Palisade, Colorado

Oh, what a weekend! There aren't words for most everything we did and saw and ate and drank. So I'll post photographs with some brief explanations. Keep in mind that the pictures can't possibly do any of the subjects justice. It was magical.

The bed and breakfast where we stayed --
 a charming Victorian that has been stunningly renovated and is run by the sweetest couple.  We had fabulous breakfasts every morning and relaxed in the heavenly hot tub in the evenings.  We can't wait to go back.

The view from the backyard.

Our room and bathroom. Told you it was stunning.

The winery across the street.  We had a personal tour with the winemaker and his wife.  That man is a viniculture genius.  He really knows his stuff.  I learned a lot about wine and how to better appreciate different varietals. They liked us, too because they invited us back that evening for an Independence Day celebration with some of the best food I've ever had.  We're talking roasted pork rib quesadillas with cherry jalapeno salsa, green salad with mandarin oranges and white wine dressing.  Oh, man.  It was tremendous.

The town is small so we did a lot of walking.  The railroad tracks run right through the middle of town so we had to wait on a train.  In case you didn't know, it's rather loud.

We saw some interesting signs.

And some interesting plants.  I still have no idea what this was.  It almost looks like a fungus that has overtaken the the tree but I can't be sure.

One of our favorite places to eat, ever.  They serve the best Greek gyro I've ever had.  I might change my mind if I have a real gyro in Greece some day but since that's not happening any time soon I'll keep going back here.

This particular day, however, I had a garden veggie sandwich with sweet potato fries.  It was so good I'm still thinking about it.

We toured another winery.  This one wasn't as interesting because the tour was given by an employee of the vineyard.  I know it's not possible to tour with winemakers all the time, but it does add a nice personal touch when we can.

Scrap metal sculptures outside another winery.

Awards won by our favorite winery.  I loved every single wine I tasted at this place.  It's called Garfield Estates and they are fabulous.  Paul joined their membership club and I won a free bottle of wine when I entered their drawing.  Yay!

We also ate at the Palisade Brewing Company.  They're an interesting place.

The brew delicious beer and serve delectable French dip sandwiches.

On the way home we stopped at Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs for lunch.

I had a veggie burger that was To. Die. For.  And, of course, more sweet potato fries.  For the record, Palisade Cafe and Grill makes better fries.

We lunched on the patio by this fountain.  The weather was perfect.

After lunch we walked around town a bit before getting back in the car for more driving.  Glenwood Springs is a great place to vacation.  This pool is fed by natural hot springs.  I'm dying to go there and get in it some day.

There are both Hotel Colorado and Hotel Denver in Glenwood Springs.  I don't think that should be allowed.   It's too confusing.

I'll give them a pass though, because Hotel Denver is attached to Glenwood Brewpub that makes more good beer.

More sights in Glenwood Springs.

  And then we got back on the road for the rest of the drive home.  We saw thousands of dead trees like these.  They're being killed off by the bark beetle.  It's a sad but necessary part of natural forest life.

The Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnel.  Did you know that it's 1.7 miles long?  It feels like it, too.  Funny tidbit -- that car in front of us has a license plate that reads HRVRDMAN and the plate is inside a frame that says 'Harvard Alumni' on it.  Um, you think?

On the other side of the tunnel we hit this.  Record-breaking holiday traffic.  We sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic for 2 hours.  It was bad.  It was maddening.  It was hot.  It was yuck.

I left out a big section of our trip.  On July 4th we went up onto the Colorado National Monument, took lots of pictures and had a picnic.  We watched the fireworks down in Grand Junction.  I'll put that in the next post because there are almost as many pictures of that as there are of the whole rest of the weekend.

Updating the Number and Other Things

It's summer.  Summer means the kids are gone and I have lots of free time.  Free time that is eaten up by working out, traveling, tasting wine and playing kickball.  That doesn't leave a whole heck of a lot of time for writing.  Something's gotta give, huh?  As always, when I go on a writing hiatus, I miss it tons.

So.  First things first: The Number.  The Number is looking better.  I haven't quite reached my goal yet but that's okay.  I'm eating well and feeling great -- really, really great.  I've embarked on a workout schedule that I really enjoy. It is as follows: Monday, Wednesday and Friday are running days and Tuesday and Thursday are weight training days.  I have completed Week 4 of C25K and will begin Week 5 this coming Monday.  It feels really good to be moving and it feels even better to see muscle definition appearing in places I've never had muscle definition.  I'm on track to run a 5K at the end of July and I'm excited about it.

Early this month Paul and I celebrated one year since our first date.  It's been quite a year.  Paul is a great guy and I am fortunate to have him in my life. We went to Palisade, Colorado and celebrated there.  More about that in the next post.  And lots and lots of photos.  Hold on to your hats.

My 31st birthday is coming.  It feels weird.  Thirty didn't bother me at all; it was fun, actually.  Thirty-one isn't bothering me, per se, but it does feel much, much older than 30 did.  I don't know why.

Later this week I will leave to pick up the kiddos in Albuquerque.  Then we'll head to Arkansas to see my family.  It's been way too long since we've seen them.  I have missed them so.  The kids are pumped.  It's always so much fun to see my kids playing with my siblings.  After a week or so there, we'll head back to Albuquerque where the kids will stay to spend the rest of their summer break.  On a side note, I'm looking forward to running at thousands of feet lower than my current elevation to see how much easier it is.  I only hope the humidity doesn't make it that much more difficult to breathe.  I will report on that next week.

On a blogging note, I have tons of stuff I want to write about but I'm afraid I won't remember it all.  I should start saving notes on my phone or something.

What is a Pessimist?

A pessimist is a person who not only sees the worst in every situation but actively tries to make situations worse.  For example, I spoke with a mother on the phone today regarding her child's need to change his medication because a specialist told her his current medication will adversely affect a chronic condition he has.  Generally when we change these types of medications we have to see the patient in the office so we have the time to address side effects, medication interactions and possible interactions with chronic conditions, such as the one her son has.  She's unable to bring him in because she has no money for gas and has next to no gas in her car.  I told her that I'd check with the doctor to see if he could schedule her for a phone consultation.

After discussion with the doctor he agreed to call her tomorrow (on his lunch break, no less) at an appointed time and go over the considerations of this new drug with the child's condition.  I called her back to tell her the happy news and to get her pharmacy phone number so we can call in the medication.  Instead of being relieved that we found a solution and thanking us for doing something we don't usually do, she proceeded to wonder if her insurance will cover the new drug (I don't know and have no way of knowing), worry that her children would be too loud while she's on the phone and then tell me how nothing ever works out the way she wants it to and life sucks in general.

Geez, lady.  Yes, sometimes life sucks but when people go out of their way to help you with one of your problems, please don't lay the rest of them out.  We can only help so much.  Ugh.

Paradise

Yesterday evening Solomon informed me that he did not get full on the breakfast I gave him yesterday morning so he went to eat school breakfast when I dropped them off.  They were supposed to be serving pancakes yesterday but when he got there they had run out and were handing out breakfast burritos instead.

"Mom, it was the best burrito I've ever had!  It had eggs and cheese and meat and paradise!"  And I swear, he swooned like Scarlett O'Hara when Ashley Wilkes walks into the ballroom at Twelve Oaks.

Dumpster Diving

Sometimes I'm such an idiot.  One of those times was yesterday.  I am trying to phase out plastic food storage containers because they're a waste of money.  I can only use them until they start to get stained or smell funky, plus I'm not entirely sure that all my plastic is BPA free.  And I can't put them in the microwave.  You know, the list goes on for a while.  So I've been tossing them one by one.

Yesterday I went to Target in search of good glass storage containers with safe, tightly-fitting plastic lids.  I found some great Pyrex that can be frozen, microwaved, baked, etc.  And they have lids so I can carry leftovers to work without worrying about leakage in my lunch bag.  I got several containers all with matching lids and I was so excited.

I brought them home, unpackaged everything and set about either handwashing them or loading them in the dishwasher with the other dishes to be washed.  Then the cable guy got here to switch our cable service to another outlet, I did laundry and dusted and straightened up and took trash to the dumpster and I didn't think about my new storage containers any more.

This afternoon I went to pour leftover salsa into a new glass container because the plastic one was leaking. (Another reason!  Loosely fitting lids!  Argh!)  But I couldn't find the corresponding lid.  It wasn't with the handwashed things in the dish drainer, not in the dishwasher, not in the cabinet where I store plastic lids.  I couldn't find it any where.  Then I realized that I couldn't find the rectangular lids for the small baking/storing dishes, either.  And it hit me that the box that held this particular set had looked much bigger to me than necessary when I unpacked it.  But I got distracted with laundry and the cable guy and didn't open up the bottom of the box.  So I figured that the lids must have been at the bottom of that box.  And that box was taken to the dumpster yesterday.

So I went downstairs and dug through some of the nastiest trash I've ever seen and found my Pyrex box -- all the way at the very bottom of the dumpster.  It was so disgusting.  There were flies every where and it's about 89F today -- way too hot to be digging through smelly trash.  Ugh.  It was worth it, though.  The lids were indeed in the box under a cardboard divider and now I have a complete set of storage dishes with lids.

Lesson learned: always, always, always open up the entire box and take out all of the packing material before you throw it into the dumpster.

Night Out with the Fam

Some of the family, anyway.  I went out last Saturday night with Jenn, Caleb, Jonathan and Cassie (Caleb's sister).  (Caleb's mom offered to watch 5 children so Jennifer and I could hang out together, sans children.  Isn't she great?)  We met up with the steel guitarist (and his wife -- Travis and Courtney) from Caleb's band.

We took the Light Rail.  I rather enjoy the Light Rail, on occasion.  It makes me feel metropolitan.  I like that, on occasion.

Inside our car, announcing the coming station, Union Station.  Woot!

Inside Union Station.  This tunnel goes underground, beneath all the trains.  And not just little trains like the Light Rail.  There are Amtrak trains here, too.  Kind of freaky to think about all that steel above our heads.

Outside Union Station.

Walking to Wynkoop, where we met Travis and Courtney.  Wynkoop is a good place.  There is good food, good beer and pool.  They have a juke box and once Travis got his money into it, there was good music to listen to.  We ate, drank and played pool.  It was a good time.  I would put a picture of Wynkoop's menu here but the less-than-friendly waitress took the menu while I was trying to photograph it.  To be fair, I was taking the picture with my phone so I guess it kind of looked like I was just texting but she was still less-than-friendly.

So instead, here is a picture of the bison burger with extra sharp white cheddar from heaven.  I know it doesn't look like much but it was so delicious. So, so, so delicious.

And here is a picture of my beer.  Or ale, to be precise.  The Rail Yard Ale.  It was also delicious.

A weird pool table.  Caleb, Travis and Courtney played a couple of games here and then we moved to a couple of regular tables.  I'm bad enough at pool; I do not need any funky Ls messing with what little groove I can muster.

A regular table.  Jennifer, Cassie, Courtney and I played teams.  This was the game that would not end.

After we had exhausted our mad pool skillz, Travis declared that we should walk to Herb's.  He said there is always a live band and that it was kind of a dive, but still a great place to hang out.  So walk to Herb's we did.  On the way, we encountered some interesting sights.

Like these massive doors.  I wish I had a picture of someone next to them, to show them to scale but a) I didn't think to do that and b) even if I had, I don't know if anyone in our crew would like for me to post a picture of them on my public blog.  So you'll have to take my word for it.  These doors were in the side of a huge building.  They're at least 30 feet tall.  Insane.

This sign in the window of an empty office building.  It made me laugh so I took a picture of it.  I guess I shouldn't laugh.  I mean, I know I do spend most of my time thinking about ways to excite and elicit new business.  I just didn't know that other people did, too.

Dueling night clubs.  Two places across the street from each other, both playing music as loudly as possible, flashing lights and trying their best to attract people to jam themselves into line so they can wait around for an hour and then pay $7 for a beverage.  We make a point of never going to places like this.  Ugh.

And, finally.  Herb's.  Travis was right -- there was a live band and it was a dive.  But if going to dives means not waiting in line for an hour, I'm okay with that.  The band was pretty great.  Like really, really great.  They had a woman up on stage for a couple of songs and she had a phenomenal voice.  There was another woman playing saxophone who was pretty awesome, too.  By the time we got there it was almost 1:00 so we weren't there long before they had to shut down.  So we headed back to Union Station.

But not before I saw this.  It was taped to the women's bathroom door and I read it while waiting on Jennifer.  In case you can't tell, it's a copy of a diploma from the University of Colorado.  It was awarded to Christopher Ramos this 29th day of May, the year of our Lord 2010 for completion of medical school.  As I was pondering why it was taped to the bathroom door, a guy came by and said, "Who is that asshole anyway?  What kind of guy puts his diploma on a ladies' room door?"  I just looked at him and then he continued, rather cockily, "It's me.  That's mine." I said, "Um, wow.  Desperate?"  And then he walked away.  And I giggled a lot.

This is another shot of the dueling clubs at closing time.  Lots of cops, just to control traffic and drunk people.  Maybe I shouldn't say 'just'.  That's a pretty big job, given the couple of drunk people we crossed.  One dude ripped some leaves from a tree and offered them to me saying, "Want a pretty flower?"  His girlfriend was rather embarrassed.

A van in the parking lot across from Wynkoop.  I had to photograph it because it is advertising what I drank at Wynkoop.  Did I mention that it was delicious?
 

Half way back to Union Station Jennifer remembered that she'd left her credit card in the possession of the waitress at Herb's.  So we walked back for it but they were already locked up. Major bummer.  And then when we got back to Union Station we found out that we'd missed the last train.  (In Jenn's defense, we did not miss the train because of her credit card.  The last one had already departed when we went back for the card but we didn't know it then.)  The next one wouldn't be until 4:22.  Ugh.  One cab and $48 later we were back where we started and I, being the designated driver and having stopped drinking 4 hours prior, took us the rest of the way home.

All in all, a pretty memorable night.

Observations

1. I was going to wear a light khaki skirt today but then I realized that my legs are roughly the same color.  Not a good look.  This girl needs some sun, stat.
2. I am instead wearing a denim skirt that I bought 2 summers ago.  It's 2 sizes too big, at least.  This is good and bad.
3. I hate the end of the school year. During the last 6 weeks of school there are 7 -- I repeat: 7 -- separate days that my kids need or want me to be at their school with them doing something to commemorate the end of the year or going on a field trip or something. I just can't do it and it bums all of us out.
4. Paul has been gone for 9 days on a motorcycle trip with his brother and sister-in-law.  I miss him. He's coming back on Sunday and I'm really excited.
5. My kids are going into the 5th grade, 4th grade and 2nd grade.  When did they get this big?  When did I become the parent of such gargantuan children? It's unreal.
6. I have new sympathy for allergy sufferers.  I've spent the better part of the last week congested, sneezing, blowing my nose, and downing Sudafed for a stupid cold.  I just want it to go away already.
7. The words 'epic', 'beast' and 'random' are bugging me. 
8. Angry Birds is the most addictive and maddening game I have ever played. Unless you count The Impossible Game. It's a tough call.
9. That is all.  I think.

Fruit for Dessert

Last night, during dinner:

Me: I think we'll have some of the watermelon in the fridge for dessert tonight.
Miriam:  But that's fruit.
Me:  Yeah ... ?
Miriam:  That's not dessert.
Me:  Sure it is.  Fruit can be dessert.
Miriam:  Only if it's covered in chocolate!

Adventures with Pee

Excuse the potty talk, please.  If I were my kids I'd take away my computer time.  But I control the computer and I make the rules and I'm not my kids.  So there.  Potty talk shall ensue.  But not terrible potty talk -- giggle-worthy potty talk.  I promise.

So today there was a 6-year-old girl in the office for her yearly well exam.  At the end of the visit I asked her to go to the bathroom and pee in a cup.  She couldn't.  She had stage fright or cup fright or something.  After a couple of trips to the bathroom I told her parents that it's really not a big deal, that we don't have to do it today and if they want to take a cup home with them they can bring it back in whenever it's convenient.

The problem here was two-fold: a) they're actually a little concerned about her urine because it's occasionally cloudy and b) they live 45 minutes away and it's never convenient to just run a cup of pee to our office.  So they decided to leave for lunch, run some errands and then come back to see if she could pee.  Great plan.

A few hours later the dad returned with a cup of pee and a jubilant 6-year-old girl who proclaimed loudly, "I peed in the cup! At Wal-Mart! In the Wal-Mart bathroom!"  I congratulated her and told her dad that I'd call him later with the results.

Later I called their home to relay the urinalysis results and I spoke with the mom.  I told her everything looked good and then she said, "Did they tell you that we lost it in Wal-Mart? She finally had to pee while we were shopping so her Dad took her to the bathroom and then carried the cup around with him.  Well, he set it down somewhere in the store and didn't realize it until we got to the cashier stand.  So we had to go back and look for it. The cashier thought it was the funniest thing ever."

I simultaneously had a good chuckle and an 'ew' moment, wondering where they had left it and who might have seen it before they came back for it.

One Week's Pocket Contents

Belonging to Samuel.  Why?  I do not get it.  The child brings home all manner of weird crap that he finds every where.  And if I ask him to throw something away, he gets very sad and his eyes get huge and his face falls as if I asked him to kick a puppy or something.  So I relent and the crap sits on the dryer for a week or so and then I throw it away and he never asks what happened to any of it.

Cloud

My Kid Made Breakfast

And he set the table.  He made scrambled eggs, toast with butter, juice, the works.  And it was such a huge help to me this morning.  I had to do a load of laundry before we left for school and work and there is no way I could have done everything by myself this morning.  Today is the day when my calorie cycle hits its all-time low and having a sizable portion of protein first thing in the morning helps me get through the day without going over my limit.  I like being able to count on my kid.  Yay, Solomon!