Wild Women Weekend 3

This year we Wild Women went to Denver, CO to stay with Andra. A big HUGE Thank You goes out to Andra and her awesome family and friends for all they did to make us feel welcome and help us have an awesome time!!

Friday

I had quite a rocky start at the airport - I have not flown in 5 years and a LOT has changed in those 5 years! I was one of those old ladies that has no idea how to get thru the airport. sigh. But, I eventually made it (not without a few too many incidences) and after a pleasant air trip I arrived in Denver!!

Barack Obama was there to great me! Yes, you read that right; Barack Obama greeted us Wild Women! I have pictures to prove it, but they are on Andra's camera and I am still waiting for them. So you'll have to wait too.

After some crazy fun at the airport, photos with Mr. President and picnicking under the dry fountain, we all piled into the car and went back to Andra's house to enjoy some delicious food - oh my did Andra go overboard with the yummies! - and some delicious Obama-tinis. Another good beverage! One glass of that and you have Hope! Remind me to get the recipe from Andra. It is simple, and yummy.

Recipe: Equal parts vanilla vodka & clear cream de cacao.

We met Andra's wife, Kelly; Every family should have a Kelly living in their basement! I love her! Kelly and Brad, Andra's husband, were roommates in college and apparently a few years ago Kelly needed an affordable place to live so she moved into the spare room in Andra and Brad's basement. She was great fun to hang out with and if there had been room in our Sexy Sentra I think she should have gone carousing with us!

We also met some of Andra's neighbors. All I can say is that I think Andra and Brad landed in the perfect neighborhood for them. They have some fun and slightly crazy neighbors that seem to accentuate the Parks family just perfectly.

Our Friday ended by piling downstairs and watching one of many old 1980's films. We watched St. Elmo's Fire and laughed at the utter ridiculousness of the film. Funny, I remember really liking the film when I saw it in the theater. I specifically remember writing a journal entry about how much the film touched me and made me think about life. Just goes to show how much "growing up" you still have to do when you are 20!

Saturday

Saturday morning I woke up and found myself without a voice. None. Zip. Zilch. How fun is that, to go on a crazy weekend trip with 4 of my friends I rarely see and end up *not* being able to yell smart-assed comments?!? Oh well. I survived!

We eventually all got up and went for a walk around the neighborhood. The first thing I noticed, well besides the flowers and budding trees - apparently spring comes earlier in Denver - was the complete lack of For Sale signs in the neighborhood! Brad said that the property values were actually going up still in Denver, and that their neighborhood was doing really well. Apparently so!! And such cute little Mission style homes all over the place. I really really loved their neighborhood. I'd like more space, of course, but that is my bizarre farm background coming out.

After our walk Andra went to be crowned Ms. Skinny Bitch. She has been working really hard at loosing weight and greeting in shape, and that Saturday she earned her Weight Watchers Life Time Membership. I guess she met her goal weight and has maintained it for 6 months now. Go Andra!! She looks awesome, then again she always has to me.

Being the true friends that we are, we had arts-n-crafts hour and made Andra a Skinny Bitch tiara, sash, and trophy. (Huh, guess that makes her a trophy wife now!) She was pleasantly surprised upon her arrival home, and donned her new awards as she strutted around the house.

We finally met Suzanne, our 5th and final Wild Woman, at the airport and then walked around Denver some. We stopped at a brew-pub and drank some pretty good beer and had munchies.

Un-Natural Pigs

Way back when, in the days of me working at MicroTimes, I received a Christmas Gift Exchange gift of the game Pass the Pigs. It is a crazy fun game where you have two rubber pigs and you "roll" them like dice. How they land (on their feet, back, side, etc.) and the combination of the two pigs predicates your score. That is it really. We love it, and the girls can now play it and do some simple, albeit silly, math. (See online version here.)


There is a "rule" that if the pigs land one on top of the other (called a "Porker") that this is an unnatural position and you are done playing for the game. We have NEVER had this happen in the 9 years we have been playing Pigs. It hardly even seems possible.


Until tonight.

Meet My Nemisis: Horizontal Surfaces

I swear I clean this off at least three times a day. But here it is, again, all covered in the day's "stuff."

Maybe I should get rid of all horizontal surfaces in my house. Hmmmm, might make it hard to walk.

Green With Envy, & Fun!

Went to the local Irish Pub today and had drinks with a local mom and her hubby and friends - who, oddly enough, all work with my brother. Small world!

I had to leave to be a parent, they are able to stay until 5pm-ish. Sigh - slightly jealous. However if I were to say longer I'd be slightly inebriated. I had 3 beers and that is just enough to make me happy without being drunk. Fun being "carefree" for a morning!

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!

What Kind of Kite is THIS?

Annika is into making things in her free time at school. The other day she made a kite.

But you tell me; what does this kite look like to you? I'd say it is just a tad phallic!

Pre-Yard Work

I must be yearning for the spring yard clean-up, because the other day I had a lot of fun trimming my indoor plants.

Case in point:

Before

I have this HUGE, 40-year-old jade plant. I inherited from my mother when we moved into our current house. It sits in front of two windows in the south-west corner of our house, and it is a very happy jade plant. However, it was just getting way too big.

After



So I hacked it back some. Anyone want some Jade plant trimmings?

Stupid Theifs!

I caught this sneaky squirrel red-handed the other day; he was doing amazing feats of acrobatic skill to get that last bit of bird seed out of our feeder. We have not had much squirrel activity this winter, due to the cold I am sure, so this must be a sure-fire sign of springs arrival!

And when I opened the door to send our dog out to chase him away the squirrel hopped down off the tree to run away, but then saw the beast and then that sneaky (and smart!) dude did a quick turnaround and ran back up the tree. How am I supposed to terrorize him when he is safe up that tree?!?

Opps! I know better...

This is what happens when you put water into a hot glass dish. DUH!

I have been totally hooked on making bread in my oven, rather than the bread maker. Part of the "yum" factor is to have steam in the oven to help crate a good crust. So I need to put a container under the bread stone, and then add water for steam. Apparently I was not thinking clearly the other day, because I have made this same mistake a few times before. These silly glass pans just seem to break on me ....

DUH - Someday I'll learn.

Signs of Spring!!

The weather here has FINALLY warmed up to above freezing (although I hear we are in for snow again this week) and my lovely spring bulbs are beginning to pop up and show their excited little bodies! SO EXCITING!!

today is the full worm moon

Full Worm - March Moon As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.

Winter. 2 for $10

There is a sign at a party store near our house that states:

Winter
2 for $10

I what to know what Jack Ass bought two winters this year?!?