Archive | February, 2008

Where Have I Been? Around…

26 Feb

I feel like my life has been on fast forward lately, and that I just can’t seem to get caught up.  It all started with coming back from vacation at the beginning of February, when I had to catch up at work for a week, then I went on a week business trip and got sick on the trip, and had another catch up week, and in the midst of it all, my daughter turned two and got sick herself.

For the past two weeks, I had what I was calling the “death cough”, which was unrelenting and I just felt tired and run down.  Little Miss came down with the cough on Thursday, and we both ended up going home sick for a half day.  On Friday, we both went to the doctor (and yes, now I’m behind at work again). 

Saturday morning, JB left for a ski clinic at Kirkwood, and Little Miss started the day by puking all over me (soaked down to my underwear).  I think she had the flu, as she was feverish and wouldn’t drink or eat anything besides apple juice for two days.  She also kept telling me that different things hurt, like her back, her hands, her face…  Sounds like the aches to me.  Couple that with an impressive 3 day storm, where the hubby got snowed in at the ski resort (thanks to my brother and his family for letting him shack up in their condo), and there was a bit of cabin fever in our house.

I did manage to round up a sitter on Sunday afternoon, as I was really itching to get up and enjoy the fresh powder (I had been monitoring the snow levels at the ski resorts and was green with envy about the hubby being “stuck” at a ski resort with a free place to stay and a season pass).  Unfortunately, the storm was in full force by the time I headed up the mountain,  making the drive a bit hairy.  Top that off with the fact that all 4 pairs of goggles that JB and I own ended up in his ski bag with him at Kirkwood, my visibility was nil the first run. 

I borrowed the world’s cheapest goggles from Lost and Found, and was able to salvage some good runs out of the day.  By my last run (1.5 hours after arriving at the mountain), I started to worry about the drive home and wasn’t enjoying the white out whipping wind blizzard conditions, so I headed out.  The drive home was super scary, as there were points where the wind blew the snow so hard that it was complete white out conditions, and I had to just stop because I couldn’t see the road or other cars.  Luckily, no one crashed into the back of me.  Things were made worse by all of the aggressive drivers out there passing people (i.e. me) on blind curves in white out conditions. 

There was a nasty wreck towards the bottom of the highway, and they even shut down the highway shortly after I got home.  Anyway, even though it wasn’t the best ski day for me, it did cure my cabin fever.

Little Miss and I are both well now, and it is taking an insane amount of self discipline for me to not play hooky and head up to the mountains, which just look way too inviting right about now.  I can see the Mt. Rose Chutes from my office, which doesn’t help matters!

 That’s all for now.  Sorry I don’t have anything more inspirational to share.

Detroit is America’s Most Miserable City

22 Feb

Well, duh.  I could have told you that.  There is nothing like living in Detroit for 4 years to teach you how truly amazing the West is.

Article excerpt:

“Imagine living in a city with the country’s highest violent-crime rate and second-highest unemployment rate. As an added kicker, you need more Superfund dollars allocated to your city to clean up toxic-waste sites than just about any other metropolitan area.

Unfortunately, this nightmare is a reality for the residents of Detroit. The Motor City grabs the top spot on Forbes’ inaugural list of America’s Most Miserable Cities.”

And they didn’t even talk about the horrible weather!

I need your vote!

22 Feb

No, I’m not talking election crap…  I need your vote for a winter pic I posted of my niece on the Reno Gazette Journal site.  Up for grabs are 4 ski tix, and ya’ll know I’d get good use out of those!

Go vote now — rate her photo as the TEN STARS it deserves! 

Little Miss’ First Haircut

20 Feb

My apologies to the grandmothers, who have been waiting anxiously for me to post these pics.  Here are shots of Little Miss’ first haircut, which was long overdue!

Bring Bri Justice

19 Feb

I can’t tell you how sad I am about Brianna Denison, the 19 year old that disappeared off a friend’s couch one night a month ago, and whose body was found this past weekend.  She had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death.  They found her in a field behind JB’s office; a field that I drive by every day.

I stopped by that field yesterday, which has been turned into a memorial, to pay my respects.  This whole case is disturbing.  There are posters, fliers and bumper stickers about her all around town, all saying “Bring Bri Home”.  The poster that was by the memorial had been changed to say, “Bring Bri Justice”. 

She was a beautiful girl that seemed to be warm and very loved.  The whole community feels a sense of loss now, and it is haunting to know that her killer is still out there, on the loose.  I think back to my college days, and how many times I crashed on someone’s couch without thinking a thing about it.  Or how many times we probably left a door unlocked and nothing ever happened.  I could walk around our campus alone at night and never feel afraid.  I felt so safe at college.  And now, with all of the school shootings and incidents like this, I cringe to think what college life has and will become.  Will colleges need to start having security at the level of airports?  Will my daughter have to pass through a metal detector and have her bags x-rayed on her way to class each day?

The fact that Brianna’s body was dumped in an area I frequent almost every day is also disconcerting.  On my drive home yesterday, all I could think was that the killer probably drove that very same road after he dumped her body.  They say the killer has strong local ties and that they believe he is still in the area. 

The local paper has an entire web section dedicated to Brianna’s case.  Let’s hope that law enforcement finds this guy and he gets the punishment he deserves.  My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends, as even though I didn’t know her, I too feel her loss.

Where Is My Dozer?

15 Feb

Another fun link from my class this week.  Enjoy.

Valentine’s Day Blubber

14 Feb

I’ve spent this week in a Problem Solving/Decision making class in the Bay Area.  We just watched this video in class as an example of poor decision making.  Quite the romantic way to spend Valentine’s Day, I must say.  The video is hilarious — what do do with a dead whale?

Partying Like A Rock Star

11 Feb

We had Little Miss’s second birthday party this weekend.  It was toddler heaven with mass chaos, a duck cake and a Dora ball pit (courtesy of her uncle’s family).  We also managed to get a bit of ski time in this weekend, where the conditions were wonderful — warm, bluebird skies with awesome snow. 

Little Miss and I are off to the Bay Area this week.  Me for work, and her for time with grandparents.  I’ll write when I get a chance!

Party pics:

My Favorite Mid-Week Meal

6 Feb

Just had to share with you a soup I’ve been making with my crock pot recently.  I put most of the ingredients in the crock pot before I go to work, and come home to a lovely and delicious meal.

Chicken Tortilla Soup:

1.5 – 2 pounds chicken breasts cut into cubes

One large can low sodium fat free chicken broth

One diced onion

3-4 cloves of garlic diced

2 jalepenos sliced into thin pieces

Pinch of cumin

1 small bag frozen corn kernels

Put the above ingredients in a crock pot on low to simmer all day.  Before serving add 5 corn tortillas cut into small pieces and one bunch of cilantro chopped finely.  Serve with cheese and sour cream on top.

YUM.  And it lasts me for at least three meals.

Some people just shouldn’t be allowed to have kids

6 Feb

Video about a woman driving drunk that buckled up a case of beer in her car but not her one year old child.

That is so infuriating.

She Bloomed And Grew and Now She’s Two

5 Feb

Here are Little Miss’s 2 year portraits, taken at Kiddie Kandids in Albuquerque.

Albuquerque Pics

4 Feb

After spending three days in Taos, I dropped JB at the airport and stayed in Albuquerque for 5 days to visit with my parents and my best friend and her kids.  The week flew by, and we did a ton of fun stuff.  Mom and I took Little Miss to the Albuquerque Aquarium, which she absolutely LOVED (look for the pictures of her making fish faces at the fish).

We also got her 2 year portraits done (will post those later), and my best friend and I took our kids to Explora!, which is an awesome kids museum.  The kids just ate it up, especially the ball exhibits and the bubbles exhibit.  On Saturday, we had a small early birthday party for Little Miss, and she was even able to blow out one of her two candles.  She absolutely loved the divine carrot cake that my Mom whipped up.

All too soon we found ourselves on the plane again yesterday, which was about 5 hours delayed (oh, such fun with a toddler).  We had a great time in New Mexico — thanks to my parents and my friend A for making it such a fun visit!

Taos Ski Vacation Pics

4 Feb

Here are my pics from our 3 day getaway to Taos, NM, billed as the steepest slopes in the nation.  You can hike to some pretty gnarly terrain, and of course JB wanted to do so.  You start hiking at 11,800 feet.  I think it was the hardest workout of my life.  It was also freezing cold — I stick to the saying of the coldest day of skiing is a sunny day at Taos. 

Anyway, Rocky Mountain skiing goodness below:

 

Email Hell

4 Feb

emailhell.jpg

I’m back, but I’m in email hell.  I’ll write as soon as I get one nostril above the water line.

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