January 27, 2010 - Laundry

We all have it...laundry. I have a lot of clothes and I'm lucky that I don't need to do laundry every week like some families. To be completely honest, I don't actually mind laundry. In fact, I love clean clothes! However, when it comes to putting my cleans clothes away, I tend to fall short. I have stacks of clean clothes all over my bedroom and laundry room. This might not sound like a problem, but let me tell you that it is. You might be scratching your head at that. Well, I'll explain my delimma. As I've mentioned, I have a lot of clothes and I can never find them. I'm always searching for something and 9 times out of 10 I can't find it. There has to be a better way. Maybe if I had a bigger closet...

January 26, 2010 - I've Committed!

Yes, I took my new exercise clothes and put them to good use! After work, I grabbed my bag and went directly to the gym located in our office building. I decided to set mini goals for my self. My first goal was to weigh myself and set a predetermined amount of weight I want to lose in a month; 5 pounds. Yikes! It's not that I was surprised at how much I weigh, it's just seeing proof that reality set in. My second goal was to get on the treadmill for 5 minutes and call it a night. After all, I haven't raised my heart rate through exercise since my divorce in 2004. To my delight, I skipped the treadmill and found an eliptical machine and set the time for 15 minutes. Yeah for me!! Not only that... Once I was finished, I lifted weights for a while. I'm on a roll!! Let's see how I do in a month's time.

January 25, 2010 - Yolanda and Heritage Makers

I met Yolanda last Spring at a brunch and we exchanged information, but never got in touch with one another until she called me in December to ask about Heritage Makers. Since then, she has signed up and is now creating her own storybooks. She's currently in the middle of a project and asked me to help her with some of the features in Studio. Since we work about five minutes from one another, I headed over to her office directly after work. We spent a couple of hours playing around with Studio and had a great time!

January 24, 2010 - Getting Motivated!

I wouldn't go so far as to call this my New Year's Resolution, but I'm long overdue for a change. On a recent shopping trip with my girlfriend, I picked up some new exercise clothes and have every intention of putting them to good use! Now I have two options. There's a gym where I live, but I've yet to step foot on the premises and I've lived there for four years. However, there is also a gym in the building that we just moved into at work. I checked it out with my co-worker a couple of weeks ago and it's AWESOME! I have no excuse for not getting off my lazy hiney and working up a sweat. My goal is to start slowly and work my way up to a full workout by the end of February. Wish me luck!

January 23, 2010 - Olympic Training Center

I've been counting the days until Heidi and I are heading to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics...only 23 days left. I'm so excited so when my friend Virginia suggested we head down to Colorado Springs to tour the Olympic Training Center, I couldn't wait! We arrived at the complex just in time for the next tour. Our tour had two parts, a video and tour of the facilities. We were lucky and got to see a few gymnasts practicing their pommel horse routine. It was amazing! After the tour, Virginia and I set about the grounds and had a great time taking photos. Afterwards, we did a little shopping in the Olympic Spirit Store where I bought a long sleeved t-shirt and fleece jacket. I even bought Heidi a t-shirt. All in all, it was a great experience and I'm even more excited for my trip!

January 22, 2010 - Safeway Sushi

I LOVE sushi! I've been a fan for years and would eat it every week if given the opportunity. Now when I think of sushi, grocery stores do not come to mind. However, when Safeway opened a new store in my neighborhood a year ago there was a sushi bar inside. Being one not to turn down an opportunity, I decided to give it a try. To my surprise, I fell in love with their California Roll. Now, whenever I do any grocery shopping at this particular Safeway, I buy some and eat it for the next meal whether it's breakfast, lunch or dinner. I don't know what it is about it, since it doesn't taste like anything I'd ever get in a restaurant, but there's just something in my mind that makes it absolutely delicious!

January 21, 2010 - The Dye Job

It's happened again, I've grown tired of my hair color. I was brought into this world as a brunette, but shortly thereafter, I was a strawberry blonde and then a blonde. In fact, for most of my life, even into adulthood, I've been a blonde. Since my late 20's, I began to experiment with my hair color and every now and then I become a red head or brunette for a short period. However, after dying my hair brown in 2007, I was surprised to find that I didn't have any blonde roots. I didn't know what that meant. Was I now officially a brunette? Who knows, I may never know my real hair color again. What I can tell you is that I woke up a blonde, but after two and half hours in a salon, I'm once again a brunette.

January 20, 2010 - Lunch with Friends

Lunch with friends doesn't happen often enough in my opinion. Sonia and I were talking about it and we think the last time we had lunch was around March 2009. We have tried to schedule once or twice since then, but as the saying goes, "The best laid plans o' mice and men often go awry". It so happened that our plans on this particular day were almost wrecked again, but alas, it worked out. I met Venus and Sonia at India's Castle for their fabulous lunch buffet. I'm sure that those of you who know me are scratching their heads since it is a well known fact that I strongly dislike Indian food. SURPRISE!! Since the 2009 Super Bowl, I have offically become a fan. Don't ask me how it happened because I don't have the slightest idea. Regardless, the three of us girls had a great time catching up on what's been happening in our lives and enjoyed some delicious food along the way. I'm looking forward to our next lunch date in February!

January 19, 2010 - Momma Needs New Boots

Some call it denial, but honostly, it's so hard for me to find well fitting shoes that don't hurt my feet, that I tend to wear them until they're falling apart. Well, I think it's finally time to retire my hiking boots to shoe heaven. I mean what's the point in having hiking boots that don't protect you from the elements? After all, it's still the middle of Winter and I live in Colorado which means SNOW! The last few times it's snowed or even rain, I've noticed that my my feet have gotten wet. I didn't think too much of that in the beginnging, but as I was listening to the weather forecast this morning I realized that it's one thing to have worn out shoes when I'm only walking from my house to my car and back again. That won't be the case when I'm in Vancouver which will be in less than a month and the last thing I want to do is have cold feet. So, it's via con Dios hiking boots.

January 18, 2010 - My new coat!

If you like to shop, now is the perfect time to buy a coat. They're all on clearance to make room for Spring arrivals. I may have mentioned that my sister and I are going to the 2o10 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and it just so happened that I needed a new coat. I coincidentally had a coupon to Dress Barn and though it was my intention to purchase a new pair of jeans, I walked out with much more. Upon walking into the store I discovered that not only where the coats on clearance, but they were actually 60% off. Woo Hoo! I got this gorgeous coat for an incredibly low price. In fact, I actually bought three coats while I was there. Hopefully I have enough room in my suitcase to pack them all!

January 17, 2010 - K9 Jerry

I love this dog! If you were to ask me a year ago what breed of dog I liked, I would never have picked a German Shepard. Well, that's changed. I met Jerry last year and fell in love. He's a former K9 police dog and as such isn't accustomed to people. I was warned not to get too friendly and whatever I did, don't put my hands near his mouth. I was initially scared to get near him, but my fears were unfounded. Jerry is a total sweetheart and the one of the most beautiful dogs I've ever seen. He loves a good scratch and even though he's older, loves to play with her counterpart Barcley, a 1 year old Maltese.

January 16, 2010 - Rascal the Chinchilla

I'll admit it, I've never seen a chinchilla in the flesh. I always assumed they looked like rabbits. Boy was I wrong! On my most recent pet sitting assigment, I was looking after Jerry and Barcley, two of the cutest dogs I've even spent time with and I was asked to look in on Rascal the family chinchilla. He was so adorable and I wanted to pet him, but since I knew nothing about them, I wasn't sure I should be sticking my hand it his cage on the off chance he could bite my finger off. I called my sister and asked her what she thought. Like me, she had no idea. She googled it and the conclusion was that if I were to have been bit, it wouldn't kill me. So, I forged ahead, stuck my hand in the cage. Low and behold, Rascal wouldn't let me get anywhere near him. Go figure!

January 15, 2010 - Map of Vancouver

It's only 28 days until the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver begin and my sister and I will be in attendance. I've been planning this trip for over two years and I think I have all the details worked out. I know we'll be using public transportation as much as possible so wanted to get a map of Vancouver. Sounds easy, but I have to tell you, Barnes and Noble only had two maps available. I bought one and although it's absolutely beautiful and shows several different maps of Vancouver, I don't think it's specific enough for our needs. I still have time to find another map before we head North.

January 14, 2010 - My dirty car

Yes, another embarassing photo. I can't seem to help myself... When it comes to my car, I can claim it's that time of year, but no, I just haven't gotten around to washing it in over a month. Everytime I see my car, I cringe at the layer of flith that covers it from bumper to bumper. I have every intention of washing it, but when I get the chance it's always when the next storm is moving into town. I've decided no more excuses. I'm going to the car wash this weekend come hell or high water.

January 13, 2010 - Making a Tutu

I absolutely love the way this tutu turned out. I saw a video on You Tube right after my neice was born. I thought at the time that when she was a toddler, I'd make a tutu for her to play dress up with. Well, she turns one year old this month and I decided not to wait. I decided to make one for her 1st birthday party. I had no idea what I was doing or how difficult it would so today I headed over to Joann's, bought the tulle and ribbon and just like that I had a tutu. It was so simple. I can't wait to see Julianna wearing it!

January 12, 2010 - Red Light Photo Radar

Yes, I see it happen every day, but I never thought it would happen to me. We were right in the middle of our office move and I needed to run over to our new offices to meet the painters. My short drive consisteted of several red hand turns. In the process of making one of those turns I swore I had plenty of time to make it before the light changed. Low and behold, by the time I reached the intersection, the light was RED!!! How could that happen? I swore that it was green!! Nevertheless, as soon as I made the turn I was startled by the flash. I knew immediately that I had just gotten a ticket via photo radar. I now have the privilege for paying the city $75.00.

January 11, 2010 - Buying Virginia's Olympics Tickets

Both Virginia and I bought tickets to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. However, since she only got tickets to one event, she asked me if I wanted to buy hers. We've been talking back and forth for months. I finally decided to go for it so we met for margaritas today and now in addition to attending events for Giant Slalom and Short Track, we'll now be sitting in the stands for Speed Skating as well. I'm so exicted and poor Virginia is so sad.

January 10, 2010 - Brrrr!! It Was Cold This Morning!

Once again I'm pet sitting and for the most part it's a job which I don't mind doing at all.... That is until I woke up this morning to feed the dogs. When I went outside to grab the dog bowl, I discovered their water was frozen solid. Now the weather here has been in the single digits this past week, but the weather was quite nice yesterday and if I had to guess, I would say the temperature was in the low 60's. I found a weather thermometer and sure enough it wasn't even 20 degrees. I guess I shouldn't complain, after all, it IS still Winter.

January 9, 2010 - Cocktails and Shopping

My girlfriend Andre' called me and asked if I wanted to go clothes shopping. She was starting a new job and wanted to pick up a few blouses. Now, anyone who knows me, knows I'm not a big fan of shopping, but that what friends are for right? Before we headed for the mall, we stopped by the Fox and Hound brewery and enjoyed a couple of libations. Needless to say, by the time we arrived we were feeling no pain. The kicker is that we had a great time and both ended up with some great bargains.

January 8, 2010 - Movie and a Beer

It's not often I find myself in my own home on a Friday night, but when I do, I generally tend to read. It so happened that on this particular Friday, I had been the library only the day before and checked out "Terminator Salvation". I've always been a big Terminator fan and I was excited to see this movie. To top off the evening, I had some left over Sam Adams from our office move. Nothing could make this girl happier than a movie and a beer!

January 7, 2010 - My Mii

Well, this isn't exactly a great picture and what is shows is even more depressing. This is my little Mii showing that I'm considered obese. While that's no surprise, seeing it on a television screen makes it hard to ignore. Well, I have set a mini goal for myself and will take another picture in one month's time to see if my numbers improve. With a little help from Wii, I should be able to do it...if my sore muscles are any indication.

January 6, 2010 - Lovely Flowers

There's nothing like fresh flowers to brighten your day. Nothing surprised me more than when I looked up from my desk to see a delivery person with a boquet of flowers in her hands. I admit that I was at a complete loss as to who could have sent me flowers. I immediately read the card and found that Arrow sent them to congratulate us on our move. They were absolutely stunning and this picture doesn't do them justice. It's not a typical bouqet which is what made it to stunning. I love all the flowers and that they are each separarted into their own grouping. The stems are wrapped in red wire. Well, the one thing I can say as that these flowers made my day!

January 5, 2010 - Brace Free Smile

I got to hang out with my pal Liria today. I hadn't seen her since she got her braces off the month before and she was all smiles. I asked to take her photograph and she didn't miss a beat. She flashed me her pearly whites and the brilliant smile she gave me took me back to the days when I got my braces off. It still amazes me that orthodontists put braces on children who still don't have all of their adult teeth. I admit it, I'm skeptical that her teeth will still be staight by the time she gets her driver's license. However, in her typical matter of fact manner, Liria assures me that I have nothing to worry about.

January 4, 2010 - Never Ending Move

It's Monday and like most everyone I know, I'm back to work. Unfortunately, the moving crates left over from our office move of the previous week are still taking up room in the reception area. It's a complete eyesore which I'm tired of looking at. I've called the movers again and cannot wait until they come and take them away.

January 3, 2010 - Sully the Maine Coon

I'm already 3 days into 2010 and it seems all I've done to this point is pet sit. My life isn't so dull to think that I have nothing better to do. Nonetheless, I would be remiss if I didn't take a photo of Sullivan, better known as Sully. He's a Maine Coon which needless to say means he is one HUGE feline. Good for me is that Sully is a total sweetheart.

January 2, 2010 - Scarpetta

I was once again pet sitting, this time for my friend's two cats. As anyone who has ever had a cat, you know that they are self sufficient (for the most part). It was my sole job to make sure they had food. Easy enough! What else was I going to do to pass the time? Well, I had the choice of watching television or reading a book. No contest! I grabbed a book and finished it in one weekend. Scarpetta is one of my favorite literary characters and this book did not let me down.

January 1, 2010 - Rusty

2010 didn't exactly start off with a "BANG", but that's fine by me. I woke up to two very excited dogs who wanted nothing more than to play. This is a picture of Rusty. She's my good friend's dog and I volunteered to watch her which she and her family went out of town for New Years.