big doings

This last weekend was so much fun. Our friends Andrea & Shane(who just won a big art prize. Yea, Shane!) invited us to have Saturday night dinner at their house in Denver. Also in attendance were Ked & his girlfriend Tara, and Andrea & Shane's friend Lao. The house is a cute bungalow in an old downtown neighborhood, very charming. Our dinner (delicious Pad Thai) was prepared by a friend of Andrea's who came over just to make the food, and then left. She had other plans for the evening, but sweetly offered to come cook for us. How great is that? The pad thai was awesome. I brought dessert: lemon cheesecake squares & homemade ginger ice cream. The ice cream was nice and spicy! We stayed up very late talking, drinking wine, laughing. It was wonderful. You might well wonder what the girls were doing while we were enjoying adult conversation. Shane had tuned the TV to the Cartoon network or Nick Jr. or something, and the girls watched ALOT of Spongebob Squarepants, and Ruby read an American Girls book during the commercials. They were amazingly low-maintenance and happy-go-lucky. Lucky for us!

We finally got home and put the girls to bed sometime between 11:30 and midnight. On Sunday we decided to drive up the mountains, RMNP or thereabouts. We ended up at Lily Lake.


We had packed a picnic, so we ate lunch before our hike. There were ALOT of chipmunks darting around. Their preferred spot for begging is right on top of your shoe, then they dart away super-fast.




After lunch we decided to hike up the higher-altitude trail to reach the lookout point above the lake. In the photo below, you can see (just above Lyra) some of the rock formations which look like a stack of pancakes turned on its side.


It isn't a long trail, maybe a mile and a half or so. But we had already travelled from 5k feet in Longmont to about 8.9k feet at the ground level of Lily Lake. The trail we chose went higher, rather quickly. We took it slow except for Lyra, who insisted upon racing ahead. You know, there is a thin line between fun family hike and death march and, according to Ruby, we crossed that line early on in the hike.




We reached the lookout, and the view was certainly worth the climb.






We saw tons of little flowers along the way, some growing right out of the boulders, others growing in the sandy soil and gravel along the trail, and still others growing in a marshland beside the lake.

conifer blooms

There were just a few times when Ruby decided to join in on the fun. This was especially true after I offered to pay the kids a penny a shot to let me photograph them.

a water bottle lid helps to display little bunny teeth

Apparently this lake is a great place to catch greenback cutthroat trout, which were once believed to be extinct but have returned in abundance. It is believed they may actually benefit from global warming. Go, nature!


In the end, what really served to coax Ruby out of her sour mood was an early dinner in Estes Park at Smokin' Dave's Barbeque. After my big plate of St. Louis style ribs and red beans and rice, I'm off meat for awhile. But it was awfully nice to see Junebug back to normal.

what I am is a dirty list-maker

1. Why does Firefox keep crashing on me??

2. I heard this guy on Bob Edwards Weekend yesterday. More alarm bells.


This guy's book scares Michael Pollan. Holy Cow!

3. We celebrated the 4th by going to our quaint little 4th of July picnic downtown with our friends Erin, Liam, and Nathan. Nathan is Liam's uncle, and the current love of Lyra's life. The last time she saw him (maybe 2 months ago), she literally wailed inconsolably when he left. When I told her on Friday afternoon that he would be joining us, she said "Who's Nathan?". Anyway, after she had re-kindled her affections, we listened to the local symphony orchestra playing the usual round-up of patriotic tunes, plus (go figure) Star Wars and The Phantom of the Opera, after which canons were fired. Fun! Sometimes when I look around here I realize that we really and truly have moved to the Heartland of America, all Norman Rockwell and shit. Which is heart-warming and nice alternating with conservative and scary. The rednecks have different accents, but they are still rednecks. Which makes it sound like we didn't enjoy the picnic, which is not at all true!! We totally did. Partly because, unlike Texas, it was about 90 degrees with a cool breeze. Delightful! Everyone was very friendly. I saw a Labradoodle (adorable. I totally want one.). We will for sure go next year.

4. But, about what I just said regarding conservatives here, and rednecks, etc.? Well, Thursday evening, I caught up with my friend Kerry, and her friends Maaike & Pat, in Boulder where they had attended a conference. We ate at Centro on Pearl Street and drank Damselflies, yum! (Grey Goose pear vodka, fresh lime juice, fresh ginger, ginger soda + plum preserves) And! While we were eating, seated at a window table, we got to watch an (apparently) Almost-Independence-Day! bike parade which went right by our window.


(**Amendment: I think it was a weekly Thursday night Cruiser ride, made more festive because of the July 4th holiday atmosphere**) There were somewhere between 100 and 150 lighted & costumed riders who stopped traffic and flashed peace signs and sported tutus and crowns. Guess what, ya'll? There was even a picnic table on wheels. Basically there were 4 riders on each side facing each other, pedalling a table down the street. Can you believe it? So, as conservative as Longmont sometimes feels, crazy-assed Boulder is only 12 miles away. Thank God.

2 things

One: Tomorrow I must take down my photos from the walls of Ozo. This makes me sad as it gave me a warm but slightly-too-big-for-my-own-britches feeling to bump into someone and say "Oh, by the way, my stuff is hanging up at Ozo this month if you care to see it." all faux-nonchalantly. If my dear departed friend Mickey Troncale were here, he'd make a sour face, point a thumb in my direction and say (in an Eve Arden grumble) "Oh, get her!". Or, abbreviated, "GH!". He was a big one for abbreviations and codes. Anyhoo...

Two: I'm so glad we still have 3 live goldfish to moon over and feed.

getaway, part two

Friday night we ate and drank at Osteria Marco.

i love the lamps, and the green wallpaper in the loo.

more resting, then Saturday night we met up with Kris' friend Liz and ate & drank at The Ninth Door.

devils on horseback

cafe and postres

We rode the free shuttle back to the hotel.

Kris & Liz got all caught up on high school gossip

Sunday morning we ate Mother's Day Brunch at Rioja.

St. Germain cocktail complete with house-made grapefruit bitters and grapefruit gelee. Deee-lish!



and then it was time to go back to the airport. Now I'm verklempt, so talk amongst yourselves. Topic: Mother's Day getaway 2010. We're thinking a warm beach in a nation knee-deep in avocados.

Oh yeah, we also went to the Hammond Candy Factory to buy peppermint pillows, elected not to attend the Chocolate extravaganza, but did see Baby Mama. Fun!

Now go wish Sinda a belated Happy Birthday!

getaway, part one

We stayed at the Magnolia Hotel. We shopped in Boulder at Boulder Bookstore and Prana, where Kris flirted with a girl from Tyler, Texas. We ate at Centro and had a really bad server named Ashlee.

nipples!

Suddenly a stranger appeared. Poking her head out of the bathroom stall she appeared startled to see a photo session taking place.




We rested, and we read.


to be continued...

Did you know blogger will only let you use up to 200 characters worth of labels? annoying.

I'll be away this long weekend, in Downtown Denver with the 2 best friends a girl could have. Sinda & Kris are flying in tonight so we can recreate our lost weekend 3! years ago, this time without IKEA, but with the Prana Store in Boulder. Also, this time we can ALL drink, because no one has a bun in the oven. That we know of.
Loopy, I'll do my best, but you know how she is.

Try not to be too jealous, ya'll.

quickie catch-up post

Lame, I know, but maybe tomorrow I'll put up a proper post. Maybe. The important thing is that tomorrow I will get my hair cut. A girl has to prioritize.

SO since my last post, all this has happened:

Thursday, Lyra's Paternal Grandma & Uncle arrived (To be clear, they are grandma & uncle to both girls). Birthday party ensued.

Friday, Ruby's school had a field trip to the Denver Zoo, where I was a chaperone. There were so many parents there that my "group" consisted of Ruby and her friend Mackenzie. Seems easy, right? Well, Miss Mac here is fast, and harder to keep up with than she looks. Poor Ruby, in her spf 5,000 and sunhat. But at least no major burns. whew!


Mr. Man brought the rest of the fam. there so we could all soak in the sun. For some reason it didn't occur to anyone to rub sunblock onto Lyra's ass crack.


Luckily, this shoulder ride didn't last long enough to cause any damage.

Saturday we had the birthday party at Sunflower Farm. So much fun! SO much cake (chocolate w/ chocolate frosting + strawberry cupcakes w/ cream cheese frosting).


So windy, especially right before we left. Saturday was a big day, and then the MIL & BIL kidsat so Mr. Man & I could have a date. Yea! We drove to Boulder to eat sushi flown in from Tokyo that very day. Al Gore would disapprove mightily, but then he flies around everywhere, right?

Sunday we drove to the mall in Broomfield to visit the Build-a-Bear Workshop. When it was finally time to take Isy & Stephen to the airport, I took the girls to Boulder to catch the tail end of Lyra's school's big 40th anniversary/birthday bash and fundraiser. I helped clean up while Lyra watched some Senegalese dancers and Ruby played with her friends.

I'm still tired.

it's been a long week.

We have a new gap in our little family. Mr. Man's beloved cat, Bono, passed away a few days ago. His decline was sudden and for that we are grateful. But every time we see a bright, hot patch of sunlight on the floor of our kitchen or dining room, it seems odd that he isn't there, soaking it in.


Also, can I just say that 2 weeks of Spring Break is 1 too many? Lyra's school is in a different district than Ruby's, so last week was Ruby's break and the week before was Lyra's. I will be sofa king glad to get back to our routine starting tomorrow.


I loved this: Peter Sagel's remarks on the newest Suess movie.




And I have also been enjoying the NPR pieces celebrating Bette Davis' 100th birthday. Here is one by Bob Mondello.

Yesterday the girls and I joined some neighbors for a Clean-Up, Green-Up party. We walked around our neighborhood picking up litter and getting to know each other. It was lots of fun and we met some very nice people. It was organized by my one real girlfriend here, Erin. She is the bright spot in my otherwise bleak and lonely social life. She is just the type of person you'd want to hang out with: easy-going, fun, smart and sassy. As one of the other women there said, "It is impossible to meet Erin and not become her friend". I'm so glad I did meet her!

a friend, indeed!

I want to give a big shout out to VetJenn for returning my call last night, despite how tired she must have been. There she was, probably just about to retire for the night when she saw my posts about Emma. She selflessly delayed getting some much-needed sleep so she could talk me down. See, her husband is out of town for the week and she'd been up most of the previous night with a vomiting kid, who she then had to take to work with her because there was no one to cover her appointments. And after all that she still had the goodness of heart to stay up late and answer all my questions. How awesome is that??

friends

It is so comforting to have really close, wonderful friends come visit you. We do still sometimes feel stranded here, far from those people we love and places we hold dear in our memories. Just a few days ago, one of our very favorite families paid us a brief visit. You know you are in the presence of a very dear friend when they (Kris) follow you from room to room joining you in whatever bit of housework you happen to be attending to at any given time. During their stay, which only lasted something like 36 hours, she:

1. folded the children's clean clothes
2. helped change the sheets on my bed
3. cleaned up cat vomit
4. made pizza
5. washed dishes
6. read about eleventy-jillion stories to the kids
7. other stuff I can't think of right now

And Smith entertained the children for massive amounts of time all by himself, magnifying lots of things (including his own facial hair. Yikes!) with our new Eyeclops. He also showed Ruby what it looks like when an adult draws various recognizable animals and objects with skill, a novel concept for our house. An adult who can draw? Unheard of!

Here are some photos, including the lovely couple making out (for the camera) in my kitchen, and J giving me the Evil Eye. Despite these indiscretions, we had a wonderful time and can't wait for them to come again. Soon, we hope.

more photos of Emma

if all goes well...

we could, maybe tomorrow afternoon, bring home this sweet girl.


She currently resides at the local Humane Society. She is a 4 year old Border Collie named Emma, but maybe I should change her name to SinKrispyfer Ruth. What do you think?

Who Have I Become?

We decorated the Festivus Tree on Saturday. December 1. This is proof that I live far away from my friends and all the things I love to do instead of the stuff I should be doing instead. Weird. Yet here is the proof.


I have also, rather stupidly, committed to making GD stocking for the fam. This is complicated by the fact that I am inept with a sewing machine. I have misplaced the owner's manual for the machine and can't figure out how to get the front-loading bobbin back in there. Fuck!

So I'm getting out the embroidery thread and brushing up on my blanket stitch.

Meanwhile we continue to have these amazing sunsets and sunrises, which still leave me in awe.

Art Party!

Ked and friends

SO last night I went to the book release party for "&", which was also the release party for Copper Nickel #8 and a benefit to support the New Orleans Public Library rebuilding fund. The book is tiny and gorgeous, a fitting debut for the newborn Counterfeit Press. I was pleased as punch (whatever that means) to meet several contributors to the book (&), and other Lomographers, as well as Nancy Missbach who produced 57 hand-bound copies of "&".

The release party was held at Matter Studio, just across the street from Coors Stadium, where a game was going on. (Baseball, I think??) This made the parking situation and traffic pretty horrendous, but it also graced us with fireworks. The final crescendo was so loud that I started to feel slightly sickened by it because I thought, "This must be what it sounds like to be in a war zone."


I took quite a few mediocre-to-poor shots of the fireworks. Then I started playing around with the focus ring and really had fun shooting these abstract/de-constructed fireworks shots. Okay, I know. They are just way out of focus, but I like them so much more this way. I'm posting them in a small size, but just click to make big. They look way better like that.






I found out that in Denver there are people who will agree to teach you to silk-screen, after you totally back them into a corner and impose your conversation-starved self on them. Crystal's Etsy shop is here. And there are people who will chivalrously take it upon themselves to walk you to your car, parked 6 blocks away across from the Greyhound bus station. And others I didn't get a chance to talk to but who were ready with a smile & a handshake. Such lovely, friendly and talented folks. Thanks for the welcome, ya'll!

Guess who got a tattoo?

Jen E! and her uber-talented friend Alina documented the whole thing.
See the wonderful photos here.

a quick update

Sorry I've been so absent from here lately. Our house is now both unrecognizable (read clean & uncluttered) and under contract. Yea!! Hopefully today we will go under contract on the house we love in Longmont, Co. Also today: the prospective buyers get my house inspected, I will try to find a dry place for the kids to run around while that is going on, and pick up a cake for Mr. Man's birthday. This will be the first year I haven't baked one for him, but all my baking pans are in storage and I just can't face searching for them.

We had a fun-filled weekend, what with Agent X's birthday party,


an evening of fun and delicious food at Vetmommy's house,


and then Hazel's birthday party on Sunday.

At the latter party, there was a giant, 16 foot high water-slide inflatable thingy which kept Junebug occupied for almost 5 hours straight. I'm not joking, or exaggerating, she was on that thing from about 2:15 until we dragged her off of it at 7 something. She only took 2 brief breaks, for a hot dog and a piece of birthday cake. I hope Hazel had as much fun.

I hope you all had a smashing weekend, too. Especially you lucky women who were at Blogher!

with a little help from my friends

I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long. We are in packing Hell at the mo. Well, to be more accurate, I am in packing Hell and Mr. Man is at work. He has escaped packing Hell for a few hours but it will be here waiting for him when he returns. We rented a storage unit so we could de-clutter our house before we list it, and that unit is rapidly filling up. The last time we moved, we had a one-year-old child and just threw everything into boxes. This time we are trying to pack more carefully and leave things behind, especially all those school papers of Mr. Man's dating back to 7th grade. So there is much sorting and emotional weighing of objects. Things I refuse to get rid of: any correspondence from Sinda, Kris, Janet Ruth or my mother or brother. Old photos of the above people. Every time I move, I see the same old photo of Sinda sitting on Barb's shoulders from back when we were at school. That photo, along with all the others, is sitting in a box in our storage unit. I promise that, once we get settled, I'll scan the most fun and potentially embarrassing ones and post them.

Just a few items to note quickly:

1. Thank you Eden for giving me info about the Buddhism books & the temple in Fort Collins. Oh, and the rockin' haircut!

2. Thank you Andrea for being our eyes & ears in the Colorado Real Estate market.

3. Thank you Jennifer for calling up and saying "Why don't I come get your kids and bring them to my house?". Awesomeness.

4. Thank you to Anthony for loaning us a laptop for our trip and for helping Mr. Man move all that stuff to our storage unit. He couldn't have done it without you.

5. Thank you Kris for wanting to keep our infant business alive even though I'm leaving. I swear I will sell stuff there!

6. Note to the handymen working at our house: I know you are allowed to use what ever ringtone you happen to enjoy, but when I'm standing next to you and you're all sweaty and stuff, I kind of wish I didn't know that you like big butts and you cannot lie.

Remember the Agfa RSXII film I mentioned

in that other post? Well, if the fools at the Lomographic Corporation's New York office sent me the right stuff, I have 100 rolls headed my way. Hey Ked, you want some? Let's deal.

Here are Ruby (Junebug) and Anna, best buds: doubled.

Go wish Krispy a Happy Birthday

She is sometimes found here.


Seen above with the buxom & fetching Sinda during our famous Mother's Day Trip in aught 5, when she was beautifully preggers. It is still my favorite photo of her.

Have a great day, Kris, despite all the slipping in pee & rain-drenched swimming lessons.

xoxo!

time blurring by

I notice it has been more than a week since I wrote a proper post instead of just pointing you toward something I had enjoyed. Summers are normally so lazy and slow that I can lose track of time. This summer has that feeling, but added in to it is an itchy, keyed-up nervousness that comes with the knowledge of vast quantities of change looming on the horizon.

Every day starts out the same way, trying to wake up slowly and failing. Kids do that to you.
So I have some coffee and things come in to focus. I let the girls watch some PBSkids so I can get on the NordicTrack for 30 minutes and have a shower. Then we decide what will happen that day. So far we've been to the pool at least 3 times. Austin has these fantastic free public wading pools which are only 2 feet deep at the deepest part. I can pack up all the crap which mustneeds accompany us, slather sunblock onto the children, and we're set for 3 or 4 hours. I don't even have to bring my swimsuit this year, as the girls are now old enough to stay alive on their own. For me, I pack a lawnchair, Dwell magazines and my knitting and then I'm happy for hours. It is especially nice for me to have the chance to catch up with people I haven't seen all the long school year. This is one of the things I will miss about living here: the history I have with my small communities, like the Shipe Park wading pool folk. Many of the kids attend different pre- and elementary schools during the bulk of the year, so summer is all about getting reacquainted with them.

This week I'm having a vacation from summer vacation. The girls are staying at their Grandma's house while they get swimming lessons. So this morning is oh so quiet at my house. I'm listening to Brian Eno's Ambient One at the moment. So caaaaalming. We are taking advantage of our child-free status by seeing lots of loud movies. Yesterday we went to see Pirates #3 (pretty disappointing) at the Drafthouse, which I'll miss terribly when we're gone. When will they open one in Colorado?
So to make up for it we saw (at home, listening through the stereo loudly! because the kids weren't there) Tenacious D: the Pick of Destiny. I found it to be much funnier than Borat and not nearly so cringe-inducing. Jesse: You. Must. See. This. movie! I kept saying to myself, Jesse would love this!

You may have noticed I said something about "vast quantities of change looming" in the first paragraph. It is official: Mr. Man signed the paper to authorize his company to initiate the relocation. We could still back out if some other, really spectacular, offer comes along. But the children are already starting sentences with, "When we move to Colorado...". And of course, now that it is really heating up here, those mountains are calling my name. And I've started knitting again. Now is the time for list after list of everything we need to do before July, and another list for August. Junebug's birthday is coming up, and Mr. Man's, along with most of our posse who were almost all born in the summer. Anyway, you should see my "To Do" list. It is daunting. But I'm also excited, more so now that it is a sure thing. Probably. Now we just need to find a place to live, and someone to rent our house, and pack and purge. Think of anything we might want from IKEA, since there isn't one in the whole state of Colorado. Buy a case of salsa from El Chile. Etc.

p.s. If you are getting ready to spend a day at poolside, the way we often do in summer, don't forget to pack an assload of food. Because you know all that swimming & sweating makes the kids ravenish. There is one food item you may not have considered for this sort of outing, and let me recommend it to you right now. Bacon. That's right, I said bacon. This is Junebug's favorite food, so I packed some leftover bacon for a jaunt to the pool last Friday. It was perfect! Nice and salty, it doesn't have to be kept cold, and is a guaranteed conversation-starter for those other parents. After Junebug took a turn around the pool chomping on a long strip of bacon, which looked so bizarre and appealing, the other kids turned back to their little piles of Goldfish crackers and raisins and then looked up at their parents asking "Why? Why didn't we bring bacon??" Luckily we had enough to share.


Above: The Junebug chewing a mouthful of bacon.