Wow it's been a crazy 7 days.
Last Sunday my Uncle Tod made it to Denver for the 1st time in forever. He was always the favorite uncle growing up, so we were all looking forward to his visit. He brought my cousin who is a year older than Mr. K. They got along great and it was good to see them...except that Tod picked up Influenza A on the way down and ended up being a bit too miserable to enjoy himself. By Tuesday my cousin had been stricken as well so we had to stay away after that. Luckily Mr. K and the Bean didn't catch it somehow. Whew. They'd hung out with my cousin Sunday evening, all day Monday, and again Tuesday night and didn't get the bug. Kind of amazing, but we're happy for the small favor. Mostly I was bummed we didn't get to hang out more.
Wednesday was the final prep evening for the MyLifeLine event last night. We headed to Marcia's house and stuffed the gift bags w/ the rest of the crowd. We met Marcia's parents too; good folks. Thursday was the usual gymnastics, but it was bring-a-friend night and since my cousin had left town we did a last-minute invite and had to do a last-minute friend-invite and pickup. Friday we hung out w/ the Myers clan (Steph had drinks w/ Taryn, Jarrod and I hung out w/ the kids and the Wii), and then it was time for Saturday.
We knew yesterday was going to be a bit stressful. We had been helping a bit w/ planning the fundraiser for MyLifeLine when they asked us to share our story as the "featured speakers" for the evening. We agreed, but only because we believe so strongly in the organization. Public speaking is something I haven't done in years, and Steph was a tad apprehensive. We ended up spending almost all day yesterday tweaking the speech to get it just right and finalizing the powerpoint we were going to be using to show off the features of the site. We practiced as many times as we could manage and did a pretty damn good job of it at the actual event. (Video is forthcoming...right now it's trapped on Jarrod's video camera and we need to get cables to get it digitally shareable...) We got nothing but positive feedback (but then I guess people wouldn't say it to our faces if we sucked :-/ )
The event itself was quite nice. Both of our sets of parents went, along w/ Tim & Erin. They'd reserved a table for us right up front, which was nice. We got a couple things in the live auction too. Yay for carefully-directed tax deductions!
Today was regular weekend catchup stuff, and Steph and I both got runs in. I'm up to 1.5 miles or so without slowing to a walk. (At the local dog park that's the distance from the bridge to the pond off over a few hills.) It's not at all a level course, and it's good for me. Steph says I run well, so maybe I'll stick with it awhile and see how it goes. I don't know that I'll get up to her half-marathons, but maybe a 5-k? We'll see.
Bed now. Work 9 hours tomorrow, then immediately hop on a plane to Atlanta, where I stay until Wednesday. Oy.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Recent goings-on
It's been a few weeks. Oops.
So the weekend before last a critter entered our home. This was brought to my attention when I was in the shower and heard Steph talking quite excitedly to Obi. I couldn't hear much, but it was the "come on doggy, let's play!" type voice. Then she started yelling for me. Hmmmm. I turned off the water and Steph yelled at me to GET DOWNSTAIRS! I did so as quickly as was decent given my previous state and found Steph standing on the stairs trying to redirect Obi from the couch to a basket in the corner. Some sort of creature had darted behind the basket and Obi was lost trying to find it. I found a box and a broom and went to my husbandly duties. One poke to the basket and a small furry thing ran right at me. I showed great braveness and jumped out of the way, while Obi snatched it up in his jaws and ran right outside with it. When Steph and I followed we found him in his dog run poking at a now-bloodied vole. I had to pull Obi off and put the poor little thing out of its misery. Poor guy just had to pick a house with a dog. I felt a little bad for him. But then we don't want to share our house with any furry thing that wanders in out of the cold.
The kids continue to do their thing...The Bean is growing up way too fast. She's getting really tall and it's scary. She has started coming home and relaying details of her day, along with the 4-year-old daycare gossip (who was mean to who, who was her best friend yesterday that she doesn't like any more, etc.) Mr. K has started to notice that people generally like him. It's a good realization for him to come to. He's an energetic kid and quite smart...the realization that people look up to him has helped him with the idea that he needs to set a good example for his friends. He's definitely going to be the ring-leader type. We'll just have to make sure he's steering his friends in the right direction.
In other news, the mylifeline annual soiree is coming up Feb 21. Steph and I have been helping a bit w/ the planning and we are slated to speak at the event...they wanted somebody to share their story and we were a convenient choice. If anybody reading this would be interested in attending, please RSVP at https://www.blacktie-colorado.com/rsvp/ event code: mylifeline09 . Or if you just want to make a donation to a very worthy cause that helped us a ton through the cancer thing, there's an option for that as well at the same link.
So the weekend before last a critter entered our home. This was brought to my attention when I was in the shower and heard Steph talking quite excitedly to Obi. I couldn't hear much, but it was the "come on doggy, let's play!" type voice. Then she started yelling for me. Hmmmm. I turned off the water and Steph yelled at me to GET DOWNSTAIRS! I did so as quickly as was decent given my previous state and found Steph standing on the stairs trying to redirect Obi from the couch to a basket in the corner. Some sort of creature had darted behind the basket and Obi was lost trying to find it. I found a box and a broom and went to my husbandly duties. One poke to the basket and a small furry thing ran right at me. I showed great braveness and jumped out of the way, while Obi snatched it up in his jaws and ran right outside with it. When Steph and I followed we found him in his dog run poking at a now-bloodied vole. I had to pull Obi off and put the poor little thing out of its misery. Poor guy just had to pick a house with a dog. I felt a little bad for him. But then we don't want to share our house with any furry thing that wanders in out of the cold.
The kids continue to do their thing...The Bean is growing up way too fast. She's getting really tall and it's scary. She has started coming home and relaying details of her day, along with the 4-year-old daycare gossip (who was mean to who, who was her best friend yesterday that she doesn't like any more, etc.) Mr. K has started to notice that people generally like him. It's a good realization for him to come to. He's an energetic kid and quite smart...the realization that people look up to him has helped him with the idea that he needs to set a good example for his friends. He's definitely going to be the ring-leader type. We'll just have to make sure he's steering his friends in the right direction.
In other news, the mylifeline annual soiree is coming up Feb 21. Steph and I have been helping a bit w/ the planning and we are slated to speak at the event...they wanted somebody to share their story and we were a convenient choice. If anybody reading this would be interested in attending, please RSVP at https://www.blacktie-colorado.com/rsvp/ event code: mylifeline09 . Or if you just want to make a donation to a very worthy cause that helped us a ton through the cancer thing, there's an option for that as well at the same link.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Obama's immediate impact
(x-posted from squarestate)
An interesting thing happened yesterday. There was that whole inauguration, sure, but I witnessed a change closer to home that was pretty interesting.
An interesting thing happened yesterday. There was that whole inauguration, sure, but I witnessed a change closer to home that was pretty interesting.
First some background. My stepson is 7. His dad is obsessed with all things military, being from a military family (but not having enlisted himself. Details.) So Mr. K, as I call him in blogs, had grown up with the schema of good guys vs. bad guys, our side vs. their side, our military vs. theirs. Now combine this with the fact that he's 7; born 2 months after 9/11, alive through almost the entire W presidency. His background has always been this national talk of war, conflict, and terrorism. He has told us many times that he'll be a soldier someday, or develop the biggest and best weapon yet, or something of the sort.
And then Obama became President. Mr. K canvassed with me, went to the DNC with me, and got to see the result of all this election nonsense. His class watched the inauguration and by the time I picked him up from school his plans for the future have changed. Suddenly he wants to learn about conflict resolution; about how to get people to agree without fighting; about how to make a living by traveling the country teaching other people about how to get along.
It's hard to imagine the impact a speech can have on a young brain. We older folks watch and think "that was a good speech." For kids they may be getting introduced to new ideas, new ways of looking at the world, and new priorities. I think for kids Mr. K's age and older this change in leadership and tone is going to have a huge impact in the long run. If Obama can continue to inspire, be honest with us, and display real American values, Mr. K and his generation will grow up with a really great study in contrasts. The better option should be fairly obvious.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Transitioning to manhood
Along with the growing of new hairs and the deepening voice, there is a step that is not often mentioned in the health classes. (I blame abstinence-only education.) This is the moment in a young man's life when he pauses in the aisle of a Home Depot (or similar store) and thinks, "you know, I would like to own that tool. I know what I would do with that tool. I can name times in the past week when I would have found that tool to be a handy thing to own." It's a weird moment. Stephanie thinks it's more a function of being a relatively new homeowner, and she probably has a point. But in any case, I have reached the point in my life where I would actively like to own more tools. Straaange.
In other news, this evening the Bean was talking to Steph about her ankle tattoo. "It's there all the time? Will it be there when you die? When you die you're a zombie. But first you have to eat brains." Thanks Uncle Tim.
***The following paragraph may be considered gross to some. Just a warning.***
Continuing on the subject of death, I have started reading Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers finally. This was recommended to me by both my brother and sister, so I figured it had to be a good read. So far I'm not at all disappointed, however I made the mistake of reading it over breakfast this morning. I was on the chapter about the decomposition of the human body, specifically the part where the author mentions that adolescent maggots chewing on a weeks-old body sound just like fresh Rice Krispies in a bowl of milk. I was eating Cocoa Pebbles, but that was close enough. Note to self- don't read about decomposing bodies while eating. Duh.
In other news, this evening the Bean was talking to Steph about her ankle tattoo. "It's there all the time? Will it be there when you die? When you die you're a zombie. But first you have to eat brains." Thanks Uncle Tim.
***The following paragraph may be considered gross to some. Just a warning.***
Continuing on the subject of death, I have started reading Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers finally. This was recommended to me by both my brother and sister, so I figured it had to be a good read. So far I'm not at all disappointed, however I made the mistake of reading it over breakfast this morning. I was on the chapter about the decomposition of the human body, specifically the part where the author mentions that adolescent maggots chewing on a weeks-old body sound just like fresh Rice Krispies in a bowl of milk. I was eating Cocoa Pebbles, but that was close enough. Note to self- don't read about decomposing bodies while eating. Duh.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Being a superstar
American Idol is back. The season premier was last night, and I can honestly say I have never seen auditions like those on display yesterday. The people on TV were OK, but the real powerhouses of rawk were in my house. See, during commercials the Bean and Mr. K would get up and perform their own auditions, using entirely original compositions. Mr. K had one called "10 Blankets," which faltered only slightly when he needed to pause and think about how many blankets he had referenced so far in the song. The other I remember was about mascara (he rejected my starter lyrics "I've got bat poop on my eyeball/and it makes me pretty"). We'll work on song structure maybe in the future, but he was pouring his heart into it and having a blast. He made it through to Hollywood.
After songs about rainbows and such, the Bean provided the grand finale of the evening. The song was called "Being a Superstar," and the lyrics were something like this:
Being a Superstar is harder than I thought
Harder than I thought
Harder than I thought
Being a Superstar is harder than I thought
Harder than I thought
Harder than I thought
This song was at least 10 minutes long. Every time she hit a "BEING" the air guitar got a big strum for emphasis and her rawk poses came out in force. It was an hour after bedtime, but Steph and I were laughing too hard to stop the madness. She later confessed that the song went on so long because she thought she would have to go to bed when she finished. At least she could admit that.
After songs about rainbows and such, the Bean provided the grand finale of the evening. The song was called "Being a Superstar," and the lyrics were something like this:
Being a Superstar is harder than I thought
Harder than I thought
Harder than I thought
Being a Superstar is harder than I thought
Harder than I thought
Harder than I thought
This song was at least 10 minutes long. Every time she hit a "BEING" the air guitar got a big strum for emphasis and her rawk poses came out in force. It was an hour after bedtime, but Steph and I were laughing too hard to stop the madness. She later confessed that the song went on so long because she thought she would have to go to bed when she finished. At least she could admit that.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Wedding reception
OK, it's night and my internet is so far functional...lately it's been crashing at night, so we'll see if this works so I can actually post something.
On New Years Eve we had a wedding reception. The plan originally had been to have an outdoor mountain picnic in June of '08, but that didn't work out with Steph's treatments and such, so we moved our target back to October. The impending birth of our new nephew delayed that, since Jeff and Kelly wouldn't have been able to make plans to be here. It turned out that they couldn't come anyway, but in any case the party was pushed back to New Year's Eve, which has become my favorite holiday over the years anyway. The shindig was small, with just family and a few of our very close friends invited. There were still some last-minute no-shows (Wendy had the nerve to have a baby the day before her due date, which we knew might happen, and Kath had a migraine. We love those.) but then my uncle Steve happened to be up skiing in the hills with his family and they were able to come down, so that was a nice surprise.
The party itself took place at our home, with food prepared almost entirely by Steph & me. We had fun putting it together and the whole thing went off nicely. So now...pictures! (Photo credits and thanks to my sister-in-law Erin, previously mentioned here as the designer of my tattoo)
Since this was a wedding reception, we did have a couple traditional things...I gave Stephanie a wedding ring finally (which had been offered when we got married and declined at the time):
And of course there was cake.
The kids were able to pretty much entertain themselves, the adults sometimes wandering in on their action...Tim enjoyed telling them scary stories at their request. I can't wait until he has kids and I can repay his kindness :-)
The evening was spent hanging out with friends and family, eating, talking, the things you do at a reception.
And just 'cuz...some gratuitous pics of the happy couple:
Steph thinks I don't open my eyes when I smile. Where would she get that idea?!
But seriously, am I lucky or what?
I'm glad we got to celebrate our marriage. The meaning of the celebration kind of changes when it's over a year after the fact, but more than anything this was a celebration of where we've been and where we're going. We face the future with our eyes wide open to the curveballs life can throw, but we're happy to have each other, to be a family, and to build our future together.
On New Years Eve we had a wedding reception. The plan originally had been to have an outdoor mountain picnic in June of '08, but that didn't work out with Steph's treatments and such, so we moved our target back to October. The impending birth of our new nephew delayed that, since Jeff and Kelly wouldn't have been able to make plans to be here. It turned out that they couldn't come anyway, but in any case the party was pushed back to New Year's Eve, which has become my favorite holiday over the years anyway. The shindig was small, with just family and a few of our very close friends invited. There were still some last-minute no-shows (Wendy had the nerve to have a baby the day before her due date, which we knew might happen, and Kath had a migraine. We love those.) but then my uncle Steve happened to be up skiing in the hills with his family and they were able to come down, so that was a nice surprise.
The party itself took place at our home, with food prepared almost entirely by Steph & me. We had fun putting it together and the whole thing went off nicely. So now...pictures! (Photo credits and thanks to my sister-in-law Erin, previously mentioned here as the designer of my tattoo)
Since this was a wedding reception, we did have a couple traditional things...I gave Stephanie a wedding ring finally (which had been offered when we got married and declined at the time):
And of course there was cake.
The kids were able to pretty much entertain themselves, the adults sometimes wandering in on their action...Tim enjoyed telling them scary stories at their request. I can't wait until he has kids and I can repay his kindness :-)
The evening was spent hanging out with friends and family, eating, talking, the things you do at a reception.
And just 'cuz...some gratuitous pics of the happy couple:
Steph thinks I don't open my eyes when I smile. Where would she get that idea?!
But seriously, am I lucky or what?
I'm glad we got to celebrate our marriage. The meaning of the celebration kind of changes when it's over a year after the fact, but more than anything this was a celebration of where we've been and where we're going. We face the future with our eyes wide open to the curveballs life can throw, but we're happy to have each other, to be a family, and to build our future together.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2009!
There's a lot to be said about the holidays and such...in addition to Christmas, we finally had a wedding reception on New Year's Eve :-D Pics to follow when I get to it...
For now a quote from and old SNL that had Steph and I laughing our asses off the other night...
"Laughter is the best medicine. Unless you have cancer. Then you should get chemo."
There's a lot to be said about the holidays and such...in addition to Christmas, we finally had a wedding reception on New Year's Eve :-D Pics to follow when I get to it...
For now a quote from and old SNL that had Steph and I laughing our asses off the other night...
"Laughter is the best medicine. Unless you have cancer. Then you should get chemo."
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sharing
'Tis the season once again, for the sharing of tradition and memories and creation of new ones.
Tonight was a West-family-style pajama drive to look at Christmas lights. I taught the kids to "Bah Humbug!" the boring houses and "Ooooh, Aaaah!!" the pretty ones, just like my siblings and I used to do. They haven't been exposed to enough Christmas Carol, because there were a lot of Boo Hombugs and Bah Hoombugs. It was fun, but harder in the suburbs somehow...in Hays we knew right where the 1 guy with the huge display lived. Denver's so full of cul-de-sacs and such that the good ones were hard to spot and harder to get to. Good times though.
In other happenings, the Bean and I have been making up our own little stories over the last few months. There's this little girl in the stories we make up named Suzy Q, and she always faces problems remarkably similar to those being faced by the Bean. In one she didn't want to sleep in her own bed (until she tried the closet and the bathtub and the sink), and in a recurring story she was afraid of strangers (until her strong doggy protector proved he could scare off the Bad Guys). Tonight the Bean wanted to tell her own, about Suzy Q's friend (named "Koyla"...the Bean has a Kayla in her class...) who was being too mean and bossy and sticking her tongue out all the time, even though Suzy Q was super nice to her all the time. Poor Koyla got nothing but COAL COAL and more COAL from Santa. Hopefully that taught Koyla a lesson. We shall see...
Bed now. Santa is watching, and he'll know if I'm sleeping in my own bed like a good boy.
Tonight was a West-family-style pajama drive to look at Christmas lights. I taught the kids to "Bah Humbug!" the boring houses and "Ooooh, Aaaah!!" the pretty ones, just like my siblings and I used to do. They haven't been exposed to enough Christmas Carol, because there were a lot of Boo Hombugs and Bah Hoombugs. It was fun, but harder in the suburbs somehow...in Hays we knew right where the 1 guy with the huge display lived. Denver's so full of cul-de-sacs and such that the good ones were hard to spot and harder to get to. Good times though.
In other happenings, the Bean and I have been making up our own little stories over the last few months. There's this little girl in the stories we make up named Suzy Q, and she always faces problems remarkably similar to those being faced by the Bean. In one she didn't want to sleep in her own bed (until she tried the closet and the bathtub and the sink), and in a recurring story she was afraid of strangers (until her strong doggy protector proved he could scare off the Bad Guys). Tonight the Bean wanted to tell her own, about Suzy Q's friend (named "Koyla"...the Bean has a Kayla in her class...) who was being too mean and bossy and sticking her tongue out all the time, even though Suzy Q was super nice to her all the time. Poor Koyla got nothing but COAL COAL and more COAL from Santa. Hopefully that taught Koyla a lesson. We shall see...
Bed now. Santa is watching, and he'll know if I'm sleeping in my own bed like a good boy.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Sick day
Called in sick today. I haven't done that in quite awhile (for myself at least). Then I check the news and realize that today is the designated "Day Without a Gay," when our homosexual friends are s'posedly calling in to work in massive numbers. Huh. Maybe I just padded the statistics.
Back to the couch now. bleh.
Back to the couch now. bleh.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Lights!
I put lights on my house this weekend. That's cool. I had no idea how expensive that could get...just not something you think about I guess until you're standing there going "OK, a strand is 7 feet, and the front of my house is 50? AAAAAHHH!!!" When it's just buying a string to brighten up a dorm room or an apartment balcony, such things don't happen. Our house is cheery now though. We'll probably get more in future years, but for a start on a budget, it looks good!
Also we love LED lights. I don't know if those are new this year, since we weren't really in a place to look at other people's decorations last year, but the white LEDs have a beautiful bluish hue that's so much nicer and wintry than the harsh yellow we're all used to in our "clear" lights.
Also we love LED lights. I don't know if those are new this year, since we weren't really in a place to look at other people's decorations last year, but the white LEDs have a beautiful bluish hue that's so much nicer and wintry than the harsh yellow we're all used to in our "clear" lights.
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