Weekend Activities

I hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend!  I'm fortunate to have my birthday fall around the holiday weekend many years, so I often get to celebrate with a three day weekend ~ this year, it fell on Sunday...right in the middle...

I don't like to make a big production out of it...especially as my age increases :(  ...so my idea of a fun 'celebration' usually involves a nice restaurant, a good meal and a friend or two.  

I was VERY pleasantly surprised to receive an extremely generous gift from my dear mother :)  I told her it could count for birthday, Christmas, and anything else in between...

I've gone over to the other side...

 

Say hello to my little friend...Macbook Pro :)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!!!  Thank you again Mom! :)

I spent Memorial Day with friends in Colorado Springs...we had a nice, relaxing day, with some great food, AND they surprised me with a delicious homemade chocolate birthday cake...and to top it all off, their 5 year old offered to give me a makeover...which I gladly accepted...

 makeover in progress

When Ginia finished with the hair and makeup, she asked me if I had a boyfriend so I could go out on a date with my new look...when I told her that I did not have one, she said, 'Well, maybe you can go to a restaurant and find one..."  Good idea Ginia! :)  If only it were that easy... :)

I Have to Laugh

This is what I was greeted to this morning as I left to get to work...

I didn't freak out, I started laughing...because it's just becoming comical to me that I am having so many issues with my 'new' vehicle.  And I'd like to take a moment to share why I'm thankful this morning:

 ~ I have a really kind co-worker who drove out of his way to come and pick me up
 ~ the same kind co-worker got out the car jack and attempted to get the tire off so we could bring it to work and have our mechanic fix it, so I was able to observe how to work the car jack (in the event I need to use it on my road trip).  We (well, let's face it...HE...I just stood there and watched) was not able to get the tire off the wheel or frame or whatever it's called
 ~ I work in a place that has a mechanic on-site
 ~ our mechanic said if we couldn't get the tire off relatively easily it means the tires hadn't been rotated in a LOOOOOONG time (have I mentioned lately that I will NEVER ever buy a car from the same dealership again?), but thankfully with the help of a rubber mallet he was able to pop it off, bring it back to the shop and repair the tire in a matter of minutes
 ~ the downpour of rain held off until we were able to get the tire off and get ourselves back inside AND I didn't actually waste time doing my hair today, opting for the lazy day baseball hat option so the rain can come down as much as it wants and it won't make a difference to me one way or another
 ~ my tires are going to get rotated
 ~ when I went back to my house with the mechanic to get the vehicle, I realized I had left my front door WIDE open (maybe subconsciously I was hoping to get robbed, lessening my decision making in what to take / what to get rid of and what to leave behind?!?), but was able to shut it and it appears people in Parker CO are not the B&E (breaking & entering) type.

Hoping tomorrow is less eventful, but full of just as many things for which I can be thankful!  :)

I Heart Newborns

I'm very fortunate to have a lot of friends who have kids or are having them so I get to have my 'kid fix' whenever I want.  Just got to spend time snuggling with this new little munchkin...

Nothing like a teeny, tiny little bundle of one-day old baby to remind you how amazing life is. 

Here are her proud big sister and big brother...

some new pillow friends

Right before we took this picture, Will informed me that he'd "lost his smile".  When I asked him where he'd lost it, he replied, "At the farm..."  Thankfully, we were able to find it in time to take some pictures...

Congratulations Ashley & Joe!!  Your newest little one is so precious ~ love you guys!

45

The # of days remaining until I leave Colorado...AAAACK!!!!

I've got a lot to get done in those remaining days...what happened to all of that time I had?  Don't get me wrong...I'm still very excited...but now I'm feeling a LITTLE stressed...

I just have to remember:

A Paris Street Market

Each May through October, there is a fun local outdoor vendor market that sets up in the parking lot of a nearby mall.  It's called A Paris Street Market and it has a lot of fun things to see (and buy if you're so inclined).  It's typically held the first Saturday of each month, and what do you know...this past weekend was the first Market for the 2011 season.  I love going because you see new things each time, dogs are welcome, and it's held outdoors so you feel like you're taking advantage of the nice weather without having to exert yourself TOO much. :)

I've been successful at finding just the perfect thing in the past ~ there's one guy who sells GREAT refinished furniture pieces at REALLY reasonable prices ~ I've bought a dresser and an end table from him over the years. 

There are old books, quilts, dishes, furniture, suitcases, windows etc...as well as new items...jewelry, clothes, hats, crafts etc....but there are always new and different things to see.  There have been many times my friends and I have commented to one another, 'My grandparents used to have those...' so it's fun to reminisce.  Granted, there are SOME things you find and think, 'I wonder which Goodwill they bought THAT from' so you have to be discerning in what you're looking for, but it can be a fun way to 'treasure hunt' if you're a collector of something in particular.

Saturday was one of the first 80+ degree days we've had in Colorado and MANY people were out and about.  I brought the boys with me because I knew they'd enjoy getting outside, and I knew they would be a good deterrent for me from being able to shop TOO much as it's easier to just wander up and down the middle of the rows with two pooches than it is to actually get in to each of the vendor booths (plus there MAY have been an incident last year where I got too close to the furniture guy's booth and Dave MAY have mistaken a piece of furniture for a fire hydrant...thankfully I had Lysol wipes handy and the vendor was VERY understanding). :)

Here are a few pictures of things that caught my eye...

This was one of the boys favorite places...

Dave may be more ready for Alaska than I thought...whenever we got to a place with shade, he immediately plopped down into his 'Superman' pose...

and as soon as we got back to the car, he made a beeline for whatever shade he could find...

Saturday was a success - lots of looking, but no buying given my recent vehicle expenses and being in the midst of packing/downsizing.  I'm just about ready to start counting down the days...for now I'll tell you it's only 7 weeks until the adventure begins!! :)

It's Gonna Be a Warm One...

Looking forward to the weekend...

with stick-your-head-out-the-window kind of weather!

Costco Love #3

A quick Costco run + free food samples (those Costco people sure are smart) = today's 'impulse' purchase:

Jalapeno dip made with Greek yogurt ~ it was really yummy!  Great with chips, or recommended with pita bread, or as a sandwich spread...any number of possibilities...

it was dinner for me tonite... :)

Missed it by THAT much...

What do you get when you combine the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Red Rocks outdoor amphitheatre and guest singers Sarah McLachlan and Idina Menzel?

You get TWO amazingly, fabulous summer concerts...that are both taking place (sadly for me), this July!!  Sarah is here July 10th and Idina Menzel (most widely known for her portrayal of Elpheba in the Broadway hit "Wicked") is here July 17th.  I love both of these ladies voices and have serious envy for whoever gets to attend these concerts.  Red Rocks amphitheatre is one of THE greatest outdoor venues out there in my opinion...definitely a highlight if you ever spend any time in Colorado for sure!

Sigh...........

Do you ever have those days you wish you could re-wind, but then realize, nothing would be different if you could do it over anyway, so you just have to suck it up and deal?  Or 'put on your big girl panties' as others might say?  Today is one of those days for me...and really it started last night...when I opened up my mail from my county and found out my property valuation went DOWN over $23,000...YIKES!!  Many of my fellow facebook friends commiserated with me, so I know I'm not alone...and others have seen values go down even more than that, but still...it hurts... And as one friend / former co-worker, so kindly pointed out..."That's just the valuation...it's probably worth even LESS than that right now..."  Wow, thanks Scott!  Appreciate you pointing that out... :)

And today, my lovely 'new' vehicle was taken in for what I thought would be a couple hundred dollar routine repair, only to find out it's more likely going to be a couple THOUSAND...something I was not prepared for / expecting to have to cover at this point and time.  I've had this car for 7 weeks now...and when I bought it, I was told that it had been 'thoroughly' inspected by their mechanics....and now they don't understand why I don't want to bring it back to THEM for additional repairwork...hmm...wonder why I wouldn't want to do that?!?  So I'm basically up a creek without a paddle to put it nicely...lesson learned...I just wish they didn't have to be such expensive lessons sometimes.

I went online and changed my 'review' of the business I purchased from...the review that they asked me to write before I'd even owned the car for more than 2 seconds.  So if you're in the market for a used vehicle in CO, I'd be happy to tell you where NOT to go...just let me know!

Here's hoping for a better tomorrow!