HNT...all to see you better with, my dear

I'm addicted to accessories. For some women, it's shoes. For others, it's clothes. Some, they do make-up. I do accessories...jewelry, hair stuff, and spectacles!

I'm blind without my contacts or glasses. I have taken to wearing my contacts most frequently because I don't have to take them in and out anymore...24/7 for 30 days at a time. But when I do take them out I typically wear my glasses for a week or so before popping in a new pair.

I work for a world-renown medical facility with fabulous medical benefits. I'm the lucky one. But our dental and vision plan is screwy...every single employee gets $1000 per year to spend on dental and vision. If you are an employee with a family though, that $1000 has to be divided for everyone in your household. If you are single, it accumulates in a fund until a cap of $4000. This month is my 4th year anniversary at The Clinic and I'm going to be capped out b/c all I use it for is the dentist and contacts every 6 months.

I made the decision to avoid reaching my cap this year. Fastest way to do that...go see your eye doctor. My left eye was getting "fuzzy", turned out I got to go back a quarter of a prescription. Since I was ordering new contacts I decided to shop for some fun.

How did I do? I can see you now :)








Happy HNT...the Coach sunglasses are on their way. Photos to come later.

Now that it has snowed....a Meme to put you in the mood

A friend at work emailed me this and it's a bit different than the usual "get to know you" meme. I'm not tagging anyone but tell me what makes you tick at Christmas time. Happy Holidays!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bag? Gift Bags

2. Real tree or artificial? I grew up with real but when two cats joined my house hold I switched to artificial. Easier to pick cat hair off a tree than pine sap off a cat.

3. When do you put up your tree? Thanksgiving weekend

4. When do you take down your tree? The weekend of Epiphany

5. Do you like eggnog? Yuck! But I know Os starts drinking the instant it becomes available in the grocery stores.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I still have my Miss Piggy watch so that must have meant something. It was my very first watch. It fits my big toe now.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. Found it at Gander Mountain...it's a Moose nativity complete with a swaddling wrapped baby moose and two dangling moose angels.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My dad

9. Easiest person to buy for? My sister or Heather

10. Worst Christmas gift you've ever received? Who knows, I usually find some way to use about anything.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Handmade and mailed of course!

12. Favorite Christmas movie? Its a Wonderful Life

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I typically watch throughout the year when I travel or go to new stores. I typically finish a few days before Christmas Eve.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? TURKEY! And my mom's banana/OJ slush

6. White or colored lights? I do a 'theme' each year. This year I have white, green, blue, and purple lights.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

18. Traveling for Christmas or stay home? Road trip to South Dakota this eyar

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yes. Can't you?

20. Angel or Star on top of tree? Neither. I have a long skinny silver ornament that slides over the top.

21. Open presents Christmas Eve or Morning? Both in the past. We use to open Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's House and then Christmas Day afternoon at our house. Not sure what we will do this year.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The people who go out on Thanksgiving weekend to go shopping and then get grumpy. You KNOW it's going to be busy, you choose to go out, so don't you dare gripe about the lines, the parking lot, and the wait. Get over it!

23. What I love most about Christmas? SNOW!

It's snowing!

...and it's actually accumulating! Yeah!!

Thank god for girlfriends

This is just one of the pages I completed this weekend at the "I Hate Shopping" crop that I participated in. It's a fine example of the female friends I have in my life. The gals in my life are getting me through this. We are spread all over the US but we have each other nonetheless. It would take too long at this hour to find pictures of them all and I would be afraid to forget one but girls, know I'm so grateful for you right now.

Thanks for being there ladies. It's not easy right now but I know you are "here" for me.

Hello out there?

Damn it...every time I have had to call someone b/c I'm in tears in the last month no one will answer. Nothing but answering machines. Seriously.

Things aren't good, relationships are hard and right now suck.

Thankful for the weekend

I wasn't looking for to this weekend. Wednesday night I was in tears. In spite of myself I had a great four days though! I had fun watching the Packer's game and the pizza with homemade salsa and guac for the chips, plus the veggi tray and such were good. The brandy slush was excellent. I even played the Lego Star Wars game on the Wii and had fun. We went geo-caching in the snow flurries out in the woods too.

Friday I avoided the morning crush of shoppers to instead sleep in. I got up in time to get a bit of the house cleaned in preparation for putting up the Christmas tree before meeting the group for lunch at Macaroni Grill. I then was brave enough to shop just a little at Barnes & Noble, Bath & Body Works, and Ann Taylor Loft. That night I went grocery shopping for the turkey dinner for two I had planned.

Yesterday I treated myself to a whole "me" day, complete with a Peppermint Latte, 12 hours of scrapbooking, hot apple cider, and an early night to bed. I got all but the first and last pages of my Glacier Park scrapbook complete. This is the same book I started back in August when my girls' weekend got ruined by the flood. It turned out pretty darn cool. When I have tonight's turkey feast off the table maybe I'll lay it out and take a few pictures of my picture book.

Today I completed prep for Christsmas tree decorating and finished a touch more shopping at Kohl's. The house now smells like Christmas candles and turkey. Not bad at all. I'm thankful the weekend turned itself around and that I participated in spite of myself. Happy Holidays everyone!

Around the house...

I spent today doing a little cleaning in preparation for decorating for Christmas the rest of the weekend. I squeezed in a lunch with the boyfriend's family as well as a little solo shopping but not until later in the afternoon when it wasn't as busy. I went to the grocery store too and picked up the fixin's for a turkey dinner for two to be had this Sunday.

As I was wandering around the house I started to think about what my house says about me. I've been in it for two year's now and as was previously documented here, I put a lot of work into the appearance of the place in spite of it being structurally sound. What about the rest of the place though? You know, the little things that get "settled" after you have lived some where for a while?

What does my house tell others about me if they looked carefully?

• Take a look just from my bed
• I like natural things...my bed is a maple slatted sleighbed
• Books are central...the bookends span the top of my dresser but the books have started to pile on top of the span in between them
• I miss Montana..."Montana: The Last Best Place" hangs over three 14 x 17 pictures from "The Park".
  
• Avalanche Gorge
• Heaven's Peak
• Lake McDonald from the back porch of the lodge
• My cats have a home...check out the indentation in the pillow at the foot of my bed
• What do I see from the couch?
• A few "meese"
• A stuffed moose in a laid Christmas sweater
• A "recylced" moose made from Chenille
• A Carroll College clad Moose Saint
• A moose navity...complete with Mary, Joseph, the Babe and two dangling meese with wings
• The places I've lived
• A springtime in Montana picture of wildflowers in front of snowcapped peaks
• A Sedona desert sunset
• A spirit to watch over me
• A collection of Dreamsicle Angels on the mantle piece
• A picture of Mom and Dad on top of the stereo
• Warmth
• 5 blankets that I can see and count from here
• Candles...plain vanilla on the mantle, Spiced Apple on the coffee table, Ginger Peach in the dining room
• My escape...trek up to the third floor for a distraction if you wish
• Warm walls: Maple Leaf and Cocoa Puff to be exact
• A hobby
• Shelves of Stampin' Up stamps, paper galore
  
• Projects here and there
• A Denver Broncos album from September
• My recipes and a maple box to put them in
• A "me" scrapbook not yet started
• An office
• Piles
• Piles
• Did I mention piles?
• Cork boards covered in pictures and quotes. Lots of quotes

I'll have to keep looking and see what I learn about myself. This could be useful.

What does the decor of your residence say about you?

Give Thanks Today...

Today is not the day I am use to. Today will be full of new traditions. I'm not use to that and to do it all without my mom is harder than I had anticipated. But, you know what? I have to be thankful for what I do have. I'm sitting in my jammies with a cup of coffee watching big flat snow flakes fall out the window while I am cuddled on the couch with my kitten in my lap watching the Macy's Day parade. There are a lot of my favorite things in that sentence. The rest of the day will be new but I will be with "family" and for that I'm grateful as well.

To you and yours: Take a moment to be thankful for whatever little things you can today. Happy Thanksgiving.

It's a Monday...and it's begun

The rat race is upon me. I heard the patter of it's feet about 10 days ago but now I'm right in the middle of the pack. The holidays and all I have to do BEFORE the holidays are upon me. I agreed to present a retreat at our church on Mary, the Mother of God and the Rosary for our annual Advent retreat. I agreed to this last spring but now I have around two weeks to get a final format ready.

I am hosting my annual Stampin' Up Christmas Card Extravaganza too. 40 cards for $40. I put the supply order in today and as soon as it arrives will be cutting out the parts for 240 cards (I pre-cut everything for my customers so the assembly doesn't take all day). I also possibly will be doing the same set of cards with multiple high school students to include in boxes for Hometown Gratitude gifts to the troops.

Hockey season in Minnesota has started and between now and Christmas week the team I cover for Sports Medicine has a Tuesday and Thursday night came every week but this week (just Tuesday this week). They at least take Thanksgiving off. Can't really get much done at those games other than watching and waiting for someone to get hurt.

Of course, I have to add into that the various work events, monthly Bunco, cleaning house, etc. We all do this to ourselves though and we always get through, right? My question is...why do we do it?

Have a great week everyone!

HNT...Fall Colors Revealed

It's that time of year. The leaves are changing, the air is getting cooler, a little sharper.

Time to do the same on my end. The colors have changed, I'm feeling a bit edgier, there is an anticipation in the air...I'm ready now.

Remember a Veteran

That's my grandpa.

He passed away 10 years ago and this picture's a few years older than that but I'm still proud of him. My grandpa was in the US Navy during World War II and fought off the USS Yorktown. Not a lot of his crew came home and even fewer are left today.

As navigator he led his pilot and himself on bombing runs over Iwo Jima.

He attempted to help out a commanding officer on R&R once but was told to "f--- off". The commanding officer was sunning himself on the beach while intoxicated. The commanding officer was court marshaled for damaging government property when he return to ship with his second degree sunburn and was sick. I think my grandpa probably chuckled.

His ship ran out of fresh water and the country bumpkin from the farm in Nebraska knew it was silly to drink salt water and was one of the few of the crew who did not get sick.

His squadron was returning from a mission and the lead pilot took the group the WRONG way back to the ship. My grandpa quietly convinced his pilot to take the lead and get the group of planes back to the ship. It worked.

Those last three stories he told me about, the bombing runs over Iwo Jima I didn't know about until we packed up his dresser two summer's ago at Grandma's house. We found his flight log book. Perfect handwriting, detailed without being wordy. 'Flight to "so and so" today. Bullet damage to right wing.' Yeah, scary!

So take a moment today and the rest of this week after Veteran's Day to remember those who fought for us and those who are fighting. Cherish the stories they told you and take a moment to consider what they didn't tell you. These young men and woman did things most of us can't even consider doing.

For them...THANK YOU!

For Grandpa...MISS YOU! Take care of mom, will ya?

Something to do

1. What time did you get up in the morning? 6:20 am

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds!!!!!
3. Favorite movie? Silence of the Lambs

4. Favorite TV show? Bones

5. Where did you graduate from? Isabel High School, Carroll College, and Arizona School of Health Sciences

6. Did you ever fail a class in school? Nope

7. What food do you dislike? Oysters

8. What is your favorite food at the moment? Apple sauce

9. What kind of car do you drive? Mercury Mariner

10. Favorite sandwich? turkey blue cheese and tomato

11. Favorite accessory? Any chunky jewelry

12. Favorite item of clothing? Hooded sweatshirts, big wool sweaters

13. If you could go anywhere in the world for a vacation, where would you go? Italy and New Zealand...

14. What color is your bathroom? Light sage and lavendar

15. Favorite brand of clothes? New York and Company for dress pants and suits, pretty much a free for all for everything else

16. Where would you retire to? Montana

17. When was your most memorable birthday? Probably this last one more for a sad memory than anything

18. Favorite sport and sports figure? Volleyball to play and Karch Kiraly. Football to watch and John Elway.

19. Last time you attended a sporting event? September when I went to both a Broncos and a Rockies game in Denver

20. Who was your real first kiss? Adam at gifted camp

21. Was it a good one? In retrospect, no but at the time I thought it was wonderful

22. Favorite saying? Hang tight

23. When's your birthday? 10/07/77

24. Morning or afternoon person? Definitely NOT a morning person

25. Pets? Cats now, would love to have a dog too, have had horses in the past

26. Shoe size? 8

27. What is your favorite thing to do on New Years? Fancy parties with glitzy clothes with the boy

28. What did you want to do when you were little? A doctor

29. What was your first job? Other than Farm Slave? Babysitting.

30. Favorite candy? Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

31. Favorite flower? Yellow roses with red tips

32. What is your favorite holiday dinner? Thanksgiving

33. What is your full name? Nicolle Kahl Hendrix

34. What do you like to do on a rainy day if your not working? Stay in flannel jammies, curl up in a big blanket and read a book

35. What are you listening to right now? TV

36. What was last thing you ate? Curry chicken sandwich with chicken gumbo soup

37. Do you wish on stars? Yes!

38. If you do what do you wish for? Usually just to get by

39. What is the temp out today? Cold, how exciting

40. Last person you talked to on the phone? Nurse on 7 Joseph

41. Favorite soft drink? Squirt

42. Favorite restaurant The Windbag in Helena, MT. Local—City Cafe

43. Are you a beer, wine or liquor person? BEER, but none of that domesticate stuff

44. Ever eat bugs as a kid? Doesn’t every kid?

45. Favorite toy when you were little? My John Deere tractors in the sand box

46. Favorite day of the year? The first snowfall

47. Summer or winter? winter

48. Hugs or kisses? both

49. Snacks? Salty or Sweet? I’m a big fan of all the new sweet AND salty snacks but I like them crunchy

50. Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla

51. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? yes

52. When was the last time you cried? Probably this weekend sometime

53. What's under your bed? Enough hairballs to make a whole new cat

54. Who's the friend you've had the longest? Jami Huber

55. What did you do last night? Not much, I crashed at 8:55 pm

Uhhmmm...life is good!

Simple things in life can bring a smile to your face if you pause to reflect on them.

I treated myself to an upgrade on the simple things this weekend. I admit, I'm addicted to the morning cup of joe. Gotta have it. I walked out on joe once in my life and I did okay; until I took a job in a coffee house and realized what a pain in the ass it is for a barista when a customer orders a decaf shot of anything! Back to the fully leaded stuff I went and haven't quit.

The gals at work and I went together for an office coffee pot and we take turns bringing in the goods. I treat them to Montana roasted beans once a year when I go to Montana. I enjoy the java house atmostphere. I loved the smile on my customer's faces as I handed them their morning shot of "go juice". I like sitting outside on a crisp fall day with a warm cup of joe in my hands. Just the smell of a freshly opened bag of beans makes my eyes perk up and a soft sigh come out.

The "Brew Station" has arrived at my house. This wonderful machine will have my coffee ready for me before my feet hit the cold hardwood floors in the morning. The machine keeps my coffee warm inside the machine without it sitting in a carafe getting bitter on the burner. I simply press my cup to the release button and I can pour a six ounce cup or a "4 cup" mug. It's a gift from above, just for me from me. It's perfection...

HNT...Are you a Good Witch or a Bad Witch?

You Are a Witch (or Warlock)

You are deviously brilliant and a perfect manipulator. You somehow always end up getting what you want - without anyone knowing you're working behind the scenes. Crafty and cunning, you can work your way out of any jam. And it's easy for you to get people to do what you want, whether you're working for good or evil. Your greatest power: Mind control Your greatest weakness: Making people your puppets You play well with: Ghosts

What Kind of Monster Are You?

Happy Halloween Everyone! Happy HNT

Crafty Witch

Looks what happens when I have time at home!

I was up early yesterday, which is highly unusual for a Saturday morning, so I figured I would make good use of it. Since I was gone nearly the whole month of October I have a ton of birthday cards to send out plus my favorite holiday is this week. I made the bags below as treats for some friends and got a good dozen Halloween themed cards made. Just need to go cut a few more branches to finish things up.

Witchin' you a wonderful week!

A bit of shopping...

I'm back in the swing of things...at least physically. I went back to work today for a full day. It turned into a longer day than I had anticipated. For a post-call day I was quite busy with 5 dismissals, cast room, and clinic patients. How did that happen? I treated myself to lunch at the Healthy Living Center (aka "The Gym") before meeting with my Wellness Coach. After my meeting I needed to stop at the mall for two things...I needed a new loofah because I left mine in the sink at the farm and I needed to stop at Victoria's Secret to use my birthday gift card. I left with both of those items PLUS a very large bag from Barnes and Noble.

My name is Moosekahl and I'm addicted to books. Nice to meet you!

The latest reads? In no particular order...

1. the Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
2. A Time To Grieve: Meditations for Healing After The Death of a Loved One by Carol Staudacher
3. Sundown, Yellow Moon by Larry Watson
4. The Last Season by Eric Blehm
5. 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper with Cecil Murphey

Oh yeah...for my listening pleasure

1. The Very Best of Diana Krall (Os...do you have this one?)
2. No Reservations The Soundtrack

I'm so naughty!

Late but done...September Non-fiction 5 Challenge

I finished Infidel in time but took off to my mom's bedside before I could right a review. So forgive my tardiness but I completely the challenge and actually read more than the 5 non-fiction requirements. Guess I do like non-fiction.

Infidel is an eye-opening piece or work to say the least. Hirsi Ali is controversial to say the least among her Muslim community but this book focuses more on her life and the culture she grew up in then on her political views. The idea that children, woman, and the weak were treated in such horrific conditions and continue to be treated that way in parts of the world we in the US can't even imagine is mind boggling.

This woman had character and goals. She worked hard in the eyes of adversity and has achieved much but has much yet to achieve. For that, I respect her. Definitely a book to take a look at.

Home

I am back in MN. I'm going to crawl into bed with my cats and my boyfriend and pray that I sleep.

Thank you to all of you for the support over the last several weeks. I love you all!

Goodbye

Os here, posting for Moose. Just got word that her mom finally passed on late this afternoon. It's been long and draining for her mom and the family, but she's now gone to a much better place, free from pain.

Read the posts below for more from Moose that she wrote earlier. And remember them in your prayers.

Lots of hugs to you and the family, Moose...

Nothing new

Mom has been unresponsive since Monday morning. But she keeps on fighting. Her heart rate is in the 170's and 180's. Her respirations are very shallow but she keeps on going.

Thank you to everyone who has left me messages or sent emails. Mary M, send me your email address, I don't think I have it.

Last night was my first night alone with mom and I did okay except for the nurse turning on the light every two hours in spite of plenty of hallway light coming in. I got the nursing home house kitty to come sleep with me too. Murphy is MASSIVE but he cuddles real good and purrs nice too. At least I had a little company.

Tomorrow my family sells calves so my dad won't be able to come down until tomorrow evening and my sister not at all. Grandma Lena will come in the morning so I can get some sleep in a bed.

Thanks again everyone. Love you all!

A plan...

First off, I must say thank you to all of you stopping in to say hi and offer hugs and prayers. I appreciate it all much.

I don't do well without a plan or a calendar. This past week has pushed that to the limit. We have all been struggling to answer the question, "What should we do?". This morning we came up with a plan. My aunt is going back to Duluth in the morning. I'm staying through the week. If mom hasn't passed away by Saturday I will head back to Minnesota to get things organized, work a few days, stay sane. My dad and sister will cover the weekend. I'll come back immediately for a funeral.

We can't trust to leave mom alone at the nursing home. She can't talk anymore and not all the nurses seem to understand the concept of scheduled pain medicine. We switched her medicine to every 2 hours b/c she was getting very agitated. She was doing much better until for the second morning in a row I had to yell at the new nurse at 7 because she wouldn't give mom her medicine. She said it was "prn"...how can a woman in a near coma ASK for pain medicine? Duh! I made an immediate demand to speak to the director of nursing and got that fixed! Stupid lady. She has two good nurses for the evening and night shift but this morning gal is going to drive me to drink!

Anyway, thank you all. Keep the prayers coming, I'm hanging in there but I'm sure it's because you guys are holding me up. Thank you!

So much for 30...

So much for turning 30 today....we are still just waiting for mom to make the trip to heaven.

We've all told her it's okay and that everyone in heaven is waiting. Grandma Lena and Brenda got me some roses and had them delivered to mom's room in the nursing home.

So instead of celebrating with friends the "milestone" of 30, I'm crying in a hotel room b/c I can't sit in mom's room all day and waits. Thanks to all of you for your support.

Waiting to Exhale...

Not sure when I will get to post again. I'm in South Dakota with my family. My mom has started slipping in and out of consciousness and is nearing the end.

Every breath...is it the last?

Every "I love you"...is it the last?

Every "good-bye"...is it the last?

We are just waiting...waiting to sigh in exhalation and know she's on a better journey.

My Desktop

Stole this from Os. My Desktop is pretty bare. I've moved all the "often used" stuff to the left hand side bar, I have a Webshots calendar on the top right. Like Os I have a rotating wallpaper with my own pictures. This was taken during the '06 summer trip to Glacier Park with Rachel. I have a huge blow-up of that picture to frame. Nothing too exciting to see...


Here are the meme rules:

Upon receiving this tag, immediately perform a screen capture of your desktop. It is best that no icons be deleted before the screen capture so as to add to the element of fun. Here’s how you can do a screen capture (it's SO much easier with a Mac--when will you ever learn?):

1. Go to your desktop and press the Print Scrn key (located on the right side of the F12 key).
2. Open a graphics program (like Picture Manager, Paint, or Photoshop) and doing a Paste (CTRL + V). If you wish, you can “edit” the image before saving it.
3. Post the picture on your blog. You can also give a short explanation on the look of your desktop if you want. You can explain why you prefer such a look or why it is full of icons. Things like that.
4. Tag five of your friends and ask them to give you a Free View of their desktops as well.
5. Add your name to this list of Free Viewers with a link pointing directly to your Desktop Free View post to promote it to succeeding participants.

People who have already pimped their desktop: Francine of La Place de Cherie Chez Francine Bloggishi Unchained Melody LadyJava’s Lounge Mariuca Revellian Dot Com|Desktop Emila’s Illustrated Blog Spiff, The Spaceman Rolando Brown Baron The Kat House Views From the Back Row Give a Moose a Muffin add yours here after doing this tag

I tag the following great bloggers.

Of course, you know THAT ain't happenin'! But feel free to steal it!

HNT...mountain drive

The speed limit through Rocky Mountain National Park is 35 mph on the "straight" sections. There are some 10 and 15 mph curves. Give a Montana girl a Pontiac G6 and put her in Colorado...she's not going to follow the speed limit. Happy HNT!

Fall Colors in Rocky Mountain National Park

What a wonderful time to visit the National Parks! With a bit of a change in elevation you can find some beautiful colors starting in September already. I drove from east to west through the entire park last Thursday and made the route back to Denver via Winter Park. It was a splendid day. Thought I should share a few with you but I was in one of those moods where I didn't take a whole bunch of pictures, just wanted to enjoy it and keep it tucked away in the private of my head.

From Top to Bottom: The falls just above Alberta Falls, the shores of Bear Lake, Nymph Lake on the way to Dream and Emerald Lake, a drive by shooting on the way up the east slope, and Lake Irene on the far west slope.

.

Denver girls' night

With a little luck and some timing four of us from Carroll College were able to get together on Friday night in Denver. Three of us were in the same class and the 4th was just a year ahead of us. We all lived together at various times during and after college. Some of us have stayed in very good touch but for the most part don't get to see each other very often so this was a great opportunity to catch up.

We went to a great little diner just off the 16th St. Mall called Sam's No. 3. The food was amazing and the drinks were great. We had breakfast, mexican, and steak plus beer, Purple People Eater's, Rum Mango Mania, beer and all for just dinner. Then we wondered 16th St, went to Oktoberfest, and then to a piano bar called Sing, Sing next to Coor's Field. As you can see, we had a great time!

HNT...in the woods again

I went playing in the woods again. This time in Rocky Mountain National Park northwest of Denver, Colorado. This is the scene from Bear Lake. I found a nice, flat rock jutting out into the lake to lay on and watched the sun sparkle on the water and light up the leaves. It was a beautiful sight.

More Colorado pictures a bit later. Happy HNT!

Mile High Magic

I made it to heaven on earth today!

The best way to get tickets on game day? Dress in local colors and be cute. Brianne and I scored seats on the Broncos bench twenty yard line, 30 rows up! Only in Denver can you wear an orange shirt and blue jewelry and be cool!

I have been a Denver Broncos fan since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I never got to see Elway play. McCaffery shattered his tibia in the season opener the week before I had tickets to see them play in Arizona six years ago this weekend. TD has retired. I saw the Pope in the original Mile High but never a game before they tore it down and built Invesco Field at Mile High. Thankfully, Plummer is gone. But today...I attended the HOME OPENER, against the OAKLAND RAIDERS, and was only 34 rows from the field! Heaven, baby, heaven!

At kickoff thousands of orange balloons were released and then there was the fly by by the Air Force. Yes, I cried! I was so happy.

No boring game day outfit for me! We bought the beads, visor, and tattoo in the stadium and put the face tattoo on in the ladies room. The crazy Raiders fan behind me kept trying to touch it. It was funny for the first quarter. We nearly called security by the 4th but he got awful damn quiet during the overtime.

He did it again!! Jason Elam saves the day! Jay Cutler had an average performance but our defense blew a 13 point lead and sent us to overtime after Elam tied it up with a field goal. Oakland got the first chance to score in OT but a timely Denver timeout foiled the first "good" attempt from around 46 yards. The second time they missed and the crowd went wild! Several plays later, Denver was on the 6 yard line goal to goal and brought in Elam for the game winning field goal! Complete mania...the crowd goes wild!

What more can a Broncos gal ask for? Happy DAY!

Only a face a mother could love...

I think he might be a cross between Yoda and the dog from Men in Black but gosh darn it, he's awful darn adorable! I'm off to Denver for the week, hope the older two take good care of the little one!

Ahhh...human again

Nothing a day of football and naps wouldn't cure (never mind the $100 worth of headache medication)! I'm much better this Monday night.

Better enough to do laundry, wash dishes, finish up some cards, and find the top of my desk! Doesn't that all sound like something worth getting better for?

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Weekend rundown

Rundown...that about sums it all up. The week has come and gone and I'm completely rundown. My head is stuffy from a head cold, my head and neck are throbbing from a migraine, my arms and legs are full of mosquito bites scabbed over and red, my quads are still aching from a 30-1 kickball victory. I think I need another weekend away but who knows when I'll have time for that!

I thought after last weekend's long rest I would be up and running on all 8 this week. Not the case. Tuesday the family had to come to the realization mom just isn't healthy enough to be at home anymore. By Wednesday evening she was transferred from the hospital to a nursing home 60 miles from home. Luckily Grandma is just down the hall and was able to sit with her until Dad and my sister were able to show up. Mom is no longer able to stand on her own and she can't eat much either. She is on a lot of pain medication and not nearly comfortable enough.

I got an email on Tuesday or Wednesday as well telling me I had "upset" the athletic trainer at last week's high school football game. I guess I stepped on his toes by talking to a parent of a player who got injuried. Whatever...the trainer was in the locker room, I was standing in front of the stands, the dad asked how the kid was. Duh...I'm a trained medical professional and who cares if the kid trainer worked for the Washington Redskins for a year. I've been with this team for 4 years and working in sports med for 10 + years. I wasn't going to just tell the dad I didn't know anything. I spoke with the head athletic trainer for The Clinic about it and he said not to worry about it either as he would have done the same thing. I was also big enough to write the kid an unneeded apology which 5 days later he still hasn't responded too. This week's upcoming home game might be interesting. The kid needs to understand I'm not going to come to a football game I'm assigned to work at and just stand and do nothing.

Wednesday night I felt like I had been run over by a mack truck. By midnight I was completely stuffed up. I loaded up with Sudafed on Thursday and managed to help my kickball team to a 30-1 victory in our second week of play. Who knew an adult could have so much fun playing a child's game?

Friday was miserable. Couldn't breathe, couldn't hear, could hardly talk. Boss was a grouch because he agreed to schedule four huge surgical cases on our call day and then got hit with 3 added cases. Not my fault! Then he yelled at me for trying to get our regular scheduled cast room patients taken care of on time too. At least he was cordial last night at the department party.

The boyfriend and I hung low on Friday night and I actually slept well. yesterday I could breath without sudafed but was still running around with a severe case of "medicine head". I managed the outpatient picnic and the department shootout. The boy even managed to get fourth place in the shooting contest! I was very happy. By bedtime though I was itching, stuff, and by 4:30 this morning fighting a headache. Luckily he let me sleep until 11. I then helped him set up his new tent and now I'm stuck at home with ice on my neck sipping a hot cup of tea and working on laundry.

This week will be better, right?

HNT...Montana on my, uhm, shoulder.

I couldn't resist adopting an adorable kitten who already came with the name Montana, now could I? Last night he tuckered himself out playing all over and crashed on my shoulder as I was watching TV. Yes, I am as tired as I look but who cares. I have a new snuggle bug.

Happy HNT!

August Non-Fiction Five Read

What: Measure of a Man
Who: Sidney Pottier
Category: Spiritual Memoir
Review: I finished my August book several weeks ago but haven't gotten around to posting about it because I've been trying to think about what to post. I was expecting eye opening knowledge and wisdom. A "secret" to life read. I didn't get the vibe for either. I was actually very disappointed in this book and often caught myself wondering just how arrogant is Mr. Pottier.

This man has done great, great things on film and he lived a tough life growing up in the islands, moving to Miami, opening a bbq shop that failed in New York, to his fame in Hollywood. Nonetheless I had a hard time finding something to latch onto in this book. Hard work gets you a long ways...yeah I knew that already. The one resounding confirmation in the book was his unwillingness to compromise his views and values. He easily could have done any film in his early days but he was picky. He chose films that spoke to him and his values. He took risks in his films and bucked the system when he could. For that I respect him. Overall, the book didn't "hit" me like I expected it too.

Now, I need to get on to the next one--Infidel. With this challenge I've picked up more nonfiction books though and I'm actually in the middle of Chocolate Legs: Sweet Mother, Savage Killer instead of the book I had on my list. I really DO like nonfiction...you 'da thunk it!

Introducing...Logan and Montana

You have read the saga of the flooded southeastern portion on Minnesota and know while I was not the most stricken of those hit I was affected. My 1998 Saturn SL2 four-door, affectionately called "Patch" has gone to his final resting place. That car and I made some great solo road trips together across this country. I've covered from Rochester, MN to Phoenix, AZ via South Dakota and Montana along the way. I actually shed a tear when i went to get all my things out of it.

In fond tribute to the last road trip "Patch" and I made I have named this 2005 Mercury Mariner Logan. Even with a moaning radiator Patch was able to get Rachel and I to the top of the world at Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. My shiny new friend and I made our first solo trip this weekend. It was short but we enjoyed the ride. The best road trip upgrade...a 6 disc CD changer; books on CD are SO much easier when you don't have to fumble every "end of disc" to switch it out!

So meet...Logan!

There has been a bit of a secret for the last several weeks as well. When I was returning from my Montana trip I was able to spend some time on the farm with the kittens. I had been thinking of a new pet the last several months, even considering a dog. The more I considered my life style (i.e. taking two week road trips to the West) and such I knew a dog wasn't in the stars right now. But, those farm kitties were awful darn cute.

The farm kittens were too little to be taken away from their mommy. I left them after a few days of oohhing and aahhing. Upon returning home though I began perusing the Paws and Claws web site. I came upon this picture of a very skinny bug eyed black kitten and scrolled down to see his name...Montana. He was abandoned at a local fair and was taken into foster care to get a bit bigger. I met him just before the big flood and it was destiny; the little guy snuggled into my neck and then put his little paw on my mouth and stared at me with those bug eyes. He came home with me today.

Ladies and gentleman...Meet Montana!

A restoring weekend

I didn't take any pictures but there would not have been anything exciting to show. I took this weekend to vegg. I want to thank the Smedsrud family for a great party in the barn and the Huber clan for boarding me for a night and allowing me to just hang out.

Thursday night I met my sister in Minneapolis to accompany her to the Vikings/Cowboys NFL pre-season game. I could have cared less who won since my Broncos weren't on the field but it was a blast watching my sister as the Vikings defeated her beloved Cowboys. I stayed at her hotel with her for the night before driving back on Friday morning for a dentist appointment and a short day at work. My sister than joined me at my house and attended the opening high school football game for the team I cover locally. The boyfriend joined us for drinks and dinner afterwards.

Saturday morning my sister and I did a bit of shopping before heading out on I-90 to I-29 to reach Volga for a wedding reception in the Smedsrud barn. It was great to sit outside, visit, catch-up, reminisce, and graze. This family has been coming to my mom and dad's ranch for 31 years to hunt. We stayed up till 2 am visiting in the kitchen after all the guests left.

Sunday morning we said our good-byes while my sister headed northwest to home and I went south to visit my best friend's family since they were all home. We ate, watched movies, visited, held the new baby, talked about the baby to be. I slept in the "dungeon" basement bedroom last night nice and cool and dark.

I made it back to Rochester around 8:15 tonight, I'm unpacked already, and I have my feet up to end a quiet relaxing weekend. I'll have pictures of the new "family" addition tomorrow. It did a nice job on this weekend's road trip so I'm happy with my new wheels.

Have a great week everyone!