My body hurts. Yesterday we took Matt and Zach out for the Community Pride Highway Clean Up for the Vail Valley. It was a great experience for them... and for us. I've never been one for community service. I wasn't raised to do it and, in the city, I never felt like it really made a difference. Up here, though, you SEE the difference. You see your neighbors out on the highway and your kids see other kids from their schools. And it was so incredibly satisfying to drive back down valley from Vail and see trash bag after trash bag lining the side of the highway and KNOW that I helped. That WE helped.

Most unusual thing picked up by our group: Urine bottles from truckers coming through the mountains.
Most unusual thing I picked up: Deer bones. At first I was grossed out... you know, because they still had fur on them down around the hooves. Then I found the spine bones. Nifty. I know, I'm gross. Still, they were neat.

Now, though, I hurt.

This morning Michael asked me if we could have lunch together since he was going to be up-valley for the day getting reports in Avon. I had to decline... lunch meeting with the boss for the Sunshine Kids fundraiser coming up (more on this later, probably not tonight). He says "well, call me if anything changes" so, when the meeting got canceled I sent him a note and let him know. He made the hour drive up and we went for lunch in the Main Street Grill in The Riverwalk, where I'm working this week filling in for one of the office managers. It was really nice, being able to take an hour... walking to the restaurant for lunch and then over to the coffee shop. So I asked him what he was doing after lunch and he says he's driving back to Glenwood. I'm totally taken off guard... what? Apparently half way through the morning he discovered he didn't need to come up-valley but he wanted to have lunch with me so he told the guys he had a personal appointment and drove the hour up-valley from Glenwood... then had lunch with me for an hour... and then made the trek back down -valley to work. How awesome is that? My husband took a three hour lunch today to have a meal with me.

And then we had Starbucks.

The End.

Vegas Trip: The Breakdown

We drove out to Vegas on Friday evening... the drive was uneventful, which is always good. After dropping off Hannah at my sister's we checked into our hotel and went to bed. We got up too early because of my rampaging allergies and my ravenous stomach. Tried to get in touch with the boys' dad, completely unsuccessful. This was bad because we were supposed to drop them off before breakfast. So, yeah. Bad but not completely unanticipated. So, Mike gets in the shower and I start bombarding our breakfast date (Ken and his wife, Amy) with text messages informing them that if they aren't awake yet they're going to force me to eat my own young. We bumped up our breakfast date a couple of hours... tried to get Dave again... no luck. Informed Matt and Zach they'd have to eat with us. They were less than thrilled... but whatever. OPH is never a bad thing. After finalizing all of that we went in search of Claritin. Holy God. My poor nose is still recovering. I lived there for 10 years and never experienced the pain of the mulberry trees the way I did during this two day trip. It was horrendous. Met Amy and Ken up at the Pancake House and ate yummy food while discussing poor parenting. People that let their kids raise them scare me. They're going to get beat up by their children once they're teenagers. Finished breakfast, tried to call Dave... Again. Still, nothing. Amy whips out her phone and smiles. I'm like "no way". Sure enough it was maybe two rings in and I hear her cheerful voice talking to my ex-husband. I couldn't decide whether I was amused by this or annoyed. Not at Amy, obviously. Anyway, ironed everything out, dropped all of the boys off at Dave's to go to the movies... and then left to get our haircuts. (Dave is absolutely fantastic about including Ian in their outings, for which I am grateful)

Haircuts... Mike's hair looks great. Mine is... well, it's SHORT. Way way way short. The longest pieces are around my jaw with some on the bottom around my neck that curl up. It's really cute and I like it now that I'm more comfortable with it. At first I wasn't so sure I'd be okay with it... but it grows. *shrugs* and I think in a couple of months it'll be just what I want. Jenny went with us and has decided to chop her hair off, too. Maybe I can get her in there with me when I go back in May.

Had sushi with my friends and met Bianca's girl... she's SO cute. It was a surprise. Bee brought in Jenny's birthday present and then started looking through her purse.... then she looks at me and says "I think I left your surprise in the car" and when she comes back she has an APRIL with her. Best. Surprise. Ever. Needless to say I think they're perfect for each other. After sushi I tricked Jenny into going to a surprise get together for her at PT's. She was so shocked and happy that she started to well up and I thought for a moment she'd break out in tears. I love my Jennybean.

Easter was fun. Went to my parent's house for our traditional holiday breakfast. It used to be just Christmas but now it's whenever it's a holiday and we're in town. :) My dad makes the best cowboy omelette ever. Then we got back in the car (again) and headed to Cedar City to visit Mike's family. Had the best chicken wings ever... then steaks and macaroni bake. Then back to Vegas for dinner with my sister for her birthday. We met Maria and Raul at PF Changs, had yet MORE food AND dessert... and then collapsed into our hotel room for the night. We both though we might have died from all of the food on Sunday. Christ. Ow. It still hurts to think of it.

Home on Monday... the drive was much longer than I remember.
I think I'm just used to driving in the evening now so the daytime makes me sleepy and restless when I spend it in the car. Yuck. But getting home is really wonderful. There's nothing like coming around that turn in West Glenwood Springs and seeing Sopris Mountain covered in snow and clouds while all around you the valley is that wonderful green that comes with the new spring.




OH OHOH! Mike took my shopping before we went home. He bought me a Coach bag and a matching wallet. I am a sincerely happy (and lucky) girl. Can't find a picture so I'll take one later and post it. Lovelovelovelove LOVE my new bag.

Wow. That was long. I don't get much time to do these anymore, though, so that's okay.

This post brought to you by sick child, Ian. That's right... I've been way too busy to post. And way too happy. Work is going so well and everyone is nice as can be... I mean, really. Nicest people ever. And they're smart and relaxed and ambitious. Big ideas and big projects to focus on, and I don't work on it at home. At all. Except today. Ian is sick (day 3 now) and I took the hit. I'm working from home, though, with gotomypc.com (which I love) so I still feel productive. Anyway, aside from my utter bliss at work, life has been life. The kids are doing really well in school. Matt is doing trig in his freshman year (jesus, I know) and Zachary is trying out for track team and has picked up another instrument. Freaking awesome. Ian is reading independently now and we couldn't be happier about it. Everyone is plugging along. OH! And it's SPRING. It's warm outside and raining every few days and I saw my first BLUEBIRD! I love them. They're my favorite. I see the blackbirds still and the robins... the bluebirds aren't as common and they're so very pretty. On a not so bright note, the freaking bugs are back. Blech.

Vegas this weekend. Sushi-joy with my Bee and the Jennybean... hair cuts and family stuff. Should be fun!