Click on the beach house picture for a link to my Flickr photo stream and vacay pics. I couldn't figure out how to reverse the order of the photos, so they're chronologically backward but I think you can figure it out. :)

HAPPY FIFTH ANNIVERSARY,
STEFF & JIM! :)

Jason and I checked out the “Star Trek” exhibit at the Air & Space Museum. We had way too much fun...

I read a story at an open mic night for the first time in a long time. It was a lot of fun! You can see and hear me here!

Update: You can also find my story (and hear all the other ones from that night) on the official Dime Stories Live Web site.

Last night Jason and I decided to walk down to the Ken Cinema as part of our effort to avoid paying $4 for gas. I wasn't 100% sure about the movie we were seeing (the Ken only has one screen), but I figured the benefit of being able to walk to our entertainment would make up for it. I did think the trailer for “Surfwise” was interesting, though, and I was feeling optimistic. When we were standing in line for tickets (which seemed like an unusually long line) we noticed a sign that said two of the people featured in the documentary were going to be speaking afterward. Cool! They were David and Salvador Paskowitz, two of the children in a family of 11 who rambled around the country in their 24-foot camper looking for surf spots in the '70s. It was a good movie, and it was fun to hear from the speakers at the end. It sounded like the filming of the movie brought the family back together, at least a little bit. It was also interesting sitting in an audience where several people apparently knew the subjects in the film. There was a lot of laughter and “Oh, look!” comments.

After the show we went to dinner at Burger Lounge. When we were finished eating we noticed that David and his family had arrived and were scouting out tables. I mentioned that we should probably get up and give them our space since we were done because even just one of the 9 siblings' families still had a bunch of people in it...

We walked home and I watched the National Spelling Bee that I'd recorded on Tivo. It cut off right at the end, though! But I looked online to see who won. And I did see the part where the eventual winner thought the speaker said “numbnut” (the real word was “numnah”). When he realized what the real word was he said, “That's a relief!” For me, that was worth the price of admission.

In case you missed them on Facebook, click here for more Yellowstone pics.

More pics to come soon!

Wanna see Murphy do a trick? Click here!

P.S. I'm excited because there's gonna be another street fair in our neighborhood this weekend. Yeay, roasted corn on the cob! :)

Here's Uncle Lindy, Aunt Carolyn, Sam and me at brunch on Sunday in Denver (mmm, demolished chocolate mousse):

I was able to arise from my sick bed and check out the corn snake after all. It was really cool, although I think we irritated it a little bit because it was coiling up and shaking its tail like a rattler. =-o

I am back home now and feeling better, although my nose is running a bit and I still feel congested. I think I'll be good to go for my Idaho trip on Saturday, though.

Ok, running around at home now, and I'm hungry! Thanks for reading about my adventures. :)

Uncle Lindy and Aunt Carolyn drove up to Denver to pick me up from Sam's place yesterday and we all went out to brunch at a French place called Le Central (which is interesting because the bar in Boulder we'd been to the night before was El Centro). The food was tasty and came in HUGE portions. I thought it was funny that they didn't offer a low-fat option to their lattes. This place was truly French!

Afterward, Lindy & Carolyn drove me to their home in Colorado Springs. I call it their “new” house, but I think I heard them say they had it built 9 years ago (it's been awhile since I visited). The house is beautiful, with a stunning view of the city. It's also very quiet -- I felt so relaxed yesterday just sitting and reading in the silence.

That night, my cousin Robyn and her kids, Wyatt and Kaitlyn (I think that's the correct spelling) came over for dinner. We played poker afterward in Lindy's game room in the basement, which was a lot of fun (altho I think I came in second to last). Wyatt asked me to come over today to see his pet snake, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it because last night I developed a horrible sore throat, and I still feel icky today. I think the dry climate is not so great for my respiratory system. Ah, well, it will give me more opportunity to relax.

Coming home tomorrow!

Woohoo! Another day of sleeping in. I feel good. And not even hung over from my two margaritas last night. :)

I woke up early yesterday and was just a little late to the quotes session. It was interesting, really made me think about when to use parentheses in quotes and when not to (the presenter advised to never use them, he even handed out buttons that read, “Whip [Brackets] Now”). After the next session on balancing work and life (what's that?) I joined a couple of my former Breeze colleagues (and a gaggle of other editors) for a tour of the new(ish) Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News building downtown. It was really cool, with incredible views of the city (the state Capitol and City Hall were both in view). I'll post some pictures when I return home. The interesting thing was that two different people had to give us tours of the newsrooms because the Post folks aren't allowed in the Rocky Mountain newsroom, and vice-versa. They do have a joint operating agreement, though, so they're kind of partners. Sort of. In a way. (Do you think I used too many parentheticals in this paragraph?)   :)

Following the afternoon and closing sessions, I said goodbye to my newspaper buddies and Sam came to pick me up for a trip to Boulder. I'd never been to Boulder before, and it was very quaint and cute and only slightly creepy (I learned, for example, that there are laws in the city about owning your pet -- you don't. You are merely its caretaker. Cats, of course, have known this forever.). We had dinner at a Thai/sushi place (cool combination!) and it was very tasty. Then we went to an aerial dance show put on by Frequent Flyers. It was fun, with good music including a vocal rendition of Bolero. After that we had some drinks at a bar that had lots of daisies in it. And also very good margaritas (see above).

Uncle Lindy and Aunt Carolyn are on their way here from Colorado Springs to have brunch and then take me to their place for a couple of days. I'm not sure about my Internet access there, but I'll try to keep up with the blogging. Talk to you again soon!