WHAT UP?

I love summer.

The weather in the mountains is perfect.

"Family" photo June 26, 2011

BBQ Fest Volunteers June 18, 2011

Reckless Kelly Concert  June 26

Picnic on Lake Dillon, July 1, 2011

Frisco 4th of July parade.  Snow is better than candy on a hot day.

 

Let's look back to April, shall we?

I am so happy and warm right now. 

It is too nice to sit inside and blog. 

THE END.

I was amused but scared they were onto me :S

INTAKE: Not too good :/

EXERCISE: none/ just walking around the mall for a few minutes.

Today’s exercise! Got up at 7 AM and was at the gym by 8 AM. I did 45 minutes of working out!

• Bike: 20 minutes. 4 miles. 90.2 calories :)
• Leg Press: 3 sets of 120 lbs. 12 reps each. Legs felt tired today. Couldn’t manage the 140 lbs I was doing earlier this week. I love the leg press but I need to give it a break tomorrow.
• Rows: 3 sets of 37.5 lbs, 50 lbs, and 44 lbs. Each with 12 reps. I challenged myself on this machine to try a higher weight class and it worked well! Tomorrow I will try for 2 sets at 50 lbs.
• Overhead Press: 3 sets. 2 sets at 37.5 lbs, 1 set at 25 lbs. 12 reps twice, 8 once. 
• Crunches: 50 crunches. 40 more oblique crunches, 20 on each side. Felt sore today. My core is probably even weaker than my upper body strength. Probably worn out from yesterday’s crunches.
• Squats: 1 set of 10 so far. Planning on doing more throughout the day. I think squats are a good way to stretch out my tight hamstrings.
• Stretch: Did another round of post biking stretching. I’ve heard that you shouldn’t stretch “cold” muscles. 

Did quite a bit for a 45 minute workout. I’m working my psychological endurance up to start thinking about 30 minute biking warm-ups :) Almost had the willpower to do it today, tomorrow’s outlook is good.

I don’t know if I’m burning a significant amount of calories or not but I’m feeling better at least psychologically about working out everyday. It’s healthy to do 30 minutes a day they say and I’m sticking close to that right now. I want to work up to a longer workout over time but for someone who usually only works out during the summers anyway (and by that I mean 20 minute jogs, twice a week out of boredom) I’ve really come a long way in just a week :)

Maybe I’ll be able to keep it up throughout the school year too!

That’s How I’ve Been Feeling Lately…. I Was Working 3 Jobs For The Past 3 Weeks Up Until Last Week & Currently Working 2 Jobs Until June 15th When CPS Kids Are Out Of School! I’m Starting To Develop A Blah Life As It’s All Work & No PLAY!…Lol I Just Need To Get Back On A Daily Work Schedule Because I’ve Not Been Eating Right & I’ve Gain A Few Pound Due To Me Not Working Out As I Was About Three Weeks Ago… Haven’t Been To My Weight Watchers Meeting In Two Weeks:(….UGH! I Was Doing Really Good Had Lost A Totally Of 13 Lbs But, Stepped On The Scale & I’m Up A Few Pounds….:( So, I Know What I Need To Do But, All In All I Know I Bite Off More Than I Could Chew When I Agreed To Start My Summer Gig Before The Kids Got Outta School! Working All Three Jobs Had Become Tooo Much That I Had To Quit MCA-Chicago…. 

Within The Next Week I Am Getting Back On My Workout Routine & Will Start Logging My Meals On WW Cause I Refuse To Ruin All The Hard Work I’ve Done In The Pass Three Months! 

ECA Online Courses Are Starting At The End Of The Month & I’m More Nervous Than Excited….Lol

Anyways, I Have To Work Today At MP From 11-6pm… Hope The Day Goes By Fast!

Later, Gators!

I woke up and run/walked 2 miles- I walked more than I would have liked since even though it was cool, it was really humid.  Bleh, but I still did it! :D

Now I’m about to do Ab Ripper X and maybe start day 15(!) of p90x!  It doesn’t seem like it’s been 2 weeks already.  I’ll probably hold off on that because I’m pretty dang hungry, though.

THEN JOB INTERVIEW

(then arms and back workout, probably)

Then mediterranean food-

Then I’m gonna go to the roller derby.

YUS.

I really thought I was going to gain from yesterday.

I’m losing weight noticeably. My size 16 jeans fit on the hips again without straining. I’ve been at this diet for 6 days and it seems like the water weight coming off is really helping me get back in to my clothes. I’m well aware that the weight in fat is going to come off steadier and I hope that I don’t get discouraged with only 1-2lb coming off a week.

I’ve had to up my calorie intake. While running around with two children, housework, cooking, walking and staying up in the nights comforting a six month old baby, 950 calories is making me feel faint and constantly hungry. I don’t think it would be so bad if I wasn’t burning at least 400 calories a day in strength and cardiovascular exercise which brings my net calories way under 950.

I’ve upped my intake to 1100 which allows me a slightly larger portion at dinner. I’m still eating very well and I not consuming any junk apart from Monster energy drinks. I’m still exercising to tone and to feel healthy. I’m still very positive about the next week and the week after that.

I would kill for a big slice of Red Velvet cake or Tiramasu right now. Last night I drank a double Tia Maria and Coke and wanted to eat the entire glass because it tasted so much like my beloved Tiramasu. I think if I allow myself to treat I’ll be treating myself with a small portion of Tiramasu.

I’ve also promised Sean that once I’ve lost 20lb we’ll go to Peachy Keens because he loves that place as much as I do. I have also promised I will really treat myself and I’ll eat a three course meal. One day off.

Ripped in 30 Daily Meal Plans:

Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 Meal Plan

It’s been 16 days, 16 days! This slightly blows my mind because when I used to go on “health bouts” I’d usually last a week before I fell victim to a binge or started having extreme doubt. It feels so unimaginably good not to be the victim anymore. 

Today’s weigh in: 134.5 

It feels so weird being here, because I never thought’d I get here, in a million years, I was the girl that’d given up all hope? And yet here I am! As far as numbers go I always aimed at 130 mostly because at the height of my ED I weighed 127 and looked frail and sick (I now know that’s because of my unhealthy habits not the number) but regardless I am a little weary with numbers. I definitely don’t see myself going anywhere below 125, I don’t think it’d suit my body, I think the lowest” perhaps 126. But let’s just play it by week and see what happens because I’m this far and already feel great. Numbers aren’t a big deal anymore.  

*Celebrating with oatmeal and peanut butter, it has been too long. This is the reason I woke up so early…*

So, yesterday, I went to a nice store to get myself a congratulatory dress in a US size 6 finally, (that same dress wouldn’t zip up in a 10 a month and a half ago!) and had the following odd conversation with the lady on the cash.

Her (very obese nosy older lady - I’m not saying this just to be mean, she could barely walk): So, what’s the occasion for you getting this dress? A wedding, a party? 

Me: Mmm… no.. just for me.

Her: Well, any special reason??

Me (exasperated): It’s just a reward for a personal accomplishment. I lost some weight.

Her: How much? How long did it take? How many sizes did you go down???

Me: I went from a 10 to a 6 in a month and a half.

Her: OH MY! You’re not STARVING yourself, are you??? Because my daughter starved herself but she didn’t lost ANY weight, so don’t starved yourself!!

Me (starting to feel really awkward, feeling paranoid she KNOWS): Um, no. Just eating less and more vegan meals, exercising more… 

Her (tears up): Well, sweetie, you’re SUCH an inspiration to so many people! Such a success story, and did it the healthy way, too! Here’s a coupon for 25% off ANYTHING next time you’re here! (It’s kind of an expensive-ish store)

Me (feeling increasingly awkward): Thank you…

I took the coupon and in all honesty will use it, but I felt so terrible that the lady thought I was an “inspiration’. Ugh, I’m so disgusted with myself, I should not inspire anyone to lose weight the way I am. I’m doing it, because it gives me a semblance of sanity, and the “healthy way” does NOT work for me. The devious me is pleased that I somehow “tricked” the poor lady, but the rest of me is just feeling…. ugh. 

I took a photo in a mirror this morning, to considering posting a “in process” progress, but once I saw it, I burst into tears. I can’t let anyone see me like this  yet. The scale shows a loss of 20 pounds, but somehow I CAN’T SEE IT even in a photo. Maybe when I lose 25 pounds in total. I’ll try again, I promise.

just looked through some pictures of me

This means I do most of my workouts at night.  Mostly before bed.  I’m a freak and working out before bed actually makes me sleep better so…

This also sucks, because I reach my net calories and then burn them and then end up in a situation where I run around 600 net calories and don’t feel like eating. 

I’m trying to start working out in the morning.  Like today, I walked/ran this morning on the treadmill and it was nice.  So I guess I’m gonna keep doing that.

So today I officially started cycle 1: accelerate.

The purpose of this cycle is to start the rapid weight loss basically by detoxing your body. For the next seventeen days, I’m allowed unlimited protein (meat, poultry, fish, and my favorite, eggs!), but I have to limit my carbs. By reducing carbs, my body will have to turn to fat to convert into energy. Also, cutting sugar is a big part of this step. The book suggest truvia as an alternative to sugar, and also to splenda/equal/sweet’n’low.  I HATE splenda with such a passion, but I had a truvia in my green tea before and it tasted like sugar. So thumbs up for that.

Anyhoo, I don’t want to get into all that technical stuff right now, i’ll do that maybe over the weekend. Today was particularly hard because I didn’t have any food prepared, and I only had some frozen vegetables, a little chicken. but here’s how my day went:

-Woke up at 10:30am: i’m still trying to straighten out my sleep cycle, so I had gone to bed around 2am, so I still got eight hours. I already take meletonin (a vitamin) to sleep, so I took that about an hour ago, so I should be asleep fairly quickly, and I hope to be up.

-Drank 8oz of hot water with half a lemon: the book suggests to do this every morning because it “awakens your digestive juices,” or something like that. to be honest, it doesn’t taste too good, but the lemon did wake me up some.

-By 11:00am went for a walk: the book (yes, I will be referencing the book a lot so I do suggest you buy it) directs to have 17 minutes of exercise to day, twice ideally. The 17 minutes I think is just a cutesy consistency with the title, but I walked around the state park for 45 minutes, just because it’s a full loop and I hate backtracking.

-Ate breakfast around 12:10: I still haven’t figured out if I want/should eat before or after walking, but today I decided to do it after. I had two scramble eggs with a sprinkle of low fat cheddar cheese with some salsa. Salsa is on the list of unlimited things you can have as dressings during this cycle, and it tastes really good with eggs. Also, by scrambling my eggs, I cut down on the amount of grease on my eggs.

-Lunch at 2:30: because I have to leave for work at 3:30, I had to have lunch a little early (meaning closer to breakfast than 3 hours, which is ideal). I made a salad with iceberg lettuce, orange peppers, cucumber, tomato, and a serving (palm sized) of grilled chicken. I drizzled a tablespoon of olive oil, with two tablespoons of balsamic vinaigrette for a dressing.

-Snack at 5:00pm: just had a chobiani Greek yogurt. nothing too special.

-Ritas: everyone at work got ritas and I caved and got a small vanilla custard (i figured it would hve less sugar than an Italian ice). I immediately regretted it, only ate three bites, and gave it to a coworker. I’m awarding myself ten points because I definitely would not have done that before.

-Dinner around 7:30: before work, steamed corn and defrosted some broccoli and had with another serving of chicken. it was pretty plain, but very filling. Corn actually isn’t on the list of unlimited veggies, but I didn’t have anything else. I’ll have to keep that in mind when stopping for veggies tomorrow.

-Cookies :( I baked some cookies for a friend that i’m seeing tomorrow and I munched on some dough. When the cookies were ready however, I let them cool and packed them up right away so I wouldn’t be tempted. I only had one small one with some milk. After eating healthy all day though, I do feel a little sick and “blah”

 

Today kind of look me by surprise, mostly cause I didn’t have all the food I needed. I need to buy a lot more veggies and fruit, and some more ingredients for meals. Tomorrow though, i’ve leaving my house fairly early and spending the day down at my friends house about two hours away. I hope to get in a walk in the morning before I leave and making breakfast, but i’m worried about the other meals, especially because I don’t know anything food places in the area. I am, however, looking forward to starbucks (for which my town lacks). I think i’m just going to go with an iced coffee with soy milk and a truvia. that’s not to be right?

See you later!

-A

I’ve never done it before- but I can’t stop feeling guilty for what I ate today. I’m scared to try it- but I feel like I have too. Ugh.

At least tomorrow is a new day.

Wednesday, June 8th 2011

To be honest I did slack of today and didn’t hit the gym, but I did do a little light exercise before bed

> 200 Crunches

30 Day Wight Loss Challenge

Day Three - Thinspiration

I’m not really into thinspiration. I look at it sometimes but usually to see what these girls are wearing. I’m really into fashion and clothes and things of that nature. I love lookbook.com and whowhatwear.com. I look at those websites all the time and i would love to feel more comfortable in my clothes and wear different, fun things! 

I also have a total girl crush on Binki Shapiro from the band Little Joy. She is beautiful, talented and has great STYLE. A really inspiring woman.

Haven’t had a chance to weigh myself yet this week. I’ve been crazy busy with summer school starting (chemistry from 9:30am to 2:30pm…sick)  and working six days this week. I managed to fit some exercise in tonight though. Did my first day of the 30 Day Shred and swam laps for about 30 minutes.

Morning~

In about 2 hours I’ll have my maths exam and all I can think about is, how can I get rid of these calories of my fxxking and horrible breakfast.

My mother forced me to eat 3 (!!!) little pieces of some kind of brownies. And then also gave me a sandwich for the exam. And if it’s not already enough, she gave me 5€ for lunch :’D

I think this woman doesn’t understand anything. Or my mind is just kinda damaged. I mean, HOW can people eat breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner?!

I would cry my eyes out if I had to eat this much…

But well~ that’s just my opinion. My family has very different thoughts.

Anyways. Wish me luck for the exam, I’ll be back after it.

Stay strong my sweeties ? 

Day Twenty-Six- What excites you most about reaching your ugw?

Half of it is the thrill of experiencing something new. Something I’ve never ever had. The second part is getting to wear the clothes. I want to wear anything I want. Mary Kate Olsen dresses in a way that if she had like, 10 spare pounds, she’d constantly look like a bag lady, rather than a billionaire. I want that power. 

couldn’t bring myself to do it. I hate myself right now.

Xenadrine Water
Breakfast: Grapes, Peach
Snack: Banana Chips
Xen Water
Lunch:  Protein Bar
Xen Water
Dinner: Breaded Fake Chicken Nuggets w/ Hot & Sweet Mustard and a side salad w/ fat free balsamic vinaigrette dressing

man junior year of high school I was gettinn bigg!

and even at the beginning of this year!

I may not be 100% happy with what I look like now, but I am glad I’ve lost weight!  

It motivates me to keep going! 

(via tick tock vintage.: 1940’s luau party.)

(via tick tock vintage.: 1940’s luau party.)

Ursine scare. Bovine unaware.

Earlier today:

We almost hit a bear on the highway. No lie. We both saw him run out of the woods and get right to the side of the road and at the very last second, he decides not to cross. Whew. That could have been ugly. I usually have an annual bear spotting in my yard (like this fellow that visited last May) but have never seen one on the road.

(sorry for the blurry pic. I was a tad bit excited)

I worry about hitting deer, but I never think of a bear running onto the highway.


Later today:

We drove past this:

Matt:   Do you know what it means when the cows are lying down in the middle of the day?

Me:   No.


Matt:   That it is going to rain.

Me:   Do you think the orange cow feels bad that she is the only cow that is not black?

Matt:   She is the only cow that does not know that she is not black.
 
Me:  Good point.

Strictly Fun Summer To-Do List

Ya'll  know I love a good party right? Well, I have finally taken the plunge and joined  this week's writing party over at Mama Kat's.


The writing prompt I chose is:

30 things you vow to do this summer.

I don't want to commit myself to anything chore-oriented, so I am vowing only to have fun in the following 30 ways.

1. Make old-fashioned hand-churned (and by "hand" I mean "electric")  ice cream. I am thinking blueberry cheesecake and butter pecan.

2. Get my backyard gardens going. I have strictly been a front yard girl thus far.

3. Run (when my ankle is back 100%).

4. Go on at least four new hikes from the Summit Hiker. Someday I will do them all. I always make a little notation of the date and who I went with (including which dogs we took) but I still have a long way.

5. Start writing a memoir and work on that a little each day.

6. Rent a convertible and take a Colorado road trip. Maybe Mesa Verde or Steamboat?  Matt can drive and I vow just to look cute. Note to self: Buy a sassy scarf to wear around my head.

7. Eat more fresh foods (does homemade ice cream count? what if I milk the cow?).

8. Steal Gather more moss for my pond.

9. Ride our tandem bike down Vail Pass with our dogs in the baby wagon.

10. Have at least one bbq/fire pit bash.

11. Host Girl's Keeno in July.

12. Paint my toenails a fun color. Maybe blue or green or silver.

13. Call my 90 year old grandmother more often and send her a few letters while I am at it. She is my only living grandparent : (

14. Book a late fall trip to Cozumel to visit my dad (and his Irish bar, Kelley's).

 40th B-day in Cozumel

15. Go to a Rockies game and have a hotdog.

16. Visit my in-laws in Fort Collins and play a lot of cards and drink a lot of Coors Light in their sunroom.

17. Take the water taxi from Frisco to Dillon and have a RumRunner or a Dark & Stormy at the Tiki Bar.

18. Go to the Keystone Jazzfest.

19. Go to all (or most) of the free summer concerts at the Dillon Amphitheater, including Jimmy BLuffet.

20. Make a new friend.

21. Sit on my porch and just look at the mountains.

22. Play a game of golf with Matt (not on the Wii).

23. Go fishing.

24. Make fried chicken and a pie and go on a picnic at the lake.

Photo: FoodNetwork.com

25. Redecorate my office if the mood strikes.

26. Go to both the Frisco (June) and Dillon (August) BBQ challenge.

27. Less Perez Hilton, more Murphy. That is, get my bo-hiney off the internets and take my dogs on more walks (btw I haven't used the word  "bo-hiney" since elementary school. You can reverse it and say "hiney-bo"-- it means the same thing. At least it does in Oklahoma)

28. Buy new pillows and silk pillow cases (will that prevent face wrinkles?).

29. Walk the entire shoreline of Lake Dillon (not all at once, of course). Matt and I came up with this one at the end of last summer. 

AND FINALLY,

30. Have a few Friday night dance-offs in my living room. So what if I am the only participant? I have three spectators (if you count the dogs) that think I am fabulous! Plus, I win every time.

31. Oh wait, I have one more (that's right. I am a rule-breaker). Celebrate my wedding anniversary with Matt on August 20. 


Hope your summer is off to a booty shakin start,

Thrifty Doodle Dandy

Since I am unable to train for the Ironman 2010 like I had planned (thanks to an ankle injury sustained while walking), I thought I would have time to get in a quick post today. 

I was at the Goodwill a few months ago (don't act so surprised) and I found this really neat unopened "Mail a Flag to a Friend" kit. It looks like it may have been something that sold in the  1960's. I have been waiting for the appropriate time to open it up and see how it looks. Matt put it together for the Memorial weekend. It was a nice sized cloth flag with pole, etc. I paid $3.99 for it. How is that for a good American value?

I know. I know. Our Aspens still are without leaves.  We are working on it.  At least it did not snow.

Anyway, it all came in this little box that had a mailing section (not pictured) where you could sent it to a friend.   I thought it was pretty neat.

Pre-ankle injury I was working on loosely copying this look from the cover of the June issue of Country Living.  I have some old bi-fold doors that I plan on using to make the shutters.

I have already been thrifting and digging out paint cans.  I can't wait to get it finished.  It's gonna be cute ya'll.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Linking to Rhoda's  Thrifty Treasures.

I Guess I won't be Unicycling Today.

What a frustrating weekend on many, many levels.

On Sunday, I had plans to do something in the afternoon, so Matt and I  decided to take the dogs on a quick and easy hike in the morning. It was so nice outside, we had to let them be a part of it.


After going down to the marina, we pulled off the road for an easy hike up to the Old Dillon Reservoir. The  views are breathtaking and there is a calm little pond that the dogs can swim in.  


In my sprint up the mountain, I tripped over a rock and completely rolled my ankle.  


So here I sit.  

How is it that my foot actually looks mentally challenged? Weird, huh?

I did not get any pictures on our hike because I only went about half way up. arrrrggghhh!  Am I going to be able to do anything all summer? I have never sprained my ankle in all my years of being upright. That includes my wild trips to Mazatlan during spring break back in the day.  How did I make it back in one piece then yet I somehow manage to trip over a 2 inch rock completely sober? I want to cry. Feelin sorry for myself. Boo-hoo.


Here is a description of the trail from the Town of Dillon website.

The .75 mile trail begins at an elevation of 9,066 feet and ends at an elevation of 9,193 feet, with a highest elevation of 9,203 feet. The elevation gain is +127 feet. The trail difficulty is rated EASY. This trail is used for multiple activities, including hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing and nordic skiing so please respect other users. 

Here is view of the lake (not taken by me):

Why do I have to be such a spaz? I really, really need my ankle to function the way it is supposed to. It is an important part of my life. I pretty much use it every day. I want to work on my yard or do something with my dogs. Matt and I  bought flowers and trees to plant, but I am stuck on my bootie.

Matt said: "Well you can still do women's work. A lot of it is on your hands and knees."

He is just saying that because he knows that I can't run after him. I am really trying to figure out a way to kick him with only one fully functioning leg.  Wasn't there a scene like that in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail?" That gives me a good idea about what I should watch on Netflix. It is not wasting time, it is "blog research" or a study on "marital conflict resolution." One of those.


To make matters worse, I saw these little girls riding down my street on unicycles while wearing flip-flops. I am not even lying. Now that takes coordination.

I would not be so mad if I had hurt my ankle doing something cool like unicycling or bungee jumping. Regular old sober walking/falling is not a very good story. FYI: everyone in my neighborhood is super athletic (including the kids apparently).  So I will really need to make up a good story. Either that or move somewhere where all the peeps are mega couch potatoes. I am thinking Houston.

But don't you worry my pretties.  I have a laptop and can still blog.  So there! And I can bark orders at Matt. I haven't sprained my tongue after all. 

Murphy can Finally tell all the other Dogs in the Hood to Stick it!

Ya'll know what a bad-ass Murphy is right? Whenever we go out he has to be on leash because he likes to try to kick all the other dog butts.  He really is a maniac.Well, he can finally settle his 6lb self down because he is officially king of our hood. He is now cruisin around big pimpin style.


Let me explain and tell you why I am so stinking excited.  You may or may not know that I have a "garage sale list."  This is a list of things that I want, but only if I can get a crazy good deal. About 5 years ago we bought a tandem bike (on our list) for $75 at a garage sale. We absolutely love, love, love  our bike.  We love to cruise around the lake or ride to Keystone or down Vail pass. It is the coolest.  I am pretty sure all my neighbors are jealous of us when they see us peddling around.  A word of warning before you rush out and buy one:  our good friends,Tim and Nancy, bought a super high dollar tandem two years ago and absolutely hate it. They call it the "divorce machine."

Back to us. The thing we do not like is leaving our pooches locked up in the house while we are out riding around. We have tossed around the idea of getting one of those baby bike wagons to ride down to the lake with our critters and fishing poles.  Murphy can hike like a champ but he obviously cant keep up with a bike. Cali can, but she is 12 and is slowing down a little bit. We officially put the cart on our garage sale list last year.  I have looked and looked but have never found one that I like for the right price until this weekend. WOO-HOO. I got a high quality baby dog cart for $75. This thing retails for like $500. I am super duper glad that it is a name-brand fancy model. Mr. Handsome Pants (that would be Murph) does not like to slum it in K-mart crap.  Standards people. My chihuahua has em.

Allow me to show you how it all went down.

(Enjoy the photo essay esse).

Yes, I really call him that among many, many other ridiculous names.

Trust me, he loooves it.

I was like "Wow! The coyotes have their own dining area. I wonder if they have table cloths for them? Do you think they need reservations?"  Matt sweetly pointed out that it said "denning" not "dining."  Ooops. Well, we were in motion. Apparently I can't read very fast.

Time for a break.

It really was everything I hoped for. I love it when stuff works out like you imagine it will.

To see other yard sale finds this week, clicky here.

Found some pictures on my facebook that I thought I would share.

So I did manage to snap a few photos from my phone and post them on facebook over the last year. I thought I would share them here so you can see what has been a happenin round these parts for the last 9 months.

As evidenced by these pictures:

- From my spring wishlist, I cut my hair short (it is already getting long again).

- The cold caused some freaky natural events such as radioactive-looking mushrooms (remember that Gilligan's Island episode????).

- As hoped for, I made it down Vail Pass on my tandem (as evidenced by me drinking a margarita at Copper Mountain).

- I got a 10 foot-- yes, 10 foot, pre-lit Christmas tree on clearance last year. obnoxious I am telling you.

- A bird managed to get stuck in one of our ski chairs. My humane husband managed to take a few pictures before freeing the little fellow.

- I have been baking in my renovated kitchen and doing a little seasonal decorating when the mood strikes me.

That's all for now folks.