2005 in review

i've been inspired by aarwenn and rambling girl to take a look back on 2005. good things. regrets. craziness.

travel. in 2005 i was able to visit for fun: cancun, washington dc, houston, seattle (twice), canada, the cayman islands, chicago and i'm leaving for vegas tonight.

concerts. and in 2005 i saw: keane, big head todd, jack johnson, james taylor, the fray, death cab for cutie, iron & wine w/calexico, the decemberists, and several local bands.

school. in 2005 i started my MBA. and while i miss my free time, i'm making the best of it.

home. si and i bought a house in 2005. it's a lot of work. and expensive. but it feels so unbelievably good to not have a landlord.

friends. i met so many new, wonderful people in 2005. mostly thanks to this blog and the internet crack known as myspace. i'm very thankful to have them in my life and can't imagine how i coped without them!

health. 2005 was the year i finally got control of my health issues. now i have an incredible amount of energy and feel better than i have in years!

so those are the good things. now onto the regrets.

actually, and aarwenn will hate me, but i don't really have any! at least any specific to 2005. if i could go back, oh say 10 years, then i might have some. but you know, then i wouldn't be who i am today. would i be better? maybe? but maybe not.

and the craziness.

all the crazy, crazy, crazy nights i've had in the past few months. fueled by good friends, music, and of course my pal jack. i wouldn't trade them for anything.

so although there were some sucky things in 2005 that i never got into on my blog, on the whole it wasn't a bad year.

here's to a great 2006, filled with lots of fun, friends, craziness, and major life changes.

cheers!

i wish i knew someone with a hot tub and prescription pain killers

because my new, beautiful snowboard that i am absolutely in love with, is seriously FAST.

and when you're going FAST and catch an edge, you fall HARD.

and when you fall HARD, face-first, skidding at least 20 feet before you finally come to a stop, on each of the 2 consecutive days you were riding*, you tend to have some soreness the next day.

and i'm talking the kind of soreness that won't let you check your blind spot without wincing. that won't let you roll over in bed without a helper and some serious effort. and that makes you clutch your over-used abs and bruised torso and sound like this when you laugh at a particularly funny scene from last night's "family guy"- *giggle giggle,ouch! giggle, seriously, ow-ouch! hahaha! fuck i'm not kidding i'm hurting! giggle*

*with the first fall merely knocking the wind out of you, while the second also knocks off your helmet and breaks your goggles

i'm shocked

ok, so maybe i'm just too old and out of the loop, but i just found out the other day what this hand gesture means:
i think i'm doing it right. anyway.

am i the only one that had never heard of the shocker?*
is it just a really well kept guy secret?
and why am i seeing it EVERYWHERE now?

i think us women need to retaliate with our own secret hand signal that we can flash in crazy drunken pictures.

i propose: the vise

what do ya think?

parking karma

last week a friend planned a girls night out at her friends new boutique in cherry creek for some after hours shopping and wine. it was a random group of girls - about 10 of us. some i knew, most i didn't.

after finding a great parking spot, i went to the ticket machine to pay for my parking. there was this woman there who was trying to pay, but the machine wouldn't read her card. after several tries, she let me go ahead of her. i had no problems with my card, and printed out a $1 ticket. i then offered it to her since her card wasn't working. at first she wouldn't accept, and insisted on trying another card, which also didn't work. again i said, "please, just take this one, i'll print another, it's no biggie, i promise!" and she finally accepted, with many thanks.

i walked over to the shop and wouldn't you know it, the parking woman was there and was telling everyone the story and when i walked up, said "that's the girl!". she ended up being my friend's best-friend that i hadn't met yet.

i couldn't have made a better first impression if i tried. and now i have one more kick-ass girl to add to my circle!

crappy weekend in brief

friday: made an ass out of myself - sorry, i will not be going into details on this one.
saturday: had a 4 hour, emotionally charged, mentally draining "where is this relationship going" talk with si. um. yeah, no details on this one either. suffice it to say that we're trying to work things out.
sunday: woke up with a wicked cold that knocked me out all day. will spare you details of this one.

hoping things turn around this week!

hahahahhaha!

i knew that i would get some funny referrals from this post

and i am a little disturbed that someone would google "blogs naked granny"

when you know you've had one too many jack & diet cokes

you put on a friends hat and turn into a gangsta.

what happens when you tell your newly transplanted-from-houston coworker

"oh, the weather in denver is so great! we'll get snow, but it will be gone the next day! the snow NEVER sticks here, and if it does, the roads are usually dry!"

Arctic blast brings frigid temps and slick roads

ocd much?

lately i have had a work project that consists of transferring several large files. so i have a lot of downtime in between transfers that i can't do anything but email and surf the net.

the two websites i've been particularly obsessed with lately are www.myspace.com and gmail. i end up getting emails 0 minutes after they're sent. and i've had to hold out as long as i can before i reply, lest the person sending it to me thinks i'm an internet obsessed freak. which i am of course, but only when i'm stuck in front of a computer without anything else to do. what can i say, i long for non-coworker interaction.

ideally i'd be logged onto my online classes, using my time efficiently. but apparently i get a bigger rush from repeatedly hitting F5 and cursing myself for being such a loser.

and that's when you know it's going to be a bad day

it's not when you miss your alarm and have to skip the gym to make it to work on time...
and it's not when you cut your armpit while shaving..
and it's not when you bang your knee on the side of the door while attempting to reach around from the outside to turn off the porch light..

it's when you pull out the can of the tasty mandarin oranges you thought you grabbed for breakfast and you get this instead:

gag

there is not a worse smell in the world than that of a self cleaning oven.

i have been putting off cleaning it for so long, but when i pre-heated it for the turkey yesterday and the kitchen filled with smoke from the burning food scraps, i realized that it had to be done.

i am cursing myself for being too lazy to line the oven with tinfoil when it was BRAND NEW.

hopefully it will finish before the fumes asphyxiate me.

my dating style

so i was talking with my friend the other day about how i always seem to get myself into fairly serious relationships with guys who are generally pretty great, but for whatever reason lack the desire to get married. they're good with commitment, just not that actual act of marriage. she told me it was probably because i tend to date pretty non-conservative guys. i thought about that and ended up agreeing with her. and then i thought about it some more..

i think the liberal-ness is only part of the equation. there are plenty of liberal guys out there that are interested in the family life. so i started thinking, what else could it be?

and then it hit me.

i ALWAYS act like the guy in the relationship. i am the pursuer. i make the first move in most situations. i feel awkward when they try to be romantic. i pick the wine with dinner. hell, i even try to lead when we dance. i don't play games and am impatient and lose interest when someone plays them with me.

i've initiated almost every relationship i've had. and the guys i'm naturally drawn to are usually non-aggressive, laid back, not in a hurry to get anywhere types. i take care of them. i make more money than them. i am more responsible. i have more outside interests and friends. and i'm a pretty damn good girlfriend.

so i shouldn't be surprised that these guys are happy just the way things are. why should they put time and effort and money into marrying me when they're getting everything they need right now?

this used to really bother me. a lot. but now that i'm going through my quarterlife crisis, i'm not even sure that i want to be married. is it because si and i have been together for 5 years and i'm naturally freaking out? or is it because i never really wanted to get married and subconsciously chose to date people that i knew wouldn't want to either? the thought of being with one person for the rest of my life is daunting. and right now i can't tell if it's scarier to me than being alone.

oh for the love of god

we need to get back to survival of the fittest before we wipe out humanity..

"deferred success" a new term for failure

i think i'm kind of intense

and i don't think that's necessarily a bad thing... i like to think of it as just being open and honest and not playing games, but i wonder sometimes if it freaks people out. not that i would change, just a kind of self-realization that i've had lately.

and also, how is it possible for me to be so comfortable with people that are essentially strangers, yet so uncomfortable with some people that have known me a long time.

maybe i'm just not comfortable with my true self. or maybe i just need to meet more people like me.

being back in school doesn't make me 22 again

because when one is 27 and has worked 45 hours at her Professional Career during the week, and has 2 exams and a final project to complete over the weekend, she should perhaps stay home on friday night and get a good nights rest. and maybe not go to a friends apartment to drink a quarter bottle of coconut rum mixed with hawaiian punch, "because it's free", before going to the bar and drinking 2 1/2 double-tall jack and diet cokes.

and if she is going to bring her brand new camera to the bar, she should make sure that it's in picture mode instead of movie mode before she takes 10 "pictures" that end up being 3 second movie files with a very drunk voice in the background saying in every clip "why isn't it working?!"

and she should not give her camera to her guy friends when she is very drunk at the bar and wearing a low cut shirt, because she will inevitabley end up with 15 pictures of her boobs.

random gym sightings

so i've been going to my gym regularily enough now to know when things seem a bit off. and yesterday was one of those days.

i first noticed it when i got on the elliptical trainer and looked up to the tvs expecting to see the usual array of news programs and espn. instead, there was an evangecial preaching program and a very static-y qvc. why no one had them changed back, i don't know.

then i started people watching and noticed a lady about 40 years old on the bike. not a big deal except she was listening to a cassette tape walkman. very rare to see someone lug one of those around in the age of cheap mp3 players. i was dying to know what she was listening to. thriller perhaps? flock of seagulls? neil diamond? i tried to get a better look when she pulled another tape out of her equally retro fanny pack, but my eyesight wasn't sharp enough.

looking around some more, i spotted another women, probably about 25. walking on the treadmill and wearing a calf length pink skirt, a regular gym t-shirt, and i kid you not, a purple swim cap. not sure what the reasoning behind that was. i don't think she just came out of the pool. maybe it was laundry day and she had horrible bed head.

then everything returned to normal in the locker room. let me tell you about naked granny* in all her wrinkly, saggy glory. naked granny insists on walking to and from the shower without a towel. after the shower, she then sits (bare-assed) on the bench and spends a good 30 minutes air drying and putting on lotion until she finally struggles into her support hose and orthopedic shoes. don't get me wrong, it's awesome that naked granny is even at the gym, and i know that people are usually naked in locker rooms. but really, does it HAVE to be so gratutious? i guess naked granny has just been around long enough to not give a fuck, so i should probably give her kudos instead.

i just wish she'd use a towel.

*oh boy, i should get some interesting referral links from this post!

new math

1 decemberists show sunday night + 2 drinks + 1 cat-a-tac show tuesday night + 3 drinks+ 1 iron&wine show wednesday night + 3 drinks = 0 sleep + 1/4 tube concealer + 3 venti lattes + 1 nap + 1 dirty house + 4 unfinished homework assignments = 3 awesome new friends to go to shows with

waaaaay busy

yeah. i never guaranteed that i'd post everyday you know!

so i've been kind of going in about 10 different directions lately, all of which are fun, but not necessarily productive. i'm trying to catch up in my classes, but i've actually been well, WORKING at work! so since i can't do my classwork at work anymore, i have to do it on the weeknights. but there's been too many hockey games to watch.. and the weekends aren't much better. between all the good shows lately and the being out of town... well, there's a reason i'm behind.

i was in chicago last weekend with some girlfriends. what a fun city! as some of you know, i was born there, but haven't been back as an adult. loved it! huge, but laid back. met a lot of friendly people, drained my bank account at sephora (why there isn't a store in denver, i will never know), and drank. and drank. and then i drank some more! that's really easy to do when a) you're used to drinking at altitude and b) when the bars stay open until 5am! it was nice to see that i could still hang and haven't gotten TOO old.

other news for me is that i'm actually kind of liking my job right now. probably because my boss is f'ing AMAZING and has been super good at getting me on new projects. having a cool boss makes work SO much better. and in turn, he gets super high quality work out of me, and dare i say, even a little overtime.

so in summary, i haven't blogged cause i've been busy working, drinking, and drooling after hot hockey players*.

cheers

*oh please, like i watch hockey for the strategy! i'm all about the hotties and the fights!

only 81 more games to go..

si is a huge hockey nut. his team of choice, of course, is the avs. but he'll watch just about any game that's on. i even caught him watching a repeat of the 1996 stanley cup last winter when he was going through withdrawal.

the only reason we have kept our cable subscription is for the altitude sports network.

i like hockey too. but i prefer going to the games or watching the game at a bar. which is why i was a little put out last night when si dug my avs jersey out of the winter clothes box in the basement, threw it to me while i was trying to have a chat meeting with my marketing group and said "hurry, put this on quick!". as soon as i put it on, the avs scored.

he's convinced that i'm the reason they lost since i went to bed (thus removing the jersey) before the game was over.

it's going to be a long season.

itunes tag

this one is right up my alley - thanks mary!

THE RULES: List five songs that you are currently loving. It doesn't matter what genre they are from, whether they have words, or even if they're any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying right now. Post these instructions, the artists, and the songs in your blog, then 'tag' six other bloggers/friends to see what they're listening to.

umm.. most of mine are all from the new fray cd. cause i've been listening to it on repeat for like the last 2 weeks. si was noticeably irritated yesterday when i played it for the 87 time.

the fray:
1) how to save a life
2) she is
3) look after you
4) dead wrong

5) fall out boy - sugar we're going down

i tag

rambling girl
aarwenn
erin
jess
t-town girl
ms. pan

"beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy"

benjamin franklin

so denver is definitely a beer town. i never doubted that. but i didn't really know how much we like our beer until si and i tried to go to the beer festival and it was SOLD OUT. at $45 a ticket. in the convention center that holds thousands of people.

and it was truely sold out. not fake sold out where you can buy tickets on the street for face value. there were about 150 people milling about out front trying to find tickets.

we gave up after 20 minutes and decided to go to the rapids game instead. i was dissapointed at first, but then remembered that pro soccer players are HOT. so i had fun at the game and we met up with our friends after the festival at the wynkoop*. they were smart enough to buy tickets ahead of time.

*this brewery was founded by our mayor. that's how much of a beer town denver is.

You are a Social Liberal (66% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (21% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

ticketmaster is evil

i don't know how they get away with this.

2 tickets for iron & wine = $40.00
convenience charge = $14.80
order processing charge = $4.35

seriously. just build the charges into the price of the ticket so i don't feel so ripped off.

home again

i just got back from another sampling trip where i got to see my old college roommate and her adorable baby. this kid is something else - she is gigantic for her age! she was nearly 11 pounds when she was born. now she's 7 months old and is already wearing 12-18 mo clothes and has 4 teeth. she's always happy and sleeps a lot. her mom is one of my best friends and one of the most laid back, happy-go-lucky people i know, so i've decided that her luck of having such a great baby is just reimbursement of all the good karma she's spread over the years.

anyhow, my friend works in the lab at a winery, which sounds like a great job to me! she took me on a private tour of the wine process and lab, and bought me several reserve bottles. niiiiice.

carrying them back home on the plane was fun...especially when the handle on the box broke and i had to wrestle the box, my laptop bag, and my freaking huge suitcase out to the car.

anyhow, it was a good work trip. my coworker ended up being cool, which makes things so much easier. he's the bassist in a seattle band called dope smoothie. check them out if you like ween or the pixies.

i'm excited for the weekend - we're going to party it up at the great american beer festival. just hoping i don't drop my glass!

the fray

went to a cd release party for the fray this weekend. they're a local band from denver on the verge of making it big. i highly suggest you check them out - their cd is absolutely AMAZING!

the fray

so THAT'S why i couldn't find it..

so i am doing field work right now, in the lovely metropolis of casper, wy.

i was here a few months ago and commented earlier that at least i have good restaurants and a free wifi connection. although having good restaurants didn't stop me from getting a martha's vineyard salad from arby's for dinner yesterday (it's so good though - and arby's is as blue as it's gets!) and room service from the crappy restaurant in my not-so-crappy hotel. room service is just not very glamorous when your salad looks like something you get at a denny's in arkansas and the shrimp in your shrimp cocktail have a weird slimy texture. but i digress.

so good things and bad things about being in casper.
bad things:
-it downpoured on me yesterday while i was measuring water levels in monitoring wells. which resulted in me having to don my sorority windbreaker and curse under my breath.
-i spent three hours looking for a well that i needed to sample. and after talking with an adjacent property owner, discovered that they PAVED over it. no amount of diggin' on my part will ever uncover that bad boy.
-i ate slimy shrimp
-hard hats and orange vests really don't do much for me
-spiders lurking in well vaults
-smelling like diesel at the end of the day
-when i realized that i accidently used the zeroing vaccum tube while field testing for iron; and of course i had no spares (i won't try to explain..i'd be surprised if you know what i'm talking about and aren't in the industry)
-driving by the dick cheney federal building on the way to the job site

good things:
-i have a high speed wifi connection so i can do my homework (wait.. is that good or bad?)
- i actually did said homework and won't have it lingering over my head all week.
-i discovered a "GAP CLEARANCE" store at the mall here.. and it rocks! for $100 i got: 4 work skirts, pair of workout pants, sleep shorts, 1 cami, 2 baby gifts, and 4 maternity dresses (to sell on ebay - not for me!). there are only 3 of these stores in the whole country! they do banana republic, gap, and old navy items. and the place is freakin' huge with racks and racks and racks of clothes!
- i don't have to go to the gym because i get a better workout lifting 5 gallon pails of water and various other equipment in and out of the truck and i'm on my feet all day.
- i have a 2 minute commute to the job site
- i get to charge travel time
- i am reimbursed for the few thousand i'll put on my credit card, AND i get to keep the miles! (and earn hotel points)
-giving the dick cheney federal building the finger as i drive past

Maple syruping/sugar bushing (including carrying buckets, carrying wood)?

so i use this program called fitday. it's great for logging food and activities and seeing various reports such as if you've met your vitamin daily requirements, what percentage of fat is in your diet, etc.

some things about this program make me wonder who on earth created it. on several occasions, i have searched for a seemingly normal food or activity and haven't been able to find it. however, it's not an issue of the database being too small - it's actually very extensive, because it is populated with food that i've never heard of and activities that a normal person will probably never do in their lifetime.

for example. snowboarding or the elliptical trainer are not listed activities, but the following are:

Maple syruping/sugar bushing (including carrying buckets, carrying wood) - what did you do this weekend kt? oh, si and i went maple syruping - it was a blast! nothing like making your own syrup over a campfire. mmm mmm!
Unicycling - for all the clowns that are trying to lose a few pounds
Slimnastics - must be a fad exercise from before my time.
Digging worms, with shovel - and this is different from plain digging?
Caulking, chinking log cabin - sorry, i can't make it to the party this weekend, i'll be chinking my log cabin!
Digging sandbox - again, different from regular digging, how?
Furriery - i don't even know what the hell this is.
Sitting on toilet - because i'm sure the extra 2 minutes of "exertion" burns WAY more calories than "sitting, general"
Basketball, wheelchair - i'm all about equal rights for disabled people.. but it's not like there's an entry for basic wheelchair driving. do people in wheelchairs only play basketball?
Wallyball, general - a new sport played by the minimum wage earners, involving a smiley face ball and $1.57 stick?

the food is just as bad. whoever created this must be from latin america because there are a ton of dishes puerto rican and mexican style, mostly with ingredients i've never heard of and don't really want to try.

and it's not consistent. you can't find plain ranch dressing, only kraft brand. no regular vanilla ice cream, instead you get "ice cream, flavors other than chocolate". i'd say there was a difference between plain vanilla and say, chocolate chip cookie dough.. but on fitday all ice cream is created equal, unless it's chocolate!
search for "coffee" and get 7 pages of results, ranging from irish coffee to cuban coffee to coffeecake to coffee, regular, with cereal.

it is just not organized in a way that makes sense to me. the potential for it to be an amazing resource, with a database of all restaurant and branded food is incredible! but i guess you get what you pay for..

are we finally getting what we deserve?

so, like all americans right now, my heart goes out to the hurricane victims. i donated to red cross today (since apparently my tax money was better spent on a useless war and a bridge to nowhere).

here's the link if you want to donate- they take as little as $5.

let me preface this entry by saying that i love america very very much. so it tears me apart to watch it go down the toilet by a handful of irresponsible bureaucrats.

it's sad that our country is so preoccupied with foreign oil that our own security is ignored. being an environmentalist, i can't help but think that maybe if our government paid a little more attention to the environment, we could start combating the effects of global warming. science has been showing for awhile now that global warming is causing the temperature of the oceans to rise, which in turn creates the monstrous hurricanes we've seen lately.

why does our government constantly ignore science? it's not like the environment is just going to fix itself. methinks that if our country knew how devastating these hurricanes would be, people might have sacrificed a little and cut down our dependence on fossil fuels.

what does it take for people to carpool? or walk a quarter mile to the video store? or realize that a hybrid car costs about the same as a monster SUV, which you do NOT need unless you frequently offroad, have more than 3 kids, or have to haul animals and/or other things on a regular basis. If I can drive in a snowstorm and fit a home depot trip or snowboard equipment or a kitchen table in my civic, you can too.

we've gotten cheap energy for way too long - it's about time we pay for it. hopefully $3+/gallon gas will eventually encourage people to drive less. i'm not thrilled about the effect it will have on the cost of our consumer goods, but you know what? if it means that my children have a fighting chance at breathing clean air, i can adapt.

out in the west, we have the disadvantage of not having very good public transportation systems - mostly because our cities are so spread out. denver is finally putting in some new lightrail, which is a great step - but it's taken a long time and a lot to convince tax payers to pony up an extra percentage of a percent sales tax.

so while i'm still on my soapbox, let's talk taxes. no one i know LIKES paying taxes. the intelligent citizens realize that without taxes, our country would fail. there would be no public schools, policeman, fireman, roads, dams, culture, etc. the scary thing is that i think a lot of people in this country don't even realize all the things that taxes pay for. and they don't realize that the average american is carrying most of the tax burden, while the filthy rich corporations and people pay virtually NOTHING in comparison into the system. and what i REALLY don't understand is why more people aren't OUTRAGED? it's like the bumper sticker i've seen- if you're not completely appalled, you haven't been paying attention.

so what gives? why can't we plan for the future? give our kids a decent chance with this planet? improve the quality of our life?

america is like an unruly teenager. it thinks it's invincible and always right. it defies older countries, and doesn't respect different viewpoints. it sulks. it doesn't want to put money in savings when it could be buying the latest video game. it's obsessed with more exciting issues that aren't important in the long run, and ignores boring issues that could wreak havoc. when something bad happens, it expects to be bailed out, without owning up to it's actions or lack thereof.

i have tough love for america because i want it to grow into a responsible, conscientious adult, with integrity and compassion.

so wake up america, and stop being so fucking self indulgent!

believe me, you'll be thankful when you're older.

i'm it again

thanks for the tag mary

in no particular order..

7 things I plan to do before I die
1. live in europe
2. own a beach house
3. skydive
4. own my own business
5. visit all 7 continents (yes, even antartica!)
6. have a pet husky dog
7. the marriage/kid thing

7 things I can do
1. make people laugh
2. program websites
3. take good pictures
4. multitask
5. sample groundwater for contaminents
6. make money on ebay
7. bs with the best of them

7 things I cannot do
1. play guitar
2. draw
3. vote republican
4. listen to country music
5. speak another language fluently
6. grow any taller
7. take a subway to work

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex
1. british accent
2. good facial features
3. wittiness/cleverness
4. positive attitude
5. nice haircut
6. can fix/build things
7. can cook

7 things that I say most often
1. seriously (? or !)
2. good god
3. my day is DRAGGING
4. love you
5. no, i don't know when we're getting married
6. "insert my company name here", this is katie
7. what is WRONG with me?!?

7 celebrity crushes
1. jude law
2. colin firth
3. gavin rossdale
4. ed o'brian
5. jimmy fallon
6. graham norton
7. ben afleck

i don't think i have 7 readers who haven't already been tagged, so if you want to be, you are!

my stress levels have been cut in half

because...si got a new job!

he works in the ski industry and his old job was seasonal..which meant that he had to scramble every april to find summer jobs. sometimes he did, sometimes he didn't.. which left me to be the sole breadwinner, which is a pretty stressful position, especially with a brand new mortgage.

anyhow, his old boss has been promoted and so he interviewed for the vacant position and just found out today that it's his. it's year-round and salaried and a management position, which will be great for his career. plus we'll still get all the great ski perks! hello free demo board rentals all season - whoo hoo!

i'm so glad that we've upgraded from SINK to DINK*!

*is this a term used other places besides yuppie colorado? also reminds me that there's a place called the dinky dairy on the way to buena vista. i always giggle when we pass it.

life's a beach

h'allo from the cayman islands!

yes, i am writing a blog entry while on vacation. see, i left my ipod charger at work and didn't realize it until the night before we left. the only other way i have to charge my ipod is through my laptop, so i brought it along. i turned on my computer to charge my ipod and low and behold, realized i had a wifi connection!

and seeing as though i've spent the last week crisping up on the beach, i decided to stay inside in the a/c for awhile, since that's also something i can't do at home.

anyhow, here's what i step outside to every morning.

nice, innit?
our condo is right on seven mile beach. we're lucky enough to have some great snorkeling right outside the door, so i bought some flippers and a mask and have been exploring. today we went to the turtle farm where we got to hold some sea turtles.

they were also breeding baby turtles - so cute!

then we went to hell...


we're only half way through our two week trip, although i'm starting to get worried about returning to real life! we are planning to do some organized snorkeling trips and visit stingray city. si also wants to try scuba - i would too, but i'm under doctors orders not to.. at least until my allergy crap clears up.

i think i could easily live on an island.. now i only have to figure out how to becoming independently wealthy...

oh canada

i just got back from a college friends wedding. she's canadian, eh, and the wedding was in kananaskis village, just west of calgary. living in colorado, i sometimes get a little jaded about the beauty of mountains.. but let me tell you, the canadian rockies are breathtakingly gorgeous! they're like the colorado rockies on steroids.

anyhow, the whole weekend was going perfectly until i had to get home. i had flown up there and si drove, so we had my car. we left kananaskis a little late on monday morning and had to haul ass so i could make my 1:30 flight from calgary to edmonton, where i would continue to denver. so i get to the airport at 1:00, and since canada isn't as uptight as the states, the airline lady checked me in and told me that i better hurry. i made it to my flight with a couple minutes to spare and was extremely relieved. i called si and told him he could head home, since i made the flight.

i arrive at edmonton at 2:15, an hour before my 3:15 flight. then i'm informed that because of bad weather in chicago*, my flight has been not delayed, but CANCELLED. ok, not a problem, it's only 2:30, i think to myself, i have plenty of time to get back to denver tonight. so i stand behind about 8 people at the united counter to wait to be rebooked. an hour passes, there are still 6 people in front of me. so i suck it up and call the airline from my cell phone, using the $0.50/minute international rate, and end up talking to perhaps the most unhelpful woman ever. out of frusturation, i hang up on her. by that time, there are only 3 people ahead of me. so i wait ANOTHER 30 minutes before i finally get to rebook. i'm finally told that there are no flights to the united states for that day, and they'll have to send me back to calgary and i can take the 6:50 am flight the next day. WTF? i had a hard time believing that there wasn't a SINGLE flight to the states leaving for the rest of the day.

but i sucked it up, called si, let him know what was going on, and remained completely irritated that instead of spending my extra day in banff with si, i had to spend it flying back and forth between calgary and edmonton!

luckily, my friend and her family and some friends were still in calgary, so i was able to stay the night with them and catch a ride with them to the airport, but still. of course, i didn't have any luggage because i had sent it with si - so i had to sleep in my clothes and borrow a toothbrush. then wake up at 4:30 to go to the airport, get back into town, take a cab home, and head into work ~11am. that makes for a LONG day.

the funny thing is, had i actually missed my first flight, i would have probably gotten on the 3:00 direct flight from calgary to denver!

*bad weather my ass.. whenever there's a flight problem they tell you this so that they don't have to give you hotel/food vouchers.

i want to tivo real life

because then i could

- fast forward through my commute

- pause my lunch hour so that i can actually have some time to shop at kohls for new bras without caring if i get stuck behind two stay at home moms and their snotty/tan/skinny 16 year old daughters who aren't in school because they have the summer off; who don't care that i have to be back at the office in 2 minutes and probably can't even fathom what having to go to work every day is like because their rich husbands just hand them money and let them shop all day.

- fast forward through the unbearable propaganda videos that i'm forced to watch in my mba class (am i the *only* liberal business person??)

hell, who am i kidding - i would just fast forward through my entire work week and do the weekends in slow-mo, record my best memories and forever delete the crappy ones*.

*unless a valuable lesson was learned, in which case they should probably stick around.

happy birthday fuzz!

today is my brothers 23rd birthday.

the little bugger is in vegas right now celebrating.

however, he did just get a new grown up job, and will soon realize the horrors of working through the summer.. mwhahahaha!

maybe now si will mow the lawn

today i had my first allery testing. poked 63 times on the back and 20 on the arms to find out that grasses are my nemesis.

as well as a few trees and pet dander.

since i had to stay off anti-histimines for the last week in preparation for this test, i was MISERABLE last week. and my symptoms have been so bad that i don't think i've slept a full night in over two months.

so needless to say, i welcomed the prescription strength allegra, prednisone prescription, and nasal spray with open arms.

i just hope that the welts on my back dissappear in time for my friends wedding this weekend!

how old am i again?

this weekend the new harry potter book comes out.
also, it's the opening weekend for charlie and the chocolate factory.

and i am more exicted for both of those than any other 27 year old i know!

i am the coworker that saves your ass when you have a headache

since i am a list person* and i happened to break my very cute shoe this morning, but luckily had a sewing kit and was able to fix, i thought i would share with you the other approximately 59,000 items in my "emergency" drawer.

but first, a picture of said (fixed) shoe (colors appear much more vibrant in real life!)

and now, everything i have in my office that i could possibly ever need in any situation.

- sewing kit
- halls fruit breezers (tropical chill and cool cherry flavors)
- lint roller
- tylenol sinus day
- tums smooth dissolve
- asthma inhaler
- downy wrinkly release
- deodorant
- purell hand sanitizer
- eclipse flash strips
- 6 fluorescent bendy straws
- 2 tubes of lip gloss
- eyedrops
- bandaids
- magnesium supplements
- clear nail polish
- baby powder
- dental floss
- orange peeler
- tampons
- generic ibuprofen
- nail file
- zinc lozenges
- headphones
- gap "dream" perfume
- mints
- advil
- saline solution
- vitamin K
- advil cold & sinus
- "pearberry" hand lotion
- viactiv chews
- compact mirror
- body shop lip butter
- gum
- bobby pin

and here's proof - just in case you don't believe me.

*although si doesn't react favorably to the lists i make for him, even though he would be a LOT more productive if he actually FOLLOWED THEM.

t minus 20 days and counting

until i leave for the fabulous cayman islands!!

and i SO need this vacation. i have been horrendously busy this summer because never in my life have i been able to NOT have 10 things going on at once. currently i:
- am working 40+ hours per week
- am in graduate school and have class every tuesday/thursday from 6-8:30
- play softball every monday night
- am helping remodel/decorate/clean our new house
- am the president of my professional organization's local chapter
- get up at 5am to hit the gym before work (most days, sometimes i am a slacker)
and because i didn't think i had ENOUGH going in, I also planted a vegetable garden consiting of: beans, tomatos, 7 types of herbs, corn, strawberries, brussel sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, onions (red/white/green), 4 types of lettuce, carrots, pumpkin, zuchini, spaghetti squash, and raspberries. which of course requires daily watering and weekly weeding.

additionally i:
- sell on ebay
- run two websites
- am a freak about keeping the house clean (although i've kind of given up on that right now until we get the remodeling done)

this leaves me with about 2 minutes of "me time" per day.

no wonder my doctor told me i need to relax and find some stress relief.

think 2 weeks on a beach will do the trick?

new house!

simon was a saint and moved us into our new house last week while i was in kansas.

now our lives are completely upside down because:

a) we haven't finished remodeling the kitchen yet, so we have no fridge, oven, microwave, or dishwasher. luckily, we do have a grill.
b) we haven't finished painting yet, so everything is covered in plastic and is essentially a construction zone.
c) simon, bless his heart, didn't label the boxes he packed and so we're relying on his memory to find things.

it will be so nice to be settled!

here's a picture of our house! it was taken in the early spring when we bought it - there are a ton of flowers and things in the front now. =)

there's no place like home

i've been kind of out of touch with reality for awhile now. being in kansas for work will do that to you.

i travel every now and then with my job - usually to various unglamourous po-dunk towns. the past week i was in winfield, ks - which is the town that time forgot. i couldn't even find a non-fast food restaurant in the town*, much less a wireless internet connection!

when i asked the lady at the front desk if there was anywhere i could get wifi access, she stared at me and blinked. i said, "you know, a wireless internet signal so i can check my email?". she blinked again before drawling "weell, if y'all wunt the internets, y'all can plug y'alls 'puter to the phone line in y'alls room". i didn't try to explain to her that i don't have dial-up service, much less a modem on my laptop.

sigh.

tomorrow i'm going on a short trip to casper, wy, which is a little more evolved. my hotel has free wifi and there are several non-fast food restaurants to choose from, so i'm good to go!

*and i'm allergic to gluten (protein found in wheat, rye, barley, & oats), so eating out all the time when i'm on travel is never fun or easy. i usually end up eating some form of wheat out of desparation and then feeling crappy the whole day.

birthday wishes from my bro

so i know my baby brother reads my blog.

well, he's not really a baby anymore.. since he's 22, a foot taller than me, just graduated college, and has an adorable girlfriend. i am so proud!

anyhow, he sent me the best birthday card*!

it said...

on the front - "for your birthday, sis, let me give you some advice mom gave me..."

on the inside - "i sure as hell won't be using it!"

thanks for the laugh, fuzz!


*except for the cheap shot he wrote about how close I was to 30

si to the rescue

i have to say that i have the best boyfriend ever.

he does awesome things for me!

like coming to my softball game on my birthday and bringing a rolling cooler full of beer and ice cream cake for the team!

how cute is that?

it's my birthday and i'll snooze if i want to

so this is the first time i've ever gone to work on my birthday. and i'm not thrilled about it.

growing up, a summer birthday always guaranteed that i wouldn't have to go to school.

when i entered the work force, i couldn't bear to give up my free birthday days. for 3 years i was able to take a personal day or, ahem, call in sick. then last year it fell on a sunday (which was also fathers day, but that's a WHOLE other story for another day).

this year my vacation is all wrapped up in the 2 week cayman island vacay i have planned for august. (which i'm not complaining about at all - although a rant about only having 2 freakin' weeks of vacation a year will probably show up on this blog in the near future). and i already took a (legimitate) sick day last monday, so..

do adults play down their birthday because they really don't care, or because they think they should? everyone must get a little twinge of excitement on their birthday - why squeltch it?

i know getting older is a little depressing (HELLO late twenties here!). and i can't tell my boss "um, i don't really want to complete this report for you today, because it's my birthday and well, i just don't feel like it".

even though getting older isn't a picnic, your birthday is still your day and you should milk it for all it's worth. when else can you get a free dessert?

so happy birthday to me

and may the rest of my quickly dwindling 20's slow down so i can enjoy them!

born lippy

so i have a horrible chapped nose due to my cold/allergies/spawn of satan stuck in my respiratory system.

yes.
my nose is chapped.
ick.

so to heal it, i did what any resourceful girl would do. dig into her purse for some lip balm.

in my case, it's the body shops "born lippy exotic passionfruit lip balm".

and i am SO glad i found that one instead of a horrible menthol one - because now i smell exotic passionfruit with every breath i take!

i'm it

looks like i was tagged by rambling girl. thanks. really. because i really need an excuse to not be working!
anyhow. here's the game:

Pick 5 of the following questions and then complete the sentences. Then pass it on to 3 more of your blog friends! (No tag backs allowed.)
If I could be a scientist?
If I could be a farmer?
If I could be a musician?
If I could be a doctor?
If I could be a painter?
If I could be a gardener?
If I could be a missionary?
If I could be a chef?
If I could be an architect?
If I could be a linguist?
If I could be a psychologist?
If I could be a librarian?
If I could be an athlete?
If I could be a lawyer?
If I could be an inn-keeper?
If I could be a professor?
If I could be a writer?
If I could be a llama-rider?
If I could be a bonnie pirate?
If I could be an astronaut?
If I could be a world famous blogger?
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world?
If I could be married to any current famous political figure?

If I could be a musician?
i would play the bass or drums. i would randomly invite fans backstage and the ticket prices would be cheap! i would totally eat up all the attention and be thrilled that people paid to see me work on their time off. i would play in small venues and play a lot of charity shows. but i would never want to end up on trl.

If I could be an inn-keeper?
i would set up a little place on an island in the caribbean. the rooms would always be fresh looking with cute comforters, artwork, and accessories. every bed would have a down comforter and plenty of pillows and you would never get the creepy feeling that the bedspread was covered in god-knows-what. there would be enough lighting in the bathrooms, central air conditioning that didn't blow the drapes open, and free cold bottled water in the mini fridge.

If I could be a gardener?
i would do lots of research on the special needs for each plant and try to accomidate all of them. i would love working outside every day and watching things grow. plus i would have a lot less work in the winter and could snowboard during the week!

If I could be a chef?
i would never worry about gaining a few pounds because no one should trust a skinny chef. i would use all organic, fresh ingredients and serve proper portion sizes.

If I could be an architect?
i would design homes that made sense and were unique. i would only design in communities that allowed one to walk from their home to a grocery store, coffee shop, restaurant, park, and public transportation stop..because who wants to get a cup of coffee on a saturday morning if you have to drive there, find a parking spot, and pay for parking?


i tag

ms. pan
kelly
jess

hop aboard the mole train*

for those of you that don't know, i'm a chemical engineer. don't ask me why, it just kind of happened.

anyway, i work as an environmental consultant, and i've usually only had to do wussy chemical engineering stuff, like sizing a pump or figuring out head loss**.

but today i was asked to do some HARD CORE chemical engineering and you'd think, from my silent internal fuming, that my boss asked me to perform brain surgery with a rubberband and plastic knife.

maybe i'm not in the right career path when i get pissy about being expected to do the thing i was hired for.

* if you understand this title than you are either a big dork like me, or you also had mr. nelson for 12th grade chemistry.

**which i still had a hard time with intially, until i found a cool little website calculator that does it for me. hooray for technology!

ahhhhh-CHOO!

that is all my coworkers are going to hear today.

that and a whole lot of sniffles and honk-y nose blowing.

because i am suffering from allergies like mad and forgot to take my claritin this morning.

good thing i have my own office!

cashing in the karma points

so si and i and some friends went to see big head todd and the monsters at red rocks saturday night. i hadn't seen them in ages, so it was a nice flash back to college.

anyhow, we decided to grill* in the parking lot before the show. always a fun time. once we were ready to go in, i put our tickets in my back pocket and we walked (hiked) to the entrance. where i realized that the tickets had fallen out of my pocket. that's what i get for wearing low-rise jeans.

si traced our steps back to the car, but couldn't find them. on his way back, he asked a guy if he had seen any tickets on the ground. the guy said he didn't, but he had two extra ones that we could have.

wow! how often does that kind of thing happen???

so - thank you very much, random nice guy in the parking lot. we appreciate your generousity and will definitely pay it forward.

i love it when i'm justified in my belief that good deeds do eventually come back to you.


*and drink. lots.

best band list

as i sit here, ahem, working, and listening to my ipod, it hit me that i have about 7 solid days of music loaded.

and since i can be a freak about the bands i like*, i thought i would share them with you. here are the bands currently in rotation on my ipod, in (slightly alphabetic) no particular order, except for radiohead which is my favorite and (imo) the best band ever in the history of music.

radiohead
pilate - awesome local toronto band. i think they'll be big in a year or two.
death cab for cutie
bright eyes
damien rice
elbow
doves
the frames
the fray - local denver band about to break!
guster - a favorite live show
interpol
iron & wine
keane - wonderful live! (and i convinced one of the cute british roadies to say "fluffy puffy puppy")
paloalto
pixies
placebo
the postal service
powderfinger - great australian band
remy zero
sigur ros
snow patrol
the streets - british hip hop-like - freakin' hilarious and catchy
travis
stereophonics
soul coughing
barenaked ladies - one of my favorite live bands

if you like this same type of music and know of a band not on my list that you think i might like, please let me know and i'll check them out!

*enough to spend $600 on two 2nd row radiohead tickets for me and si, who is the only tone deaf brit in america.

this is your second degree?

at the risk of sounding like a snob, i have to ask.. how do some people obtain a college degree, much less get accepted to and complete a masters program?

case in point.

i'm currently getting my mba. i just finished my first semester and am taking one summer class called "managing individuals and teams". it is a VERY easy class. the lowest ranking class in the mba program. so easy that our first assignment was to take a personality test so that we can be split into groups. so easy that the professor spent 2 hours talking about the 4 different personality categories and having us "guess" what category of people matches up with a certain profession (ie, engineer = "analyzer", nurse = "affiliator", artist="conceptualizer", fireman="activator")*

it went something like this:
prof: "how about a fireman?"
annoying student sitting in the front center seat (you know the type - the one that thinks they're super smart, but they ask a million dumb questions causing the class to go 15 minutes over and you to sit there rolling your eyes and looking at your watch): "affiliator"
prof: actually, they are an activator (thinking, i'm sure, "i just TOLD you this dumbass")
student proceeds to argue for 10 minutes on why he thinks his answer is right, even though the prof had just clearly given us an explanation of why a fireman was, indeed, an activator personality.

i just rolled my eyes, looked at my watch, and mumbled to the guy next to me "obviously this guy is NOT an activator".

*sidenote: these stereotypes didn't sit too well with me because i am a blend of all categories and also a tad anal, which made me annoyed that i didn't fit neatly into a category.

hold the sugar on my salad please

why does mcdonalds take a perfectly good idea and ruin it by adding calories?

i ordered the new fruit & walnut salad today thinking mmm.. apples and grapes and walnuts, and a low-fat yogurt dip. sounds healthy - looks healthy in the picture. even their description makes it sounds healthy.

you wouldn't think that this little healthy fruit salad packs 310 calories and 13g of fat. this, my friends, is the SAME amount of calories and fat as a regular cheeseburger, with less protein and more carbs.

they could have shaved 40 calories off of the salad by using regular walnuts instead of candied.

add this to my 400 calorie grilled chicken sandwich (i wanted a salad, but they were out of lettuce) and i would have been better off getting a cheeseburger and regular order of fries!

lesson learned - always check the nutritional information on fast food items BEFORE ordering them!

what do you call this?

so si and i made our weekly trip to home depot on saturday to get some fun things like closet shelving and painting supplies.

the check out girl was happily beeping our things until she came across an item that the system didn't recognize. she scanned it 4 or 5 times before deciding to do a price check.

with a puzzled look on her face, she holds up the item and asks us, "what do you call this?"

now, being a girl who is not familiar with every item at home depot myself, i would understand if she was holding up some strange tool or doo dad.

but no, our brilliant check out girl was holding up a paint roller.

i looked at her with an "are you serious?" expression and said "um. i call it a paint roller"

and she then tries to describe it to the kid in the paint department on the phone, without using the phrase paint roller at any time. i believe she said "it's metal, and kinda rolls, and has a white cap on either end".

she finally got the number and sent us on our merry way, forgetting to deactivate the anti-theft device. of course we set off the alarm and had to stand there for another 10 minutes while they checked everything.

at least we got the whole home depot experience.

yup, even the hot dog.

tinkle tinkle

while in the restroom at work (yes, i know, i've broken my 2 ground rules. whatever), i was startled to hear the women in the stall next to me start talking really loudly.

was she talking to me?

wait. was she talking on a cell phone. while peeing???

yes. yes she was.

and that means that the person she was talking to could hear me doing my biznes. since this was a restroom, and not a phone booth, i didn't feel particulary bad or embarrassed, but i was a bit taken aback. especially since it's a small bathroom with only 3 stalls in a small office building. not like it was at a bar or something, you know?

then i hear her say "oh that? i'm in a public restroom"

i would have told them i was near a serenity fountain.

but then the flush would have probably given it away.

thud

i fell out of bed last night.
actually, i was pushed.

see, si sleeps in kind of a rotated "v" shape, with his head and feet on his side of the bed and his butt on my side of the bed.

the problem is that i sleep the same way.

so when we're, well, butted up against each other, the bed becomes too small.

apparently si thought i was crowding him, because he kept nudging me over until..

thud.

me, sleepily rubbing my head while si frantically asks if i'm ok: "you know, i could sleep on the couch if that's the way you feel"

he felt horribly bad about the whole ordeal.

i will milk it for all it's worth.

JOKINGLY, of course.

lost in translation, part 2

converstation that took place while remodeling the closet.

si (inside closet, knocking down a wall): "can you bring me the torch?"
me ("supervising" the demolition): "um. do you want to burn the wall down?"

si sticks his head out of the closet and points to the flashlight.

where's ty pennington when you need him?

we live in a crappy apartment complex.
oh sure, it looks nice on the website - in the same way that britney looks good on her album cover.
suffice it to say that we're essentially living in a mold infested college dorm.

we decided to buy a house. after days of looking at Houses In Our Price Range (aka Crack Houses), we found one that we love. a 1932 1 bedroom bungalow, with a den and basement and great backyard! it needed a little bit of work, but we were so happy that it was actually livable with all the essentials like floors and walls and a dead squrrel-free kitchen.

once we bought the house, all flaws became glarengly obvious. how will we fit our clothes in these closets? this one-butt kitchen needs to be at least a butt and a half. hey, what's that big burn mark on the hardwood floor? wow, is all this electrical work original?
we decided that we'd do some remodeling.

the closet was first. we thought: "we just have to knock down a wall, build a new wall, add a light and a door, paint it and we're good to go! this should only take 1, 2 weekends at the most".
we quickly discovered that the real world is not the same as an episode of trading spaces.

we started the project by heading to home depot and got out of there 4 1/2 hours and several hundred dollars later.

it's been three weeks and the closet still isn't done.

list of major items that still need to be done in the 7 weeks before we move in
- old coal chimney knocked out
- 2 doorways removed
- new appliances and cabinets installed in kitchen (including a dishwaster, which currently doesn't exist)
- moulding in bedroom replaced
- walls in every room painted

it's totally worth it.

choose the blue

found these sites (buyblue.org ,choosetheblue.com) where you can see the percentage of $ donated to political campaigns. I was pleased to note that the place we spend roughly half our income (costco) is 98% blue and horrified to find out that the other half of our income spent at home depot supports the dark side.

other highlights :
buy from estee lauder (91), barnes & noble (98), bed bath & beyond (93), ticketmaster(95), arbys (100), sonic drive in (100), hyatt (87), expedia.com (95), hotwire.com(95), progressive insurance(100)

avoid fruit of the loom(100), circuit city(96), hormel (100), saks (95), cinemark movie theaters (97), columbia house (100), wendy's (91), darden restaurants (red lobster, olive garden -91), hooters (97), brinker restaurants (chilis, maggianos, macaroni grill - 92), outback (NO! 98), pizza hut (95), colorado rockies (100! i'm ashamed), drury inn (98),

surprises: fox cable networks - 61%?? thanks, but that still doesn't make up for fox news.
target.. how could you be 73%??

snort

si was snoring (or more appropriately, snorting) so loud last night that he actually woke himself up.

this is not an uncommon occurance.

of course, it's the only way he is forgiven because it gives me something to laugh about all day.

unsupervised bulk buying

so if you're trying to lose a few pounds and eat healthy, i don't recommend sending your boyfriend, SOLO, to costco for lettuce, chicken breasts, and yogurt.

because he will inevitably ALSO buy one or more of the following:
- cheesecake that serves 12
- flat of jumbo muffins
- 5 gallon bucket of ice cream
- 5 pound tub of i can't believe it's not butter

banana nut is my favorite.

lost in translation

conversation between me and my (british) boyfriend:

he was in the bedroom and i was in the living room.

si:"sweetie, do you know where my khakis are?"
me: "check the closet, i just did laundry"
si: "what? why are they in the closet?"
me: " i always put them in the closet, that's where they go!"
si (coming into the living room, picking up his car keys off the counter): "here they are on the counter"
me: "huh? your khakis are in the closet."
si: "i was looking for my CAR KEYS, not khakis you silly poppet"

sigh.

this may be dangerous for me

as someone who already spends more time than she should on the internet, i can't help but wonder if a blog is really the best idea.

my ground rules:
no blogging at work
no blogging about work

right. let's see how long that will last.

re: the name of this blog

ask any british guy to say "fluffy puffy puppy" and prepare to melt at how cute it sounds.