Dancing Queen

For those of you who don't know, I was a dancing queen in my previous life (in San Diego). I was considered a 'regular' at In Cahoots, not a drinker, just a dancer. I met several wonderful people in the years that I spent at that bar... and somehow managed to have 2 of them come out to visit and take me out to the dance floor. My mother also happened to be in town; and snapped a few cute shots of Scott and I trying to learn a new style cha-cha.

Wisdom...

The greatest little spirit lifter....

If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.
-- Winnie the Pooh

Vegetarianism...

Not to Preach... but I found this article from my sister especially tickling...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28543713/

Five on Friday

1. Jeremy arrived at around 2 am on Saturday morning. The dogs were nice enough to let me know he had arrived. We spent Saturday shopping for dancing boots.... I've wanted a pair ever since I started dancing, but have never followed through. This time I had a great shopping partner and a good reason! Here they are:

The closest club is called the Grizzly Rose, it's a warehouse style dance club; I've not been terribly impressed by it the two times I've gone. It's a bit cliche and cartoonish. Thankfully, they had a sold out concert on Saturday night, which forced us to look for a different club. We chose Stampede down in Aurora, a bit of a drive, but the website made the place look awesome. They have a 'race track' style dance floor that wraps around a central bar; the place is simply huge, and this style of dance floor means two-stepping is that much easier. Sadly, when we arrived we found out that Saturdays are Mexican Music night... no country (in a country bar.. what?). So we scooted up the highway to a mixed club called The Electric Cowboy. They play mixed sets of country and hip hop. The ambiance was a bit more like a regular club; but we still had a GREAT time dancing. My new boots rock! We are going to try to hit Stampede again tonight - and get a real taste for some dancing :)

2. Pepper is doing well after her little spat with Hallie last week. I need to call the vet about getting her stitches removed tomorrow. She's been a very good dog and left them alone - which is wonderful, b/c a 110lb spastic dog with a cone on is not fun; and I've been fortunate enough to not have to use one. Hallie still needs a new tag for her ripped collar. I will likely go to Petsmart this weekend and get her a standard one until I can order a new flat one for her; I'm also planning to pick up a silent whistle. She has a hard time listening to me, but is very treat motivated; I'm hoping to load the whistle and use it in place of calling her name (since she ignores me anyhow).

3. Laura and Mike arrived home on Monday afternoon after a missed morning flight. Lilly is simply a different baby. She's happy now, and giggles and talks to herself. She's not quite laughing yet, but she's definitely on the verge of it. She can hold her body up on her own now, and entertains herself in her jumper for a period of time. It was a rough 4 months that she started her life, but she seems to be enjoying it a bunch more now. The house was so empty and lonely for the last few weeks. It's nice to have life back in the house, albeit a full house with 4 adults, 1 baby, and 2 Great Danes.

4. Don't hate me Evan...

http://www.linkcenterfoundation.org/

In my boredom, I decided to find some volunteer work. My previous 'life alone' led me to multiple jobs to keep entertained. I didn't want to fall back into that trap, so I decided on volunteer work to lessen the obligation. I found a non-profit through a website (volunteermatch.com) which matches volunteer skills against a database of needs. The organization is called Link Center Foundation. They provide heating and utility assistance to elderly people living on the reservations of South Dakota. They needed accounting and database help... the time commitment and skill need, could not have been more perfect. I met up with Stephanie (president) on Friday night last week. She told me a bit about the organization and simply marveled at how perfectly cut out we were for each other. I'm currently compiling a database of previous donors for newsletters and future appeals for help.

5. I successfully had an Orchid rebloom! I've been fascinated with orchids for a few years; especially back in Cali where Trader Joe's sells a gorgeous selection for a steal of a price. However, in all the years I've had them, I have never been able to get one to rebloom. Low and behold the other day, there was a strange offshoot from the most recent one I received. Sure enough.. it grew into a new flower spike! Beautiful! I had been told recently that the trick was not to cut the old (not-dead) flower spike off when the blooms expired; and guess what? The new spike did indeed shoot out of the old one. Problem is, all the others that I still have are already missing their 'old' spikes (b/c I cut them off). I don't know if/how I can get those ones to start again.

Five on Friday

1. Sisterly love? I came home on Monday at lunch to water the trees. You're supposed to do this even during the winter in Colorado, unless there is snow on the ground. Well, there hasn't been snow, but it's been too cold to consider yard work. As I'm leaving to return to work, I notice that Hallie has brough one of her bones in the house that was covered in dirt. She scurried away from me when I called her over. I walked after her, and took it from her mouth (she did not growl or fight me more than to turn her head away). Unfortunately, Pepper happened to be walking by just at that moment; Hallie unleashed her fury on Pepper. The two of them went at each other full force for a good 30-45 seconds. I hestitated to get my arms or hands in the middle of the fight, but managed to throw my hip between them a few times while screaming at the top of my lungs at them. Hallie walked away with a small tear in her collar; Pepper, however, hobbled away with a good 3 inch laceration in her front leg. I ran her to the vet - sedation, 6 stitches and antibiotics later, she's doing well. To add injury to insult, she was so doped up on the ride home that she peed in the back of the car (on the mat thankfully). I walked her through the house to the backyard, but she stared at me and did not go potty. I put her on the couch and by the time she had turned around, she had peed on the couch. Poor girl. There doesn't seem to be any tension between them now; but I'm especially nervous when they try to play now.

2. Monday night brough on crazy winds! The highest was clocked at 91mph in Lafayette (right down the road). Timing figures, Tuesday is trash day, the neighborhood looks like a landfill. There is trash and recycling everywhere! I picked up quite a bit of it, but I think it will continue to blow around for a few more weeks. I've also acquired someone's recycle bin, but no one has responded to my neighborhood email to claim it.

3. Happy New YEAR! I spent the evening with Sam. We went to dinner at BJ's (a place that we had gone several times in La Jolla, and even once in Boulder - but for some reason Sam has blocked this restaurant, he always thinks its the first time. hahaha). Dinner was great. They originally told us it would be a 75 minute wait, but when we noticed the bar had open tables, we were able to sneak in there and sit at a high top with full food service. We went to Randy's house after that for a small house party, consisting of Randy, Amy (his gf), Randy's two brothers and their respective wife and girlfriend. A few hours of Nerf gun wars and playing with Bowser (their rescued pitbull). Rang in the New Year with the ball drop on TV and a few sips of Barefoot Bubbly (a wine company that makes classic wine into champagne for the holiday) - who knew you could drink carbonated Pinot Grigio. We didn't get too far into the bottle which was a shame, because it was tasty!

4. Laura, Mike and Lilly were due home on the 30th, but Laura wound up sick and did not want to risk a repeat ear drum rupture from flying. They delayed their flight home until Jan 5th. I've enjoyed being able to clean at all hours with the music blaring, but I'm looking forward to having bodies and life in the house again. It gets a little lonely after a while - conversation with the dogs just isn't the same :)

5. Speaking of bodies in the house... an old friend from San Diego... specifically a dancing partner from In Cahoots (my country version of Cheers - where everyone knows your name). He's on his way back to Indiana for a few months, and is coming through Denver over the weekend. I sucessfully begged him to take me dancing and stay a few nights to visit.