Various And Sunday

As you can see from the previous photos, I had a beautiful time in Colorado. It was great to see my friend again and her family. Her little boy couldn't quite get my name figured out, so he spent the weekend calling me "Jacket". I miss waking up to "Hey Jacket!" and even miss hearing the lament, "Noooo Jacket" whenever he wasn't feeling so chipper and I made the mistake of looking at him! :) What a cutie. He'll probably be driving a car by the time I get to see him again. Here's baby and Jacket boy...





Thanksgiving was great. All of my husband's family was there, which doesn't happen very often, and my parents were there as well. It was a fun, wild, loud, crazy gathering. Best of all, there was plenty of food! I'm paying for it now. I suppose I wasn't alone in overeating, and I expect to see the gym quite busy when I manage to haul my carcass over there.

While I was in Colorado, I received word that my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The dreaded "C" word. Apparently it's been caught early and is treatable, but he'll know more when he goes back to the doctor this Wednesday and they discuss the results of all his tests, bone scan, etc. It's always a bit fearsome when you realize again that your parents are mortal.

As we've known since before Halloween practically, Christmas is just around the corner. I'm hoping that my family will manage to get to the snow sometime during the break---not that I'm a big lover of cold but my kids are feeling snow-deprived. There are snowballs itching to be made.

It's a busy time of year: birthdays, holidays, too much eating, fun times, etc. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and have fun things planned for upcoming festivities.

Happy Thanksgiving

Why do I always eat until I'm about to pop??

Scenes From Colorado

Toto, We're Not In California Anymore

So tonight I went with my friend and her family to Cheyenne, Wyoming where her husband was going to play his basketball game and we were going to watch. It was about a 45-minute drive and on the way, 50-mile-an-hour winds played tag with the truck. We arrived, parked, and out I stepped into the anti-California. The wind was quite fierce and I felt like somebody had unzipped me and poured Cold straight into my bones. It was freezing (to a wimpy Californian).

We scampered inside and settled ourselves. Shortly some friends arrived, blown into the gym like as we, and sat beside us. The following statement was made (without any irony), much to my disbelief:

"It's so windy outside!" this local exclaimed. "But at least it's not cold."

I think I might be the only sane person for miles.

Leavin' On A Jet Plane

to Colorado. To see a friend I don't often get to see anymore. It's going to be cold and my California bones can't DO cold. Also, I won't approve if the plane goes down. That's not on my agenda but it does cross my mind cuz I'm not much of a flyer. I can do it; it just makes me a bit nervous. So worst-case scenarios do pitter patter but mostly I'm excited and looking forward to a few days away. Sometimes it's nice to miss your family and to look forward with eager anticipation to seeing them again.

If anything picture-worthy comes up (besides my friend's cute dollface babies---'course, you can just see them here), I'll give it a post.

Have a great weekend.

Powerful

I recently saw a very moving post on a blog I read often. Instead of trying to steal the whole thing, it's easier just to point you in that direction. It's worth the few minutes it takes.

A First

Today at the gym, there was a guy next to me on one of the machines in full office gear: blue, long-sleeve button-down shirt, snazzy tie, dress slacks, dress shoes. What in the world? There he was, pumping away, working himself toward a big sweaty mess. Glad I wasn't going to be sitting next to him in some business meeting later. I'll let some other poor sap fill that seat.

I thought I'd seen it all with the woman who came decked out with full evening make-up, a shirt cut down to there, everything gushing out, shorty shorts---sure, it was great for all the guys, lady, but let's not pretend that you came to the gym to exercise! I thought she'd taken the cake, but I think she passed the baton to this guy with his business attire. It's a gym, folks. You're exercising, working out, breaking a sweat. Right?

In A Flash, Life Changes

This afternoon, about an hour and a half ago, we got word that my husband's cousin, "A", lost her husband in a sort of freak accident. It had just happened about a half hour before that. They don't live far from us, they're young---maybe early 40's. Sketchy details revealed that they think he might've had a heart attack while driving. He was a very fit and healthy guy, not a candidate for a sudden heart attack. But just like that, life's path is completely altered.

I've been enjoying the blog that A recently started; I've enjoyed her comments on my blog. She's posted some of her poetry, and her writing is very thought-provoking and deep---some of the poems have dark edges. I think life hasn't always been a rosy, sun-filled path for A; just a sense I've gotten. And now this. I'm sure she's in shock, numb....and then how unmoored she'll probably feel, set adrift. My husband and I stand by, waiting to hear if we can help in any way. Meanwhile, I'm sobered again to remember that in a flash, life changes.

Not For All The Money In The World

....well, maybe for ALL the money in the world. I'm not sure. But the thing is, I'm afraid of heights. The older I get, the worse it gets. It must be something in the genes, because my grandma was afraid of heights, I now am, and my oldest son is. Very strange. Anyway, the deal is, there's a new bridge---a glass bridge, mind you---being built at the Grand Canyon. Probably y'all have heard about it. What I know is that you couldn't pay me enough money to set foot on it, I don't care how strong it is, how many packed Boeing airplanes could be on it, how strong a wind could blow it.....no thanks.

Boys Will Be Boys....Sometimes Forever Apparently

Since my two youngest had the day off from school (some sort of teacher learning day??), I took them to a new skateboard park that we discovered near our home. They were in seventh heaven (I, however, was only in about first heaven because it was rather cold, and though my book was good, after two hours I'd had enough already.)

What was interesting was that of the approximately 30 guys skateboarding (and the one rather cute chicky), only maybe 8 of them were 14 and under. The rest of them looked to be in their 20s and a couple of them even older. It was mid-day, 12:30-ish and on.....why weren't these guys working? Or in school? There they were, hanging around, sitting against the wall, watching their friends, occasionally skateboarding, sitting back down. Hours of this. It didn't seem to be the pool from which to pick the next rocket scientists really. However, that is just a surface observation, and I'm sure many of them are quite smart. Some of them were even good at skateboarding. And all of them seemed very nice. They were friendly to my boys and talked to them as equals. I admit, however, to having strong feelings along this line: I hope my boys aren't spending their days skateboarding when they're that age. Please let them be pursuing something more "meaningful", more intellectually stimulating.

Does that make me a snob? *sigh* Probably.