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| September 28, 2006 September 23-30 is Banned Books Week! Celebrate your freedom to read (and write)! Here are links to the 10 Most Challenged Books of the 21st Century (2000-2005) and the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books Between 1990 and 2000. On the first list, I have read 3 out of 10, and the second list, I have only read 19 out of 100. Since both lists count the Harry Potter series as just one entry, and I have read all six Harry Potter books, can I get more points? (After all, books 4, 5 & 6 have 734, 870, and 652 pages! The Catcher in the Rye, by contrast, only has 214 pages.) I also saw the movie based on one of the listed books, Stephen King's Carrie, but I won't count it since I didn't actually *read* it. And I feel pretty sheepish that one of the 19 books I'm claiming to have read is the children's book Where's Waldo? <*grin*> I read it at the Dentist's office waiting room many years ago. |
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| September 24, 2006 Well, September is almost over, and there is still no blog entry for this month, so I thought I'd just let people know we are still alive and well. September was a good month, but none of the things we did were exciting enough to write a blog entry for. We had our furnace inspected, had our gas fireplace repaired, we hosted our 500 players, I hosted my Bunco group at our house, we saw a few movies ("Accepted" at the theater, and "Prime" rented from Blockbuster)... Pete's been working hard on a PTI project, and is involved in five football pools... We re-seeded the bare spots in our lawn... I am really enjoying the leaves start to turn. And we still have a really cute dog! |
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August 30, 2006 Pete and I took Casey to a minor league baseball game, Colorado Springs Sky Sox vs. the Las Vegas 51-ers. Security Service Field has a grassy hill where people can sit with their dogs. Although Casey was, shall we say, "barky" anytime another dog approached our blanket, it was somewhat comforting that there were several dogs who were just as barky. We could tell Casey was nervous because, like last year, he was too excited to eat the bits of food we offered him. Although I'm not a huge baseball fan, it was really fun to people- and dog-watch! (And, okay, I started a new book, too...The Power of YOU! by Scott Martineau.) |
| August 27, 2006 We had some friends over for a BBQ in our back yard. Pete dazzled everyone with his culinary skills, making delectable pulled pork, beef brisket, and a yummy quasi-homemade sauce. We appreciated that our friends all brought desserts or side-dishes. We borrowed Bea and Orlin's bean bag toss game to play for entertainment, which I think people had fun with. We didn't take a ton of pictures, but, for your viewing pleasure, they are here. |
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August 26, 2006 I made my own lip balm! It turned-out okay, perhaps a bit waxier than ideal, but definitely usable. It made so much, I have plenty of extra to use on my elbows and heels, too. I love doing crafty stuff like this. Here is the recipe I used:
I found that the counter and the bowl cleaned-up easily with a wet, soapy rag. My lip balm smells faintly like honey, which isn't bad. The next time I make it, however, I would like to add a scent, or obtain a new scent by using a different oil/lipid. Cocoa butter might be nice -- I wonder where I can get it as a raw ingredient? -- or maybe almond oil, peppermint oil...? It would also be cool if I could add zinc oxide, titanium dioxide or avobenzone to give it some UVA sun protection properties, but where does one buy these as raw ingredients? |
| August 20, 2006 Pete, Casey and I spent the weekend camping and hiking at Eleven Mile State Park (about 90 minutes west of Colorado Springs). Our camp site was right on the lake, which was nice. Part 1 - My Gripes Why do so many people like camping? It took a lot of time and effort to plan the menus, prepare and package the food, load the car with our food and gear, drive there, set up the tent, cook over a camp stove, take down the tent, load the car back up, drive home, then unload the car once more. Once we reached our camp site, my allergies began driving me nuts until I took a Claritin (thank goodness for Claritin!). It started raining around 6:00 pm and continued raining on and off all evening. I was freezing despite wearing five layers and staying dry inside the tent. Pete was a trooper and cooked us dinner in the rain. I didn't sleep well, mostly from being cold and also because of the unfamiliar noises. (The rain falling on the tent and the breezes making the tent fabric and zippers rustle made my imagination run wild with visions of mice getting inside our tent, and bears lurking around waiting to maul us.) There was no running water, the only bathroom was an outhouse (ew!), and, to top the experience off, when we were packing-up, my hand was pierced by a fish hook, accidentally left at our camp site by some careless fisherman. (Good thing I'm up-to-date on my tetanus shots!) Later, on our hike, we came across the half-decomposed carcass of some poor pet dog, which was sad. Part 2 - My Joys It wasn't all bad. We saw some decent scenery (before and after the rain). We got to have a camp fire, roast marshmallows and make s'mores, and spend the evening watching the flames dance and enjoying the warmth. (Some marshmallow got stuck in Casey's fur and he needed a bath when we got home.) The next day, we went for a 5-mile hike and saw lots of wildflowers. The brilliant orange Indian paintbrush was spectacular, and I saw lots of other cool flowers I was unable to identify at the time. (After coming home and consulting my books, some of them were milkvetch (white), wild geranium (lavendar with fuscia stripes) and fairy trumpet (a stalk with reddish-coral trumpet-shaped flowers)). We got some fresh air and exercise. Part 3 - Conclusion Although it wasn't my favorite thing, I survived. Pete had a blast. I guess I'm willing to do it once in a while with him since it makes him so happy. To me, camping is most worth doing when you are a long way away from home, and you're at a better camp site that has real bathrooms, where the toilets flush and you can wash your hands and take a shower. On our road trip to Oregon last summer, spending some nights camping saved us lots of money ($15 camp site fee vs. $60-80 at a hotel). That was worth it. |
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August 12, 2006 Congratulations, Gina and Andy! I attended the wedding ceremony of my friend Gina today. (Pete had to work, so I went with Tracey and John.) It was a very nice wedding at a church in Denver's historic Sloans Lake neighborhood. Gina was a beautiful bride in her white beaded dress and with her long, blonde hair done just so. The bridesmaids' dresses, the flowers, the candles, and even the punch at the reception, were purple (and/or lavendar), which looked so pretty! As a 39-year-old first-time bride, I'm sure Gina is an inspiration to all my single friends in their thirties. I'm very happy for her! Tracey took pictures with her digital camera; hopefully I can get a picture from her and post it here soon. |
| July 29, 2006 Pete and I drove to the mountains for what turned-out to be some splendid bicycling. This was the most wonderful trail I could ever imagine riding. The lupine, penstemon and asters were in full bloom, and the pine trees smelled fresh and wonderful. You could see Lake Dillon from parts of the trail. The path is paved, and not too steep, although I did need to take a break on one long hill. (In my defense, the altitude was about 9,600 feet!) We parked the car at Frisco, loaded our bikes on a bus, took the bus to Breckenridge, then bicycled back to the car. It was 11.3 miles one way, and a net elevation loss, which means there was more downhill than uphill (awesome!). (BTW, we didn't bring our camera with us; this picture of lupine is one I got off the internet.) |  |
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July 28, 2006 On a 96° day, there's nothing more fun than splashing around at Water World, which is where Linda, Tracey, John and I were at today, and it was awesome! (Pete couldn't go because he had tickets to a Rockies baseball game.) This is the first time Linda and I had met John (Tracey's new boyfriend), and I thought he was very friendly and fun. And I was proud of Linda for going to Water World for the first time since she was 12; it was fun to show her around the park! My favorite rides are the Revolution (although I could wish for a shorter line), the Tortuga Run, Tandemonium, the Lazy River, all the rides in River Country, and I guess any ride where the line's not too long. :-) I can't wait to go back next year and do them all again! |
| July 23, 2006 We hiked up to Lost Lake with Casey today. We learned of this trail from Pamela Irwin's trusty guide Colorado's Best Wildflower Hikes: The Front Range. This particular photo doesn't show any flowers, but we saw a lot of them on the trail; this was the peak bloom season for this particular life zone and elevation. Although the scenery was beautiful, the bugs were atrocious, in spite of the insect repellant I applied multiple times. The drive itself was really nice, though, and definitely a candidate for revisiting to see autumn leaves. The drive took us through Coal Creek Canyon, and the towns of Pinecliffe, Nederland and Eldora. Casey had a fabulous time, and I am always impressed with his high energy and how skillfully he maneuvers across rocky trails. More pics here. |
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July 19, 2006 It was great to have Sean and Dave stay with us for a few days on their cross-country trek. Sean is moving to California, and Dave is keeping him company during the drive from Maryland. Some of the sights they saw here included the Coors Brewery, The Forney Transportation Museum, and the Wynkoop Brewery. |
| July 12, 2006 We are back from a 2-week trip to the east coast. We first spent three days in Maryland. Our home base was Pete's grandparents' house in Hagerstown, MD. It was nice to have a chance to visit with them and the rest of Pete's family. Nick and Eva threw a nice party at their home in Glen Burnie (a suburb of Baltimore), giving us a chance to see all Pete's college friends and their significant others. On our last day, we went sight-seeing with Sean, touring Baltimore's historic neighborhoods, Washington Monument and Ft. McHenry. We then spent a fabulous week at Holden Beach, North Carolina, where this picture was taken, with Tim and Rina. When he was growing up, Pete and his family used to spend two or three weeks here every summer. We rented a small house right on the beach, and spent lots of time in the ocean (especially Pete and Tim), going for walks, collecting sea shells on the beach, watching sea gulls, and reading. It was very relaxing!!! We also explored the nearby town of Calabash, renowned for its seafood, and the Myrtle Beach/Grand Strand area. On our way home, we visited my Uncle Myron and Aunt Karen in Raleigh, NC. We then drove through Tennessee, and sampled some night life and live blues music in Memphis. Our final day on the road took us through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and southern Colorado. |
 More pictures here and here. |