying to avoid. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on as fast as I can. Essays, short stories, fiction, nonfiction, total fluff, nothing is off limits. I've been to the library more than I care to admit lately. But I'm loving it. It's kind of ruining my attempts at my to do list though.

Re-evaluating the list, it's not going so terribly badly. I've been to Golden three times, and even managed to make it to Coors (despite one attempt where they were closed, apparently they no longer do tours on Tuesday and Wednesdays!?!). I still haven't made it to the winery though, so that's still left to be done. I intend to go there tomorrow and have a "me" day before school starts up again. I'm going running, maybe to the new Mines rec center, I am going to have to shower after all. I plan on finding someplace for lunch that I can't go to anywhere but Golden, then hanging out in a coffee shop for the afternoon and blogging, maybe just writing, and of course reading. Hopefully I'll stop by the winery for a glass in the afternoon as well. So, if anyone's reading and up for a glass, let me know!

I didn't make it through the 10 pounds I was hoping for, but I did get through 5, and I'll take it. I kind of doubt the whole running the rocks thing...we'll see.

Overall, I can't really complain about my summer. It hasn't been all roses, but I think with J's help, I've made the best of what we've been given. Overall, I'm pretty happy.

Crunch time

Well, we're back. It was a hard week for me, but I'm so glad that we made the trip. I know we were able to help out my family, and that would have made it worth it in and of itself, but there's something (for me at least, everyone's different) about being able to say good bye. And, as with any time a person is faced with their own mortality, I came back panicked that I'm letting time just slip away.

I know that all time is precious, but there's something in me that knows, without any shadow of any doubt, that this summer is about as precious as it's gonna get. I have time, real time, that I can use as I please. And as much as I'd like to go into a literary coma, leaving the couch only to pour more coffee (or more wine, depending on the time of day), poking my nose into every book I can get my hands on and leaving the house for only the occasional walk for the dog, trip to the library, and day at work, I can't just let the whole summer go by the way side like that. Oh, don't get me wrong, there will be reading. Books are one of the things I miss most during school. But they're only one thing. There's much to be done, and, I've decided, they don't really include First Aid and boards studying after all. So, don't be surprised if you hear from me soon, hoping to get together (perhaps on short notice, I apologize for that) and spend some time before I have none left to spend. I have a month before school starts, and I need to enjoy it to the fullest. For now, I'm off to send some highly belated texts and then finish my chapter... I can't conquer the whole world at once.

Sad News

Over the weekend the world lost a great man. My grandpa passed away on Saturday evening peacefully. He was an amazing person. A farmer from a (very) small town, he started out with eight bucks, a cow, and my amazing grandmother. Nearly 10,000 acres and 63 years later, the world is a sadder place without him. I'm happy I've been able to have him in my life for so long.

J and I will be leaving for the homeland this evening, and will be out of town all week. I appreciate everyone's thoughts, and I'll post when we return.

Before the weekend

Well, since I'll probably be out of touch for the next few days I thought I'd post one more time before the big holiday weekend. Labs were cancelled today, so I got the afternoon off. When I called to let J know I would be home all afternoon, he said "good, now you can make me a pie." Now, this was an obvious imitation of South Park's Cartman, but I got to thinking, ya know, I've never actually made a pie...

So I spent my afternoon making a strawberry pie from scratch. And I have to say, in the future I'll be buying pie crusts.

It's definitely making the house smell great. The only unfortunate side effect is the fact that I forgot to stick a cookie sheet under it until about half way through baking, so we had some drippage. Here's what the pie looked like before I ate a way too big piece:



And between you and I, I'll be having another rather large piece later on!

As for the holiday, we're taking a long bike ride downtown tomorrow morning to kick things off. Then J's sister is throwing a party so we will be going to her boyfriend's house for that. I still am not sure how the day will end but it should be fun no matter what.

Saturday I think the plan will be to visit the breweries in Ft. Collins. I'm looking forward to it a lot because it's so fun up there. There's also this little cafe called Panino's that's really great. I used to eat there before I gave a big review lecture in grad school. It was right across the street from my office. And I never paid for parking the entire 2 1/2 years I was there because I parked in their parking lot. Good memories.

Well, I'm off. I'm looking forward to a great weekend and hope you all are too!

Excited!

Oh my god I'm so excited I could pee my pants. J has a work trip to...wait for it...my favorite place....San Francisco! Wahoo!! We're not completely sure which week in July it's going to be, the big corporation he works for doesn't so much care about deals on airfare. But southwest is pretty reasonable and nothing seems to be selling out too soon. The best part is having a great trip to look forward to. Now when I get bored and surrounded by nothing but way too hot weather outside and Dr. Phil on TV, I can look up all the fun things there are to do there. And they can be things just I want to do, because J will be working all day. Wine tastings here I come! I can't wait to go back to Ghirardelli square and see the condos they had started building last year when we were there and the cute shops, and of course, the ocean. I was so excited last night when he told me (right before bed, what was he thinking!?) that I couldn't get to sleep for hours thinking of all the great stuff to do.

The only downside of the day (I have the day off, looks like I'll be going in tomorrow afterall) is that I have to bring the big guy to the vet. So, that doesn't make me happy, because it doesn't make him happy. But he's been sick for a week now, and it's time to figure out what's going on. I think he might just be forcing himself to stay sick so he can keep eating the "bland food" that the doc prescribed last week - it's rice and beef and he eats it so fast I'm not even sure he tastes it. Anyway, his appointment is coming up so I better skadaddle. I think I'll stop at the library for a travel book too!