Springtime in the Rockies

Let's see, what has been up the last few days? Well, I worked Friday. I was scheduled to have Saturday off, but I was counting on going in to help for a little bit since we are so low staffed. I started the day by taking my wedding band to the jewelers. I had a loose diamond, and I wasn't comfortable with that. He fixed it while I waited. Then I decided to leave my engagement ring there for him to redo the 4 outside prongs in platinum. The setting is made of white gold and the prongs have been wearing out quick. I had one of the four that really needed to be replaced. I have also all ready had another prong replaced. So, I decided enough was enough and I had him redo the outside prongs in platinum. I will have him redo the 4 inside prongs in platinum at a later time. He called today, I can pick up my ring tomorrow!

Anyway, after that I went and had lunch with my friend Kim. She had a baby 10 days before our wedding, so I guess he would be about 10 months old now! He is crawling and waving. He is a very cute little boy.

After that I stopped at work where it turns out they were really quite slow. So, I was not needed. Yippee!! I headed for home to hang out with Hubby. I found out as soon as I got home that he had invited some friends over to watch the CC hockey game. So, they arrived and we watched the game.

After that we met up with my parents and Suzi and Zak downtown at a restaurant's called the Wayfarer. It's an Irish pup. They had a very different menu, which was a nice change of pace. We all had a yummy dinner together and then Suzi and Zak came over to watch Finding Neverland with us.

Sunday was Easter. We had a lazy morning at the house. We finally got up and got moving and arrived at my parents house about 12:30pm. We thought we would eat dinner about 1pm. So, at 3:00pm we finally sat down to eat dinner. But before dinner was served we had to celebrate the dog's birthdays. They all fall in February, but this was the first time we were all able to get together. I had purchased a dog cake (a cake made for dogs shaped like a bone) from work. It said Happy Birthday Chula, Buddy and Petey on it. It was cute! They each gobbled down a piece and then they wanted to see what was in their Easter Baskets. So they each got a treat from there as well.

After a delicious Easter dinner, we headed to the Johnson's house to celebrate Christmas. The Johnson's have been my parent's neighbors for about 20 years. And we have celebrated Christmas with them for about 19 years. But as our families grow larger, it's harder for us to get together. We were supposed to get together with them in early February however, some members of the Johnson family had the flu. So, we had to delay Christmas. We were finally able to all get together Sunday. It was nice, we played Christmas carols on the stereo and open gifts. Then afterwards we had dessert. Hubby and I finally made it home about 8pm.

I worked Monday. I had today off and I have tomorrow off, this is my weekend. Ahhhh, it's nice. I am enjoying it because I am about to go into a 9 day stretch of work. So today I got up early, started laundry. Then I walked on the treadmill. After that I had an appointment for a massage. It was using up the last gift certificate I had received from my bridal shower last year. It was for a "Stress Massage" which was a 30 minute massage for the head, neck, and back area. It was nice. A massage is always nice! Especially when it's free!! Then I met Hubby and his co-worker Shane for lunch at an Indian restaurant.

When I left the house for my massage, it was a beautiful sunny day and 50 degrees outside. By the time I met Brian for lunch it was probably 38 degrees and raining. After lunch it was snowing like crazy! Ugh, Colorado weather. Or as Hubby says “Springtime in the Rockies”, gotta love it!

Tomorrow I have to take my car in for service. My check engine light has been on since last night in my car. So, I made an appointment to get it looked at tomorrow. I am sure that on the way to the dealership the light will go off. Isn't that always how it works? Then I plan on getting a few errands done. I can use the Jeep while my car is at the shop. Hubby actually drove the Jeep the other day. That is a major accomplishment after his knee surgery. It was the first time since his surgery he drove it and he said he felt fine doing it!

Did I ever tell you March is the Snowy-est month in Colorado?

Snow is now coming down like crazy! I love it!!!

Work had been pretty stressful recently and so my super nice boss gave me a day off today. I have a staff of 4 people currently and it's really really hard to schedule coverage when there are only 4 employees, so myself and my assistant manager have been doing most of the coverage. And since I am almost working every day, including my days off, my boss let me have today off and he worked for me. AHHH, it was nice.

I got up early, got the dogs to the vet for nail trims and a brief look at Petey's gums and a check of his weight. All were good. Then off to my work for baths. I have been trying to take them there for a while, but you have to take them on a weekday when we are slower in order for us employees to give a free bath to our own dogs. So, I took them there after the vet and gave them both a bath. They both smell so much better and look nice and fluffy!

Then I came home, walked a mile and a half on the treadmill and then took a shower. After that I went and picked Brian up for lunch. After we had a very yummy lunch, I dropped him back at work and then I went for a little "retail therapy" (shopping). First stop was Target and then the mall. I didn't have to much time to walk around to many places, which is probably a really good thing. It probably saved me lots of money. When I had parked my car in the covered parking at the mall (smart move by me) it was just spitting snow out, or flurrying. When I came out of the mall about an hour later, it was REALLY snowing, and pretty much has been since.

I then went back to Brian's work to pick him up for one more errand. I also got to see his office. I hadn't seen his new cube since he moved cubes.

Now we are both home, settled in. And we just bought our ticket to Europe! I am so excited! I can't wait! We are going to London first and then spending a few days there. After that we are on to Lithuania for a few days and the wedding. Then we are heading back to London for a night and then home! I have always wanted to go to Europe, but thought I would never be able to go there until I was in retirement! And who knows if even then I would go! I am so glad I got my passport a few months back. I can hardly hardly wait!!!! I feel like I could do cartwheels I am so excited. I am as excited for this as I was for Daytona!! Well, then again, I don't know if London can beat breakfast with Jeff Gordon!!

Well, I am going to go and enjoy the rest of my day off. Since they are currently few and far between, I have to enjoy them when I have them!

Weatherman

I think our weathermen need a lesson on how to predict weather! Last week, on Thursday I think it was, they told us there was a slight chance of isolated snow showers. It snowed all day... Yesterday they said it would be in the 50's with a slight chance of snow in the evening. It rained on and off most of the afternoon and evening. I heard it was supposed to be clear and 50 degrees today. It's flurrying... I think our weathermen need to have a lesson in how to predict weather.

Well, the weekend is over, thank goodness. The weekends are so busy at work that I am starting to dread them. On Friday we have to work like mad to gear up for them. We have to make sure supplies for the wash are overstocked and every towel is clean. We have to make sure we have as much merchandise on the floor that we can fit. And then Saturday hits. And it's crazy... We did 69 washes on Saturday this week and over $3000 in the store. Sunday we did 70 washes (and we are open less hours then we are on Saturday). Thankfully this week I only worked on Sunday, so I didn't have to endure the pain of the whole weekend. We are a little short staffed right now, so it's even tougher on the rest of us. I have one new employee starting next month. I have 3 interviews set up for this Wednesday, so hopefully I will find some more employees. I need to hire 3 more.

On top of everything else, I have been fighting this slight cold. It started last Sunday with a sore throat. I have had a stuffy nose for a while and the last few nights I have been coughing at night. The good thing is that it is not a major cold, just slight. Still, I would like it to go away completely.

Here at home things are still the same. Hubby is still in his project management class. It should be finishing up soon. Buddy is still a funny little Beagle, and Petey is still deaf. He can sometimes hear you clap. But we are pretty sure it's only our of one ear.

Yea!

Well, I think we are going to Lithuania! I know, the big question is why?! Well, one of my best friends, Scott, is getting married there! And how often do you have a chance to visit Lithuania? June 18 will be the magical day. I am really starting to hope we are able to make it! I am started to get excited about the whole thing! I really like his fiance Eva, who my mom and I met last October/November when we were out there.

The other really great news about Scott is that he is now cancer free!! His treatments were successful and he has many many long years ahead of him to spend irritating me. Just kidding! He does though, have many long years left now due to his successful treatment!

So, here is to hoping we get a chance to visit another country! How exciting is that?! :)

Snow

Saturday was a beautiful day here. The temperature was in the 60's and it was sunny. Sunday was exactly the opposite. We woke up to snow, and it snowed on and off all day. Today it's still snowing. It's pretty, and nice to see.

Yesterday I started to get a sore throat. I just drank liquids and stayed quiet all day. I also took a nap in the middle of the day. I think today I have curbed this cold, I don't think it will get much worse. My throat is still a little tender, but not too bad. I have finally learned what I need to do in order to fight colds, for myself. I have been lucky, the last few times I felt as if I was starting to get sick, I have been able to fight it so that it doesn't get bad.

I am sending the paperwork in today to finally start a retirement account for myself. I am really happy about that. I am not starting off with anything big, but hopefully I can get it to grow enough that it will be enough for retirement.

Another Week

It's been a busy week around here. I worked Monday, but had Tuesday off. My day off started early with a call from Esten. He called to inform us that Rick's grandfather had passed away. Esten and Rick were in Utah for a week vacation, and Esten had just dropped Rick at the airport to fly home. So, I arranged to pick Rick up when he landed later that afternoon. So, that morning I walked on the treadmill, then went to the store, then went to the airport and got Rick and then that afternoon I went to the Spa for a pedicure. That evening Hubby and I went to Men's Wearhouse to get him a new suit. We had a funeral and a ball to attend on Saturday!

I worked the rest of the week. Friday was a busy afternoon. I had to pick up Brian's suit right after I left work. Then we headed off to pick up Rick's suit at another Men's Wearhouse. Then we went to the viewing to visit Rick and his family (and deliver the suit). After that we went to dinner with my ex-co-workers from SH. We went to a Moroccan restaurant in Manitou Springs. We have eaten there before, it's always good food. You sit on the floor and eat with your fingers. However it is very expensive as well, so we only eat there once and a while.

Saturday morning was an early morning. The funeral started at 8am. So, we got up and headed out early. I had to head to work after the service, so we took separate cars. It was a nice service. After it was over I took off and Hubby went to the reception brunch at the Broadmoor.

After work, I rushed home to get ready for the ball. The owners of WnW had a table at the Red Ribbon Ball sponsored by the Southern Colorado AIDS Project (SCAP). Hubby and I went, as well as the manager of the Unitah store and his wife, the owners, one of the owners brothers and a few of their friends. It was nice! It was at a hotel, Hubby and I were all dressed up. Greg Louganis was the speaker and he was very neat to hear speak, I was very impressed. There was a silent auction, which we won a season pass to the Pikes Peak International Raceway, just south of town. This will include tickets to the Busch race, so I am very excited about that. We had a nice dinner, then a little dancing and we headed out about 11:30pm.

Today is another day off! YEA! I can watch the race, I am very happy about that! That is all that I can think of that happened this week that is exciting!

It's been awile.

It's been awhile since my last post. That is because I have lost my access to Word on the computer, and I am a horrible speller. So, my apologies for any misspelled words in here tonight.

So, what a week it's been. It was pretty busy at work all week. I had Saturday off, so Hubby and I could attend a birthday party. In the morning we went and purchased our new mattress and boxspring. We have needed a new set for quite a while. The old set was, well, old. Plus the boxspring was actually broken in several places. Since we recently received our tax refund, we decided to use part of it to purchase our new set. We picked it out yesterday at Denver Mattress Company and it was delivered today. Hubby called me after it was in and said that is was much higher than our old set.

We have a 4 poster bed, and it all ready sits up pretty high. Well, Hubby wasn't kidding. It's like a counter to me! It's at my waist! It's really higher and I need a step of some sort to get in bed and out of it!

Saturday after we purchased the mattresses, we went to the motorcycle store to look around. At some point, I would like a small bike that fits me so I can practice. We saw some that were nice, but I think we will also just keep on lookin'.

After that we went to Kinsey's birthday party. She is Tony and Kelly's baby. She was the baby at our wedding that was on oxygen. She is doing much better nowadays all though she still has trouble with her acid reflux. I can't believe she is one year old! It was a cute little party, but she was not interested in cake at all!

After the party, we came home and took a nap for a few hours. That evening we returned to Tony and Kelly's house for the "adult" birthday party. We were actually celebrating Tony and Kelly making it through the first year as parents, and it was a tough year for them. We played dominoes, ate snacks and drank. It was a lot of fun.

I had to work today. It was another fun day of work. We were short staffed because we had a girl call out sick. But, we managed to get through. We did 64 washes today, pretty busy for a Sunday. Also, our vet (Petey and Buddy's vet) came in. She had been telling me she wanted to stop by and see the place. Her and her husband, who is also a vet at the same clinic took a gander around and talked to Jef, the owner, about starting a buisness relationship with them.

The weekends at work are always so crazy I almost dread them. But, by the same token, they are also the funnest because you see lots of dogs. And on the weekends you see lots of dogs you know. My favorite Newfoundland was in, Autumn. And our wolf-mix who has been fighting allergies or a skin condition, Coda, was in. When we first opened, Coda started coming to us and he had almost no fur. Between being hit by a car and having surgery and having some sort of allergy he looked pretty sad. His owner brings him in about every week to get a bath and he is looking great! He doesn't have as many bald spots and he almost looks normal. Not quite yet, but he is getting there. Thoes are the two dogs I am most familiar with out of all the dogs that come through the store.

Autumn is a very special dog. She is a therapy dog. Meaning she spends one day a week at a hospital with patients. She is such a sweet dog. I went over to say HI to her today and she put her head on my chest as if she were hugging me. She is a great big black furball and I just love her!

So, back to another week of work. Hopefully I see more dogs that I am familiar with this week. It's always so much fun to see them come back!

No TV for Me

It’s impossible for me to watch TV in my own house! For the first few years I found it comical, all the remotes and different things you had to turn on and set to different settings just to watch a TV show. Now, I find it down right irritating. Approximately 6 months before the theater was installed in our basement, I had finally mastered the old system. I knew which remotes I need to set on which settings in order for me to watch TV or a movie. Then the home theater came along. That is a whole new ball of wax. In fact it’s so confusing that Hubby went out and spent a ridiculous amount of money on a remote that has buttons that says ‘watch TV’ or ‘watch DVD’ or ‘play games’ and easy things like that. So Hubby set it up so that all I have to do is push the button I want. Sounds easy, right? Sure does, however, the first time I attempted to use this contraption on my own it didn’t work. I wanted to play my yoga DVD. I hit the “play DVD” button and I got the sound of the TV, but no picture.

After an exasperated call to Hubby at work, he told me I had to push the ‘watch TV’ button first and then when that was all on and working okay to push the ‘watch DVD’ button. Okay, so I finally got that to work. And to turn it off, I had to reverse the process. (Which I again found out the hard way).

So, my plan this morning, on my nice day off, was to watch last night’s American Idol and walk on the treadmill. Well, I head to the basement and pick up the remote and choose ‘watch TV’. I get the sound, but no picture. I tried again. No luck. I finally gave up and decided that sometimes technology isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I sure think a good old fashion regular TV might be better down there and we can save the real theater for when we have a true theater room in that I will only watch movies or races in when Hubby is around.

So there I am with no TV. So, of course I am not going to walk on the treadmill if I don’t have anything to watch. There is no stereo down there, and I don’t do well with trying to read and walk at the same time. Plus I was so frustrated with the whole thing, that I just gave up and went to Target.

Change of subject: We are now learning how interesting life with a deaf dog can be. Poor guy, here we were yelling at him because we thought he was being obstinate, but it turns out he probably couldn’t hear us! I am sure he knew we were mad at him at times, but he probably had no idea why! I feel so bad now.

It’s humorous trying to live with a deaf dog. I still call him in when he is outside all though he never comes, and I am not sure why I waste my breath. You have to kind of thunk the floor when you are heading towards him so he can somewhat tell you are coming. There have been a few times now when I will reach down and touch him when he isn’t paying attention and he will about jump out of his skin. How do you command a deaf dog to ‘come here’? Or tell him it’s okay to take the biscuit? Hubby thinks he can read lips. I am not so sure about that…

Hubby returned to work today. He is moving slow and with an obvious limp. He says his knee hurts, but it still feels better than it did before the surgery. As they say: Time heals all wounds….