We (Michael, Ian and I) were on the way home from the grocery store last night and having light conversation in the car and Ian said something that Mike replied to with "what're you trippin' on Willis?" And then was joking here and there about changing Ian's name to Willis. Ian pops out with "I really do want to change my name!" Mike and I are curious... you know, all kids want to change their names at some point. I, for instance, really wanted to be a Stephanie at one point.

Ian says, "I want to change my name to EN"

Michael laughed off and on all the way home.

Well, that fantastic opportunity I had kinda got away. Not a forever away... but I'm definitely disappointed, nonetheless. Hopefully I'll have a better-than-average chance, though, when it comes back up.

Also, I was so distracted last night by the phone calls and the happy birthdays and all that I completely forgot to pick my niece up after work. My sister calls me at 8:30 and says "um... forget something?" Yeah. I freaked out. I felt so, so bad I didn't have the words.

Beginning of birthday - Fantastic
End of birthday - WAAAAY less fantastic

The elk are back!!!! I've been looking for them ever since it snowed.... and YAY! THEY'RE BACK!

and, this morning, a stellar jay was hanging out on the path up to the lodge.

















So, yeah, by the time I stopped screwing around and actually made it into my office my ears were about to fall off from the cold. Brrrr!

More snow. Wow. It's so early for this. The aspens haven't even lost their leaves yet and there were a number of them pulled from the ground from the weight of the snow. Walking up from the parking lot to the hotel this morning was a pain in my ass.

Here's Beaver Creek...

First, no new news on the exciting opportunity. More on that later, I'm sure.

Second, Oh. My. God. Winter is here early and I can't even tell you how pretty it is outside. I took a picture on my way in to work this morning but, really, you can't see the mountains in the background well enough to appreciate them. I have to confess, though, that the grass is just coated enough near the streets to remind me of that nasty green jello covered in whipped cream that they sell in the deli case at the grocery store. It's pretty.... but icky green jello colored.










In Eagle, where I live, there's no snow in the valley. All is green and yellow from the fall... and then you look up into the Red Canyon and go "wow". Yes, I really did that this morning. The canyon itself is still the red, red rock with dark green pines scattered all through but each side is coated in snow. It's amazing to look at. Mike said I couldn't take pictures because I was driving, though, so you don't get to see it.

I have been a bad blogger. What, like two weeks now? Awful.

There's been a lot going on. I'm very excited about an opportunity I thought had escaped me... but it's back and I can't contain my glee! More on that later. It's not something I can talk about yet but, OH MY GOD! I want to SO bad.

School is in session for the boys. Good things. Matt got bumped to honors classes in geometry and english. I'm very proud of him. He struggled quite a bit for a while and it looks like he's really overcome all of that and proven that the will really does find a way. Zach started up in football... then hyper-extended his thumb. It was swollen and purple. Of course, it got better and then (you guessed it) he hyper-extended it again. This time it was swollen and purple all weekend. He's quitting football today. He'll start up in basketball this fall and he wants to play lacrosse in the spring. Straight A's so far for him so no complaints here! I'll know more about Ian on Thursday when we go to his open house. One thing I can tell you is that he's absolutely loving the after school program here. A lot. He gets upset when he can't go.

I'm up to 16 pounds now on the weight loss front. How excited am I? SO EXCITED! That's two gallons of milk, people. Two. You know what that equals in inches? That's be 4. 4 inches off of my waist, 3 off of my hips and 1 from around my neck. Rock.

Autumn is here. I can't even begin to describe the way it smells. It's delicious.

Okay. I think that's all right now.