It's touron season at RMNP!

I've been quite delinquent about keeping this updated. Haven't taken many photos or gone on any exciting trips; building a bathroom isn't exactly a must-read journal entry topic, either. That's life!

Logan was 76 lbs when I took him to the vet 2 weeks ago; I'm guessing he's pushing 80 lbs by now, and he just turned 7 months old! He's still got a bit more growing to do, and those estimates of a 100+ lb little horse seem to be accurate. Unfortunately, he's been having some issues with one of his shoulders. I am hoping it is just a muscle strain, but if it keeps reoccuring I will need to get him x-rayed to check for "OCD". I'm not going to bother spelling the acronym, but it is essentially a flap of cartilage in the shoulder that rubs against the rotary cuff. I'm really REALLY hoping this is not the case, but if he doesn't show more improvement (he is limping less but it comes and goes), I'll get more worried. Surgery will probably cost $500. Oh well, gotta do what I gotta do!

I almost came home with another puppy a couple weeks ago. His name is Griz, and he is a shepherd (probably Australian) and husky mix, 4 months old. Think of a fluffy, wolfy looking puppy with those rottweiler eyebrow markings. So spunky, so cute! If he was potty trained, I would have gotten him so Logan could have a buddy. However, it would just be too difficult while I have to work right now. Plus, I want to wait until Logan stops chewing on expensive stuff (my kitchen chairs, sleeper sofa, hiking boots, merrell shoes... He has good taste I suppose) and I can keep him out of the crate.

I haven't taken many photos lately, but it's a shame I didn't have my camera on a few occassions at work. I had just told the guys I work with that I hadn't seen a Golden Eagle in the park since 2003, when it was on the side of the road eating an elk carcass (keep in mind, golden eagles are HUGE - larger than bald eagles, I believe)... lo and behold, Tate and I are driving by Moraine Park and there's a huge golden eagle sitting in a dead tree! It then spread its wings and soared off. Just a week or two ago, we were rebuilding tent pads at Glacier Basin Campground and were driving down Bear Lake road when we saw some tourists on the side of the road. Usually, that means deer or elk, but we had a feeling this could be good. So we pull over...and I see this little black thing running around, at first I thought of a marmot, but that would be silly... Then I saw another little black fuzzball... being watched over by a BIG cinnamon fuzzball... It was two TINY bearcubs and their Mama!! And oh my god, I was making all the girly noises in the world, "They're so cute! Oh my gosh! They're soooo FREAKING ADORABLE!" I almost made myself nauseas. The cubs must not have been more than 4-6 weeks old and were frolicking around, while their cinnamon colored mom just hung out and watched. Then, the two little buggers climbed up a tree! And when I say climbed up a tree, I mean at least 50 feet! We lost track of them until at the very top we saw their little black bodies perched on some limbs of the lodgepole. I have only seen one bear in the park EVER, and I had never seen bear cubs that small. Such a bummer that I didn't have my camera, but I've carried it loyally ever since. Which is probably why I haven't seen anything exciting. :)

Work-wise, we had taken a break from our comfort station to do the campground rehab, which felt good to carry heavy things (logs), swing a sledgehammer and run a chainsaw. Then, we had to move concrete picnic tables - and at 1200 lbs per table, it was quite a circus. We had to move them from one place to another, haul out the old wooden ones, and just load after load... They are so heavy, we had to use a loader or the "SkyTrak" fork lift to move them. This forklift isn't just any forklift - it's a military issue 65 ft tall skid steer forklift. It's a freaking dinosaur, but it serves its purpose... and I had fun running it. These stupid picnic tables couldn't just be picked up and set down, either; the bolts are kept loose to keep them from breaking, so they had to be squared up and leveled, which was an annoying process of picking it up, shoveling out the pad, putting it down, checking it, picking it up again... And of course, it's at the most popular picnic area in the park, and school bus after school bus dropped the munchkins off and we had to work around all the chaos. Fun fun.

This week, back at 617 (our bathroom), I spent 1 1/2 days just sanding down the frame for our skylights. It really shouldn't take that long, but they weren't sanded before they were INSTALLED... so I was on scaffolding that was too tall for me to stand and work on the wood, but too short for me to sit. Half stooped over, craning my neck up and holding the sander over my head; sawdust all over everything as my neck, shoulders, arms, and wrists protested. But they look good and I can sleep well at night, knowing I did something good. (Yes, that's sarcasm.) I think we may start putting windows in soon. Originally it was supposed to be done by... tomorrow... but obviously that's not even close to happening. One of our new employees has a lot of experience and has some ideas that will hopefully help the next ones go quicker, and cheaper.

I had my fire refresher on Thursday, and my physical and pack test are coming up soon. It felt good thinking about the upcoming season, and the fact that I am the only one in special projects with a red card. Hopefully that means I'll get to go out more than once. One of the case studies we watched was coincidentally about a fire that my friend (who was also in the class) went on last year, the Little Venus fire. She was with the lookout, and there had been serious communication problems - so severe, that a crew was hiking up a canyon, right towards a huge raging fire that had blow up. She watched the fire and they couldn't tell the firefighters to NOT come that way; they were scared to death that they were watching them die. The firefighters in the canyon did end up deploying their shelters and survived two intense waves of fire, but nobody ever wants to use their shelters, EVER. If you have to deploy, something went seriously wrong. Last year, 7 firefighters got burned over and died, 4 died of vehicle or aircraft, 1 died from a snag, 3 died of heart attack. This season is already starting off pretty severe, with fires in New Jersey, Georgia, Florida, Minnesota, the southwest; even Michigan had one that my friend was sent out to from here. Tim was supposed to go out with the Hot Shots, but they went 2 days later than he could've gone and been back in time for his backcountry project.

Lots of partying this holiday weekend. Friday night was a great band. Would've danced, but I literally pulled a calf muscle dancing LAST weekend. Gotta remember to warm up first, apparently! And I wasn't the only one that walked awayinjured from that bluegrass. Yesterday, Mark and Amiee had a keg party, complete with a bonfire and horseshoes, elk and antelope meat, and us girls indulged in some gin and tonic. I brought Logan and he had a jolly old time, playing with the other dogs, drinking beer (hey, I told my friends he was underage... they laughed) and eating elk bones. The amazing thing is that he really hasn't seen many little kids, but my friend's 1-2 yr old baby walked around and Logan came over to check him out, sniffled him a little, licked his head... and kindof started guarding him! Logan still isn't that big into strangers - not mean, not afraid, just doesn't pay them notice - but he followed this kid around, never got too rowdy, just was fascinated with him. It was pretty darned cute, and everybody was impressed with Logan. I'm glad I have a dog that can hang with the best of them. :)

Tim and I went on our first motorcycle ride together yesterday as well. We went from Estes, down 7 to 72 to Nederland, then east over to Boulder, then back up to Estes. He told everybody I "kicked ass" on my bike. Hey, I think every time I make it home in one piece, I must've done something right. :P

I started physical therapy for my tendonitis in both my elbows, and for my chronic back pain. Of course, he had to evaluate me... which means he had to make me hurt in as many ways as possible. Seriously, I left that appointment so sore, I had to go home and take a pill and a nap. I have the Park's new official chainsaw class for 2 days next week. They are making it so ANYBODY that wants to use a chainsaw MUST take a class. There's a lot of controversy and general upset about the whole thing. I do think everybody should take it; I've worked with MANY old guys that say, "Oh I've run a saw since I could walk! I know what I'm doing!" And then watch them do some of the stupidest most unsafe things ever. At the same time, this class is different from the fire chainsaw class, and fire is all pissy about us not taking THEIR class. Their class is all about cutting trees on the fireline; it has nothing to do with logwork, or felling around buildings. I get to teach a few minutes of it, apparently; get to talk about "east coast vs west coast" felling. Too bad I haven't dropped a tree since last October. Yes, I miss it big time...

Oh, and I am designing the t-shirt for special projects this year. See, my life is just full of excitement lately, isn't it?! :)

Well it's way past my bedtime, looks like Tim and I are going for another motorcycle ride tomorrow. Good night!

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This is old stuff, but finally here is my Trail Log for Bandelier. I did find this cool site that has a link to a Google Earth interactive satellite map of the canyon, on which you can even see the trail.

Yapashi Pueblo and Stone Lions: (16 miles round trip) The majority of the trail was relatively easy going across the mesa-top, predominantly through gamble oak and ponderosa pine - that is, once you finish the short, steep hike from the canyon bottom to the top; and if you ignore the gruelling hike down and up the Alamo Canyon - TWICE. ;)  Since the mesa is so large and relatively flat, there really isn't much to see in the way of spectacular views either. Additionally, I can see it being very very hot and intensely sunny come late spring and summer. Even in early April, it is usually nasty hot making sunblock and plenty of water necessities. Of course, rain and snow accompanied me on most of my hikes and I kept my waterproof Trails Illustrated Map in hand (or overhead, I suppose!) as an umbrella. The smaller canyons that cut across the mesa were lush little pockets of water, shrubs and trees, and were a good warm up for the steep and intimidating 900 foot decent down the rock stairs of Alamo canyon. The view alone from the top was awesome, this deep canyon as a steep, long gash through the broad, flat mesa. What goes down the canyon, must go up, and the trail was less intimidating but still covered the same elevation gain on the other side of the canyon. Then, it was more gently undulating hiking until you come upon the Yapashi Ruins. It is eerily obvious where these unexcavated ruins are, as these tall, gangly cactii ONLY seem to grow where the ruins exist. With their many skinny "limbs", the cactii almost have a human form, and it's as if they are the ghosts of the inhabitants of past. I couldn't help but be extra respectful while feeling as if the cactii were watching me! Old painted pottery shards, obsidian as pure and uniform as glass - some of it chiseled to a point - as well as other indications of their civilization littered the ground. People had also obviously gathered artifacts that they found on top of a reconstructed wall. A short hike past this, and the Stone Lions, carved out of rock and still recognizeable despite extensive weathering, lay side by side inside a rock circle. I hiked this trail pretty fast (got sick of getting rained on) and it took me I believe 5 hours. I did enjoy this trail and the nice surprise it is to come upon this huge canyon and then the ruins. Anybody with a long day should check it out! And I didn't see a single soul on the entire trail - always a bonus. :)

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks Canyon Trail and Cave Trail (3 miles for canyon; 1.2 for cave): Tim and I discovered this little National Monument by chance, after off roading down from Bandelier, south to some unknown destination. The canyon trail skirts alongside the tent rocks and then dives right into a narrow little slot canyon. Some of the ponderosa that somehow managed to steady themselves in the ever-changing wash have battled the erosion around their roots - leaving often 4 feet or more of exposed roots that lie above the sand. These roots have become more like the trunk and lie at strange angles in an effort to butress the tree. Since I didn't really take many photos, and Tim hasn't developed his yet, click here for the photo gallery from the BLM.

I also had hiked the Jemez Falls trail, and explored around the Dept. of Energy land; probably another 6 miles. Yes, my hiking season is off to a SLOW start.

Busy busy springtime!

With my hit-or-miss internet connection, being sick (allergies!!!), working, Logan, and everything else... I've slacked off a bit. Really nothing too crazy going on, just spend my weeks cutting and drilling and building... spend my weekend running, riding the motorcycle, playing with the dog, watching the RED WINGS!!!! and just somehow the time flies.

So here's some new pics of our "comfort station" (aka bathroom) and Logan.

From Spring 2007 -...

Hot sunny day in the mountains!

I know I know, it's been a long time. I'm busy now that I'm working! And internet access isn't always an easy thing for me. So where to start...

New Mexico. Of course, it had been 80 degrees and sunny for the trail dogs before I got there... so it's no surprise that it got cold and snowed two of the days I was down there. I was so excited, I packed shorts and tank tops and a skirt! Guess I jinxed myself thinking that it would stay nice and warm. Even better - right after I left, it got warm and sunny again. Nice, real nice. Logan and I had a great time anyway, and he was in doggy heaven running around off leash on forest service land. One day, Tim, Jeff, Logan and I went adventuring in the canyons off trail on Dept. of Energy lands (did I mention Los Alamos is where they invented the atom bomb??); one night, Tim and I went back to Spence hot springs. We hoped we'd have it to ourselves, but there were 5 Albuqueque rednecks, being loud and stupid and putting their cigarette butts out in the water. Who freaking does that?!?!?! It was pretty annoying but we did tune them out a little bit while we watched shooting stars and soaked in the hot springs.

Another day, we got access to the locked 4x4 road that goes through Bandelier and connects to other forest service roads. This time around, I got to drive my truck instead of Tim and his truck, and of course it had been beautiful and clear until we started out... then it started snowing and got foggy, so we couldn't see very far. The road wasn't that intense but it was still a lot of fun. We kept going south and didn't know if the key we had would open the gate at that end, since it wasn't in the Monument... if it didn't work, it would be over an hour drive back. Tim put the key in the lock, jiggled it, and his face lit up. Neither of us thought it would work, but it did! And we had no idea where we were at the other end, since it wasn't on the map. After some "scenic detouring", we figured out where we were and saw this little National Monument on the map nearby. Why not stop?? We didn't really know what to expect, but Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument was a pleasant surprise. We hiked the slot canyon and got great views of the unique rock formations of the area. Tim took tons of great photos and of course my camera died on me. We'll see if I ever get copies to post on here!

All in all, it was a fantastic week and I was bummed to leave!

So then, I started working 2 weeks ago. I'm a contruction kitten instead of a chainsaw kitten now! Since I've started, we've put up the metal studs on the outside walls and are almost done with the inside, and put up the big log trusses. Hopefully next week we will start with the roof. I'm learning tons but the guys all seem to like me on the crew and think I'm doing a great job. Haven't cut any fingers off at least! The weather had been pretty heinous lately while we've been working and I've gone home looking like a wet rat more than once. This weekend has been gorgeous though! Went for a little roadtrip with Logan down to Nederland and Central City so I could take the "Oh My God" road through the old mining areas. We'll just say that there was at least one old car wreckage still at the bottom of one of the slopes. :P

Tim got back last night. I don't usually gripe about relationships in this journal, but we'll just say it wasn't good. He had better things to do than talk to me, apparently. Oh well oh hell I suppose. So my song of the day is "Valentine" by the Old 97's:

"Heartbreak, old friend, goodbye it's me again.
Of late, I've had some thought of movin' in.
Of all the many ways a man will lose his home,
Well, there ain't none better than the girl who's movin' on.

True love, I knew some thought of, some thought of leavin' you.
Bad thoughts I had, when valentines were due.
Of all the many ways a man will break his heart,
Well there ain't none meaner than he pulls his own apart

CHORUS:
Valentine, the destroyer, Valentine, you belong
In the stars, where you are, always rollin' on.
Cried, I've cried till I couldn't carry on.
It's a lonely, lonely feelin' when your Valentine is wrong.
It's a lonely, lonely feelin' when your Valentine is wrong.

Of all the many things that you were countin' on,
Well, there ain't none better than the girl who's movin' on.
No, there ain't none better than the girl who's movin' on."

Time for a motorcycle ride!\

Oh, here's photos of our project; click on the photo to see a couple others.

From Spring 2007 -...

Work! OMG! Tomorrow!

Tomorrow, I wake up early... and go to work! YAY! I think. ;)

New Mexico was freaking awesome. I don't feel like writing a big long story right now, but I'll post the photos. Highlights include hot springs, long hikes, Walker Texas Ranger, Logan hiking off leash, the ghost of Mrs. Frey, and snow. Yes, snow. It was hot and sunny right before I got there... and right after I got there. Hee hee. So now, I am Tim-less for another few weeks. Sniffle sniffle. Logan and I start obedience tomorrow. Jenna was in town. Blah blah blah.

Here's the photos. Enjoy.

 

From Bandelier NM,...

Estes Park has been busy lately

I get home from getting my truck fixed yesterday and notice there are a bunch of cop cars and SUVs just a couple houses down from the Rock Inn and my street. I pull up to my cottage, where another government SUV is parked outside next door. My arrival was greeted by two unhappy and heavily armed men that were standing on either side of my neighbor's cabin, looking down into the creek area and sortof "junkyard" area that is behind my place on the other side of the drainage. These men were sporting bullet proof vests and semi-automatic rifles. Hmmm.

Ends up they had the whole area - from highway 66 just down from the Rock, down the next sidestreet where the junkyard area is, and my place was on the perimeter on the other side - surrounded by sheriffs and marshalls. I asked the guy closest to my place, apparently a "Sheriff Negotiator" according to his vest, what was going on. Well there's been a fugitive on the loose that busted out of some prison in Washington and, lucky me, they think he's been hiding out in the cars/campers/junk that is just down behind my place about 200 feet. Nice. Another sheriff suggested we stay indoors until they knew for sure what was going on.

Of course, I had left my place unlocked because well that's just what we do up here sometimes. Not like I have anything worth stealing... But I never counted on a potential "armed and dangerous" fugitive being lose. I opened my bedroom and bathroom doors cautiously, and timidly peeked up in my loft... just to be sure, ya know. ;)

They were out there for a while but they think they missed him and he fled the area again. Darn. A cute officer came to my place and gave me a card, telling me to report anything suspicious, and offering up a compliment to my handsome dog. "At least you have a dog to protect you if anything happens." To which I replied, "Are you freaking kidding me?? He's nothing but a big chicken!"

In the meantime, across town there were multiple drug busts. Yes, this all happened yesterday. They were busted for a cocaine ring. Thank god, get that horrible stuff out of here. This weekend there was also a bust for a suspected meth lab (apparently that's big up here in the mountains... which is funny, since it's mostly retired old people and stoners, who aren't into that kind of thing... guess it's the creepy "other" locals that don't hang out in the nice restaurants or the national park??)

 

Ready to roll, right outside my bedroom window

Going to New Mexico tomorrow is sounding better and better. ;)

One more road trip before I start working

I'm hanging out at a coffee shop in Boulder while Truck is getting recall work done. I've just signed myself up for a couple volunteer trails projects with the Colorado 14ers Initiative, finished my taxes, and just generally tying up loose ends before my busy season at the park begins. I'm so excited to start working on the 16th! I've run into my new boss and coworkers and it seems that it's big news that I left hazard tree and moved on to special projects! Everybody thinks I made the right decision. In fact, I just found out this morning that Cisco, who worked haz tree with me last year, just told our boss that he is not coming back either! That's what happens when hard work, dedication and innitiative are ignored - you lose good employees! I'm sure our old boss is ticked off, since he really didn't know what/where/how/who was going on at any given time and he really wanted both of us back because we know what's going on (and the new crewleader has NO idea). We kept casual records of what we did (which we weren't really asked to do but figured it would be a good idea) but they're gonna have a hard time getting up to speed with everything we did last year.

Oh well! I'm gonna have a good season, and that's all that counts. ;)  I guess the first part of my job is going to be demolition! Hell yeah! Getting paid for destruction!

I am leaving either Wednesday or Thursday for New Mexico to hang out with Tim for the weekend at Bandelier National Monument. Looking forward to those hot springs again! That's the last time I'll see Tim until the end of April. I'll be back here by the 12th to pick Jenna up from Denver, and she leaves on the 14th. Logan and I start doggie obedience training the 16th (as well as it being my first day of work). My birthday is the 18th! So much stuff going on!

I forgot to mention in my last entry that Chris Thile is playing in Ann Arbor, MI at the Ark on June 8th, if any of you folks are interested. Looks like it's $25 and trust me, it's worth it!

And I'd like to mention that if anybody out there is interested in volunteering for Rocky Mountain for a certain number of hours a week, for at least a couple weeks (think of it as a vacation), you do get free housing for some jobs. I don't know specifics, but it's a way to live in the park and have fun outside! In fact, most national parks have volunteer programs like that. Heck, you can even do it in Hawaii at Haleakala, or the Virgin Islands! So if you or anybody you know wants to volunteer - from trails, to wildlife, to ranger programs, or campground hosts - you should check it out! Even if there aren't "current openings" here, you can always contact the volunteer coordinator, or contact me and I'll put you in touch with people in charge of resource managment, or trails, or whatever, and maybe you can set up something else that isn't posted.

About 2 or 3 days ago, the wind was howling worse than I've seen in months. It literally made my truck rock back and forth in the driveway; I thought my roof was going to fly off! The clouds were low and tight around Long's Peak and I have never seen them move that quickly - it was probably hurricane strength up there at 14,000 ft! The weather goes from warm and sunny, to snowing, to windy, to warm, to snowing again... in a matter of HOURS. We've only had one good thunderstorm so far, and once we had a thunder snowstorm. The trees and bushes here in Boulder are already sporting some little leaves; the pasque flowers are JUST starting to bloom up in Estes, and definitely no leaves for another couple weeks at least!

There's quite a buzz going on still about the Park's proposal to cull the elk herd; the debate is getting quite heated, on top of that. I just read this article stating that our "harsh winter" killed off quite a few elk and there may not be "as much of a need" for culling, at the least in the short term. In fact, this whole "hunting elk" in Rocky is sparking off a national debate and proposals to congress regarding hunting in any and ALL National Parks. Beyond the debate of whether elk should be culled at all, is the huge debate on whether park sharpshooters, restricted hunters, or a totally open, public hunt should be used to accomplish the task. I'm totally against an open hunt to any and all public; I mean seriously, you let the public go in there, do you think they will kill the weak or nasty elk?? They'll go for the ones with big racks that look nice; this is NOT the purpose culling. The state just wants it because they want more revenue.(I have little faith in the general public as a whole on any issue... hence, we had George W. in office for 2 terms!) And, I'm very against any legislative measures that can open up ALL national parks to hunting; the possible implications and consequence of doing that are just too wide-reaching. For example, now that grizzleys are delisted in Yellowstone, does that mean they'll start hunting those again? I just don't trust it, not yet at least. There's still plenty of people/government officials out there that think we shouldn't have brought grizzleys or wolves back in the first place. Any excuse to kill them and some of them would see them all killed again!

The one thing I really got a kick out of from that article about Rocky Mountain is this: "Beetle infestation: Baker said the mountain pine beetle epidemic has had a significant impact on the park's trees, especially on the western side. He said biologists are spraying "high-value" trees in areas where visitors are more plentiful, but he described the larger battle against the rapacious insect "kind of like sticking a thumb in a dike." "You can't stop the beetle, so what we are doing is dealing with the aftermath," he said."

Know why that's funny? Because the "biologists" spraying high value trees means Cisco and myself; mere seasonal bio techs. We determined what WE thought were high value; marked all those trees; and supervised the sprayer company ourselves. Our "biologist" boss had very little to do with it. And know who was dealing with the aftermath? Yes, Cisco and I. Two measley little seasons with so much responsibility... and we got no credit; I didn't even get an interview for the crewleader job; Cisco wasn't even CONSIDERED. It still cracks me up that scientists in offices say "beetles only hit x number of feet up a tree" and "they only hit trees bigger than x inches diamter" and "they only fly for a small period of time in x month"... So often this summer, what we saw in the field was so different than what we were told as "fact". But alas, our knowledge and experience apparently count for nothing. Ok, so I'm still a little bitter... ;)

Another thing I just read about the Fish and Wildlife Service... looks like my old place of employment, Red Rock Lakes NWR in Montana, and other refuges I detailed out on fire - Charles M. Russell, probably Bison Range, Fish Springs, Browns Park, etc etc - are all getting even less funding. Those places were already working with a skeleton crew! Our poor public lands... so much demand, but so little resources/money to staff/protect/manage them!

That's all for now that I can remember. Busy busy busy! Gearing up for another great season in the mountains! VISIT ME!

My employment dilemma

No, I still haven't decided between special projects and hazard tree. I've been going back and forth about it all weekend. Saturday, I decided special projects - learn some new skills, make some more money, diversify a little bit... Yesterday, I decided hazard tree... Grand Lake in the spring, a little bit over overtime for the first month or two, running a chainsaw...  And then I remember that it is a DEAD END and I'll be seasonal until either 2009 (if I'm LUCKY) or until I leave Rocky!

So, I am procrastinating while I think about it. I'll probably wait until this afternoon and then just whatever blurts out of my mouth is my decision. Either way, it's not like I won't have a great summer - how can I not love doing ANYTHING in this beautiful park! It's not like there is a wrong answer. It's just a matter of, you know, some day being MORE than a seasonal!

Tim and I went down to Boulder, got sushi, and went to that e-Town Chris Thile and the How to Grow a Band show... and once again, I have to totally rave. I didn't realize that this guy was the same guy that started playing mandolin at age 5, was in the band Nickel Creek by age 8, and is just unbefreakinglieveable. They are a bluegrass/swampy old time sound, and every musician was so talented - from the fiddle (Gabe Witcher) to the banjo to the upright bass to the guitar. Check out their myspace pages and have a listen... Especially their version of the White Stripes' "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground". :)  On top of that, Chris is HILARIOUS and when there were some "technical difficulties" during his interview, he kept us entertained. I'm convinced he's a member of the ADHD club with his rambling stories and fidgeting. Takes one to know one!

.... Need to continue later. Gotta gab with Steph!

Ok it's later and I'll continue my e-Town show review. After Chris Thile was done, JJ Grey and MOFRO came on. They were a down south blues/funk group, complete with back up singer girls (which I didn't think were very good singers), a trumpet and a tenor sax. As soon as this relatively short/small guy opened his mouth, I was blown away. He belted out songs in a low, gravelly voice that I think anybody that likes Joe Cocker or Tom Waits would appreciate. I would never have expected him to sound like that! I highly recommend listening some music clips on the website.

Tim leaves next week for Bandelier NP in New Mexico for a month. I think I'm going down there to hang out and adventure before I start working on the 16th. And even better... my friend Jenna is coming to visit!! I am sooo psyched, she has never been out here and I've only seen her once in the past year or so. Spring = busy busy busy!!

Oh, and it's official. I'm hanging up my chaps and chainsaw and leaving Resource Management... I'm now a proud employee of Special Projects, in the maintenance division. Looks like I'll be on the construction crew working on some new buildings in the campgrounds, and then doing whatever else pops up. They take up whatever random projects need to get done. I went back and forth and back and forth, but hey - why not give it a shot? Not like I have anything to lose! And, I'll be making more $$$ and working with a couple friends of mine. Time to learn some more random skills... carpentry, plumbing, electrical... it's all part of the job!

Happy Spring!

Woo! Spring's here! Well ok I guess it was technically on Tuesday evening but I've been busy. I surprised Tim with a little bouquet of yellow daffodils and white daisies for spring; he surprised me out of nowhere and got us tickets to the Chris Thile e-town show on Sunday - like the Yonder show we saw last month, taped for that radio show. :)  The Rock Inn is having the Big Lebowski night tonight - looks like I gotta be Bunny again and see if my bikini will still help me win the costume prize.

Other news is I was offered a seasonal job with "special projects" here at Rocky Mt. I did already say yes to the forestry tech hazard tree job, but obviously I'm not crewleader... If I go to special projects, I will make more money, could start working next week (but still be limited to 1039 hours), and get a pay raise every season I come back ("step" increase - the WG grade is for laborers, and it's way better than the GS that I've been); If I stay at hazard tree, I don't go up in step, and my base pay is fundamentally less as a GS-5 than a WG-5. Plus, I'd get to learn how to completely remodel structures - from the trails lodge on the west side, to rest rooms, to installing water lines to the new fire house... I don't know what to do. I wouldn't be working four 10 hour days anymore and would instead be on 5-4-9's... 9 hour days for 5 days one week, then 4 days the next. I love my four 10s! And I wouldn't get to run a saw every day; though, there is a lot of saw work while building these log buildings.

Well Logan is waiting for me to take him to the dog park. Here's some photos from my St. Patty's Day, and another I found in the archeives. :)

 

Logan looking quite "wolfy" as he discovers how much fun running in a river can be

Michelle and I do probably our 7th or 8th car bomb on St. Patty's Day

Maria, me, Jenna and Steph looking green and exhausted from dancing!

Me, Jeff, Jess and Amadeo back in the "glory days" at 5th Ave

Springtime in the Rockies

It's been warm, sunny, and just awesome up here in Estes for the past week or two. I went down to Denver last week and there were FLOWERS blooming! This came as a shock to me until I realized that it's mid-March, and even back in Detroit the bulbs would be blooming. It might be nice up here in the mountains, but no sign of any flowers! Soon, perhaps...

I FINALLY got my motorcycle moved from my old place in Lyons to my new place up here. Tim was nice enough to help me... because, ya know, we "broke up." Ha ha, whatever. We are still hanging out and having fun together. He worked the door for the Rock on St. Patty's Day, and my friend Maria came up from Fort Collins... It was SO MUCH FUN! Car bombs, car "bombtinis" (car bombs in martini form!), lephrechaun shots, and mass quantities of Guinness... And no hangover!! ;)  Whitewater Ramble got everybody dancing, including Maria and I, doing our Irish Jigs and kicking people in the process. :)

My friend Travis might be able to hook me up with some temporary work with a rafting company in Moab, Utah... so I might be getting out of here for a little bit and enjoying the even warmer weather down there. I am now officially a "forestry technician" instead of a "biological technician", since they switched hazard tree around a bit. I made the top of the cert of course... and I still am ticked off that I was top of the cert for the leader but I got screwed. Looks like I'll be living in Grand Lake for a few weeks like last year, getting tons of overtime and working my butt off. I'm looking forward to it. :)

Here's some photos. Not much but I haven't been on any grand adventures in about 2 2 weeks. ;) BUT, there should be some hilarious ones of St. Patty's Day soon!

From Winter 2006-2007

The view from my backyard - Long's Peak!

 

Logan munching on a pig ear. He's probably at least 55 pounds now!

Makes me wanna BREAK SOMETHING!

ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

No chipper, happy, hunky go dorey news here boys and girls. Well, I broke up with Tim about a week ago. Ironic that my last entry was about how GREAT our snowshoe trip was. Not that we don't care about each other, but we just need to figure some important stuff out. Nothing like the break-up of a well known local couple in a small town to realize just how small this place can really feel!! So, I'm super bummed out but it was the best thing for us both right now. We'll see what happens... I mean, does the whole "taking time to figure things out" ever actually end up with people back together?? Things DO happen for a reason...

And on top of that, I got a call from my boss early on Monday morning telling me, "Well, I went ahead and hired Brian for the crew leader position..." No. Freaking. Way. The ONLY person in the whole park that could have a shot at beating me for it (he did hazard tree for a couple years). But, he wasn't here last year, when Cisco and I pretty much were our own boss and took care of EVERYTHING, above and beyond our duties as mere seasonal slaves. We convinced him to MAKE the crewleader job. Brian is a good guy and probably the only person I would work under, but it's not to say that I am not SOOOO PISSED OFF. He has no idea what we did last year, and they'd be screwed if Cisco and I didn't come back this summer. And pretty much everybody I know and work with knows I got shafted. My boss said he went back and forth about it all weekend, and the reasons he picked this guy over me were, as he admitted, CRAP. Just probably because he's older and been around longer. The ONLY redeeming and potentially good thing to come about this is that he said they are trying to secure funding for another term position.

If that doesn't happen, there's pretty much no way for me to advance my career here. There's not a lot of turnover, and very few term or permanent jobs. I'm gonna bet I'll be outta here within the next 2 years. I can't stand the idea of being an educated, qualified, ambitious individual working seasonally and being shafted as has happened to many of my friends. At least I'm not one of those people that have been here for 6-8 summer seasons and still see no light at the end of the tunnel. I mean, these are the sacrifices we make to work in the coolest places in the US and do jobs we love... but still, I do want to eventually have like, a CAREER or something. Go figure. :P

Wherewould I go? Montana or Alaska, most likely.

Anyway, pardon my crankiness but I think I'm allowed. My friends Jen, Steph, and Maria have been fantastic at keeping me busy and optimistic. Lunch in Denver and lots of gabbing with Steph; Maria and her phone calls; and Jen, getting margaritas two days in a row, playing erotic photo hunt (boobs!), and taking our mutts for a walk...

But, St. Patty's Day should be a BLAST.  Maybe I'll take a trip to Seattle or something, since I'm not working until April 16th now. Dammit.

The North Fork Adventure!

From North Fork Ca...

What an adventure indeed! Depending on who you are, you're either going to read about my weekend and say "Wow, that sounds GREAT!" or "Are you freaking CRAZY?! That sounds AWEFUL!"

Let me just say, it was one of the best weekends I've had in months!

I woke up on Friday morning with tons of stuff to do - send Logan off to day care, run some errands... and SOLD MY FOCUS! Woo hoo! I'm rich! Well, not really... but my lovely little hatchback is now frolicking somewhere down near Colorado Springs, and I've got a little bit o' cash. ;)  I finally got all Loge's stuff together and dropped him off at Tara's for the weekend, trying not to be an overly worried mommy. Tim and I wanted to get to the trailhead by 3:00 but didn't make on the trail until about 4:30 pm.

All that fresh powder beckoning us... Strapped on my brand new snowshoes and hoisted my pack onto my back, as Tim geared up in his "bunny boots" (rubber boots filled with air, so they are SUPER warm) and put HIS pack - probably at least 60 lbs - on his back... and off we went. We went up and down the road by Cheley Camp and soon were in the national forest. Fresh moose tracks were along the trail along the drainage, so I jokingly started my "moose call" - "HEEEEERRRREEEEEE MOOSEY MOOSEY MOOSEY" And what do you know, Tim looks up to our left, and there's a momma moose and her baby hanging out on the slope. It was a great start to our trip, and we weren't too tired or cold and the powder was fresh but not too deep. Perfect!

The sun began to set. The last hints of ANYBODY being on the trail quickly faded away, and soon we were traveling through deep powdery drifts of snow. We'd bet that nobody had been up there in MONTHS, as there was no snowpack of footprints and the powder was unlike anything I've ever seen. The snow had drifted and was so deep that we kept losing the trail on and off. Even when we were ON trail, we could hardly tell that there was a prexisiting route, giving us this liberating feeling of bushwacking into the backcountry, wild and untouched.

This was great for a while, but I don't have snowpants anymore and my new snowshoes kick up snow on my butt more than any other pair ever had, so soon my butt was frozen and the temperature dropped severely. We were both pretty warm for most of the hike in, but once the sun set, the wind picked up, and we both got dehydrated from our water bottles freezing... My butt was so cold it hurt! Yes, I did wonder if you could get frostbite on your heiney, it was THAT cold! But besides that, my hands, feet, face and core were all nice and toasty as we went from Forest Service Land, to Comanche Peaks Wilderness, and finally into Rocky Mountain.

The big problem was once we got fatigued and the temperature and the sun went down, we reached a few points where we had no idea where the trail was, and the snow was deeper than ever. We backtracked and plodded around in bewilderment for a short period of time, trying to find some hint - maybe a cut tree, or a rock wall - of the trail instead of truly meandering off into the middle of nowhere. Somehow we always managed to pick up the trail and kept trudging on, uphill, hoping that we were getting close to warmth!

Tim started running on empty and his heavy pack was taking its toll; I was in front breaking trail and, if you've never done this in deep powder, it tires you out fast. I'd get bogged down, catch my breath, curse loudly and pure stubbornness powered me through some deep snow drifts. Finally we reached a high point in the woods and Tim was certain the cabin was somewhere, and that we somehow lost the trail again. Miraculously again, we roamed around until we found the true trail and reached a sign. The cabin is here!

...But where?! With only the moonlight and our headlamps, we knew it was somewhere close but we just could NOT see it!! Tim dropped his pack and headed along the river, and I was so thankful when he called out that he found it. I had visions of us reaching the cabin, then him dropping the key because his hands were so cold, and being stuck outside! But nothing of the sort happened, and soon we were indoors from the wind... and it was a whopping 8 degrees!! So five hours later, at 9:30 pm, we reached our 5 mile destination... Yep, we averaged ONE mile per HOUR!

Once inside, Tim immediately got to work on lighting the wood stove. That piece of metal was my best friend as it came to life and began warming our cold little 20'x16' cabin and brought some feeling back into my butt! Tim was fantastic about getting us warm and fed, and we feasted on cashews and hot lentil soup at around 11:30 pm. The windows were boarded up so it was completely dark indoors, while the bright moon cast purple shadows in the pines outside. We didn't have the energy or desire to get the propane system up and running, so we just lit some candles and wore our headlamps as we set up our sleeping bags and pads in the loft. Soon it was 40 degrees downstairs, and even warmer in the loft, and we drifted off into a dehydrated, exhausted sleep. I for one can say that I had the most bizarre dreams, each part a creative and strange account of why my back ached, why my butt was so cold, why my hand hurt (in the dark, didn't see that there was a drop off and hit my hand on the stove pipe!)... I slept pretty well but was happy to be done with those dreams and back into reality in the morning!

We were worried because we were supposed to call into ROMO dispatch to let them know we made it; however, the battery for the radio was dead, and we were slightly worried that they would send rangers out to find us, as per backcountry protocol if somebody doesn't check in. Nobody ever mentioned that it was a SOLAR battery, mounted under a few feet of snow on the roof... But we did reach them in the morning before any rescue crew came out to greet us. ;)

The shutters were still closed so we didn't even realize how bright it was outside until we climbed out of the loft and went out the front door for a cold and invigorating "bathroom break" - nothing like baring your bottom on a beautiful winter day! (And we never did find the privy - we were looking for an outhouse building... ends up, it was simply a hole in the ground with some logs behind it! We had passed it so many times, but it was so buried in snow we didn't realize it!) As Tim phrased it, Saturday was a bluebird day without a cloud in the sky! Smoke poured from our chimney as Tim removed the shutters and shed some glorious sunlight into our little home! Soon, bacon was sizzling on the propane stove and Tim cooked up toast and scrambled eggs with mushrooms. It was a great start to the day and the wood stove got our little home up to 68 degrees. Well fed, we relaxed in front of the windows for a while and took our time gearing up for our day hike. We filtered water right from the stream and got rehydrated, and fortunately Tim let me borrow some pants so I wouldn't literally freeze my ass off again! Around 12:30, we finally headed out on the virgin powder trail towards Lost Lake. We decided that, in light of our progress the night before, there was no way we would reach the lake, a 10 mile round trip. We aimed for the Falls instead, which I believe is about 2.5 miles. I think we realized pretty quickly, as we took turns exhausting ourselves breaking trail, that this might not be realistic either.

No matter, for the day was bright, "warm" (we were sweating in 30 degree weather!), and just beautiful. We stopped for a chicken/mushroom/asperagus and cashew lunch at Happily Lost campsite and determined that we really weren't going to make it to the falls, it was so slow going and the snow remained deep. We continued on for a short amount of time to see if we could get a better view of Stormy Peaks, but the trail remained buried in the forest so we turned around about 3 pm. Going back to the cabin went FAST, since we had made a trail and it was downhill. We were back at the cabin by 4:30 and spent the rest of the day in our long underwear, reading magazines and just being lazy, watching the icicles grow longer as the heat from our stove melted the few feet of snow on the roof.

Saturday night was burrito night! Tim packed in a tomato and an avocado, tortillas, veggie meat, cheese and hot sauce and cooked under the light of the propane lamp mounted on the rafter. He even surprised me and brought a bottle of wine, so we ate like kings and called it an early night, I believe around 9 pm? The moon shined in brightly but we slept well in the dark loft.

Sunday morning came and it was time to clean up and prepare for our hike out. We had another big breakfast of eggs and bacon, I filtered water and restocked the wood pile by the cabin as he tended to the fire and took care of other chores. We took our time and both didn't want to leave. It was another gorgeous, warm day and everything was set just before noon. Our last two tasks were to sign the Cabin Register and close up the windows. Nobody had been there since October! It was a nice feeling to think we were the only ones to have set foot and enjoyed the North Fork Cabin all winter. All geared up and ready to go, Tim put in the last 2 bolts to the shutters, we closed the door and locked the bolt and snowshoed away from our weekend retreat. Such a good trip!

The hike out was WARM - maybe 40 degrees - and Tim was down to just a t-shirt. The snow was no longer powdery but was wet and heavy, and we made it out very quickly on our trodden path - 3 hours, compared to the 5 it took to get there. Made it to the trailhead, took showers, and was back at the Rock Inn just after 4 for a cold beer or two or three. Picked up Logan from Tara's, watched Seinfeld at my place, and went to bed... And of course, neither one of us slept as well as we did at the cabin, on thin pads in our sleeping bags. Go figure.

So that is the North Fork Adventure. I hope we do something like that again in the future! Unfortunately, I didn't get many photos - it was so cold, my camera didn't want to work, or my fingers didn't want to bother with it.

And here is yet another "could've been a nice photo, but..." picture of Tim and I. Tate, the guy on the right, had a friend come into town and he posted this photo on his myspace page. I'm waiting for the day that we take a photo that I won't get teased about! But, it is pretty darned funny!

At least I can crop it and almost make it look decent... ;)

Ever see a mandolin player headbang??

Last night was that Yonder Mountain String Band show that I was so excited about. I knew that it was for this "thing" called "E-Town", but I didn't really know what E-town was. Tim tried to explain, but I still didn't really know what he was talking about.

Well, it was unlike any other show I've ever seen. In fact, it wasn't like a concert at all. E-town is a one hour music variety show, where they have a few artists come on, play some songs, do an interview, then play a little more. It was a lot like some artist features on NPR; you hear them playing in front of a live audience and hear the interviews on the radio. Seeing this happen as a member of the live audience was a trip - for example, they introduced Yonder Mountain, they played 3 songs, and then they RE-introduced them (without the band really coming back on) because they didn't like how it turned out the first time. We'd have to repeat the "tail end of that applause" so they could come in and thank the sponsors, and sometimes the audience was too loud, or the announcer chick would flub it. In mid-song, David Wilcox flubbed a verse and they repeated it. All this, so they could cut and paste a 2 1/2 hour show into a 1 hour show. This, and they had to edit out the morons that kept yelling out to try to be on the radio. :P  It was so great because Yonder played a few songs, got interviewed, then David Wilcox came on and did a few, got interviewed, did some more songs, interviewed some guy from a Katrina musician's nonprofit, then Yonder came back out and played more. In the end, David Wilcox, Nick Forster (musician and host of E-town), and Yonder all played that Motown song, "I Second That Emotion" by Smokey Robinson - which of course was freaking fantastic. 10 people on stage, including 2 mandolins, a banjo, a string bass, a few guitars...

David Wilcox is one of those singer songwriters that tells a story and gets, well, pretty emotional. He doesn't shy away from religion, love, politics, or anything - "feel good" music. I'd guess they'd play him on one of those "positive thinking" radio stations. :)  He was a little too touchy feely for me for a lot of songs, but irregardless of that, he was SUCH a talented singer and guitar player that I have to give him props. Tim really likes him; but he's weird. Especially since he likes Marilyn Manson and Tool just as much as I do. Go figure. ;)

Anyway, they do air E-Town around in Michigan. I think the latest one is of Susan Tesdeschi - a blues/folk awesome singer with a killer voice. I don't know when this Yonder show will be aired. Anyway, here's some stations to check out in Michigan; other places, check out the website to find them, you'd figure it out.  Ann Arbor's station, 107.1 fm, plays it on Sunday morning from 7-8 am. It is also on 107.1 in the Detroit Metro area, on Sunday morning at 10 am. Around Detroit it is also on 91.5 on Thursday at 10 am (supposedly, though it's not on their website), and in Lansing on 89.7 at 1 pm on Wednesday and Saturday.

Yonder is probably one of my all time favorite bands, and now I've finally seen them live! The lead guy, Jeff Austin, sings and headbangs while playing mandolin. How cool is that?! People couldn't help but finally bust out of their seats and start dancing at the end of the show (which was discouraged because of the nature of the program).

Tim's friend and his girl bailed on our camping trip, so it's just him and I hiking up to the North Fork tomorrow. He's stuck with me in the wilderness, bwa ha ha. We are hiking out tomorrow afternoon, and there is a full moon on the 2nd... with this fresh new snow we got yesterday, it should be absolutely gorgeous, with our cabin all to ourselves... a fireplace and a propane stove to curl up next to... Have I mentioned, life is good? :)

My last day with the fire crew was yesterday, and I couldn't even work! I went in, but I got a migrane the night before, so when we were going over the weather and morning briefing, I couldn't even see straight and the light was hurting my eyes. They were hiking a steep part in a snowstorm, and I just couldn't do it, my head was pounding and my vision was blurry. So alas, I went home, took a pill, shut all the shades and went into a coma until 1 pm yesterday. It was fun work, in a masochistic sort of way. Now, I just have to wait to see if I get that crewleader job, which closed yesterday. Hope to hear in two weeks where I made it on the cert (the list that ranks you).

Hmm what else is new. Time to run down to Boulder and get some snowshoes for this weekend! Oh, and somebody is coming to look at my Focus tomorrow. Hope they want it! Because I'm ready to get rid of it. ;)

Grey's Anatomy is so freaking good!

My freaking entry got deleted! Stupid AOL!

First, I was raving about the latest episodes of Grey's Anatomy. SO GOOD! Lots of good plot twists and unexpected drama. Watch the last 3 episodes if you haven't seen them at ABC.com!!!

I am psyched for our camping trip this weekend. We are going on the North Fork Trail, staying at the ranger cabin, and then snowshoeing up to Lost Lake. This is the only part of the park I have never hiked. Here's a description of the trail, and here is a map. Our trail is the orange line:

My last day of work with the fire crew is Wednesday. Bittersweet, since I like working and I like money, but I don't like that I keep getting sick from inhaling all that smoke and hiking up and down mountains in cold windy weather. I'll be unemployed again until at least Mid March, maybe April if I don't get the crew leader job. WISH ME LUCK! Cisco, the guy I did it with, is ticked that they are requiring a CDL. I know of one guy that may be tough competition IF he put in for it; but I know he applied for trail crew so maybe he's just not into haz tree anymore?? Here's my potential job description:

"At least 70% of your time will be spent completing a variety of projects in the areas of forest health and insect management.  You will be responsible for implementation of field programs for hazard trees, forest insect and disease, and for coordination of logistics for project completion.  The position requires consolidated and detailed reports of daily field activities when insecticides are applied, when implementing pest control strategies, and coordinating hazard tree control actions including the marking of trees for monitoring purposes.  You will assist the Natural Resource Specialist and Fire Management Officer with planning and coordination of park-wide forest health field projects; develop and implement project work plans; coordinate with other divisions and agencies to obtain necessary assistance; obtain necessary supplies; design, coordinate, and conduct trainings.  The other 30% of your time will be spent in motor vehicle equipment operation, fire management activities, buck and rail maintenance, and snow play boardwalk maintenance."

PICK ME! PICK ME!

Oh, and there is a photography contest going on up here, for photos of Estes Park or Rocky Mountain National Park. I can have up to 5 entries. Please look at these photos and let me know which ones you like the most. The worst part? I'm competing against my Timmy - and he's really freaking good. Trust me. If you remember any photos that I didn't put on here but you really really liked from Rocky Mountain, let me know!

 

From Photo Contest

My puppy and I have the same painkillers

Last week, I brought Logan home from day care and fed him dinner. For the first time in his life, he didn't chow it down and just layed down. I KNEW something was wrong - my chowhound wouldn't eat! Strange. He did the same thing the next morning - he would eventually eat it all, but my little Pac Man just wasn't feeling well. After he nearly exploded in my truck because he was SICK and HAD to go potty (bless his little puppy heart, he didn't go in my truck and held it until I could pull over, though he was soooo ill) I realized that this wasn't going to get better by itself. Last Thursday, I brought him to see Dr. Fish. Logan's got a stomach bug. No big deal, some antibiotics and he's good to go... right??

His belly started to feel better right away. On top of this, he's teething and that's bugging him. Then I realized he was sitting funny. I paid more attention... he had a little limp too (hard to tell, since he has that silly german shepherd swagger combined with puppy clumsiness). I checked out his paw and his leg and couldn't find anything wrong. It got worse and worse over the weekend; he would whine and get up and readjust when he was trying to sleep - he just moaned and ached. I got worried, of course. I didn't know if he sprained something, or played too rough at day care... but he didn't even want to sit up anymore, his leg bothered him so much.

I brought him to the vet first thing this morning. Guess what's wrong with him?

GROWING PAINS.

Did I mention he's 40 lbs at 4 months old?

This is relatively common with large breed dogs, and it's called panosteitis. He's a little on the young side to get it, but he's just a big boy and he's definitely growing! The good news is it's temporary; the bad news, is that the only thing you can really do is give him pain relievers. The doctor said that once, a bassett hound came in SCREAMING in pain from it; the only thing they could do was give him morphine! Fortunately, Logan isn't in THAT much pain, and hopefully it doesn't get to that point. So now he's on two pills... one of which is Tramadol... Which is what I take for MY back pain when I hurt it at work! Go figure, my dog and I share narcotics. :P

What else is new with me?? Well, today is a holiday (president's day; I would never have known if I didn't work for the feds!) and I am going to see my friend Maria, who just moved back to Fort Collins from Flagstaff. I only have maybe 9 days left of work (running out of funding), but if I get that hazard tree lead position I might be starting mid March. Tim reserved the North Fork cabin for March 2-3, so a bunch of us will be snowshoeing up there and hanging out in the woods. We got tickets to see Yonder Mountain String Band in Fort Collins on the 28th. I am trading my old trombone for a violin with some lady over Craigslist - I think I'm getting the better end of the deal, since it's in great condition; she just really wants an affordable brass instrument and has an extra violin lying around!

And the last lame little tidbit - I made Logan a profile on Dogster. It's like myspace, but for dogs. I know. Lame. Lame. Lame. I just couldn't help it. He's making lots of doggie friends though! ;)

Happy Valentines Day!

I'm not really big on V-day, but Tim took me out for sushi last night in Fort Collins.... YUMMMMMMY! Oh my god I ate so much I thought I was going to explode!

I'm selling tons of stuff on ebay right now. My user name is amazonchic. Buy my stuff!! It's mostly earrings and some other random stuff. Can you tell I owe in taxes again this year?!?

Here's some funny photos of the mutt. I gave him a bath... That's all I'll say. ;)

Now, I think I'll drive down to Boulder to buy some groceries. Yuck. I totally don't want to go down there!

 

From Winter 2006-2007

Burning stuff is fun

What have I been up to lately? Well how about this:

That was Saturday night at the Rock Inn. It was Erin's birthday and the Stanleytones played. There's a couple photos of myself and Tim thrown in there too. It was a good night! I can reasonably say that I know most of the people in those photos, and a lot of the people sitting at the bar are friends of mine. Welcome to my social life! I even got to bring Logan out with all the other dogs around midnight. He had a good time despite how tired he was.

I had walked Logan in town earlier that day and tons of people told me how cool and sweet he was. One guy even pulled over to find out where I got him, because he wants one too! People seem to think he's part Rottweiler because of his coloring. Purebred shepherd, baby!!

And I've also been up to this:

Amy and Arturo taking a break the day that our coworker Tim dislocated his shoulder

Did I mention it's snowy and steep??

A burn pile that lit a small juniper on fire.

Just workin' and having fun I suppose. It's a rough life, really. :P  Tim rented the North Fork cabin for the first weekend in March; it's a 6-7 mile snowshoe in, so us two and a few of his friends will be going up there. Sounds like fun!

But alas, I am exhausted from another day burning on Deer Mountain. So that's all for now!

Back to the mountains!!

First of all, the photos from Donna's wedding are posted - and they are unbelieveable! I think these are probably the best wedding pictures I have ever seen. I, of course, do not photograph well... But Donna is freaking GORGEOUS! Hot Donna! Hot Donna! ;) Warning: it takes a long time to get through them all. I downloaded just the ones of me and the girls to my Picasa album so it's much quicker to get through... but I didn't download all the cool ones so it's worth going through them all if you have time!

From Donna and Jas...

Well, the trip back to Michigan went by way too fast... And I am so exhausted from all the running around! So let's start from the beginning.

Before I got this fire job, I had been planning on coming back to MI for two weeks at this time anyway. But then since I was working, I figured I would just wait until the end of February and visit before my "real" job doing hazard tree started - which would be March if I get the lead, April if I don't. Well, we haven't been able to burn much so it looks like I will be working straight into March, so I no longer knew if I could drive back and show off the pup. The fuels crew wasn't working Tues-Thurs anyway last week, and I didn't know this until the previous Thursday. Friday I just said Screw it, I'll take Monday and Friday off too and just go to Michigan!

So I just hopped in my truck with Logan around 10 am last Saturday and drove straight through. The dog was soooo well behaved and just slept the whole way - all 19 1/2 hours it ended up taking me! Of course, I had joked to all my city worker friends back in Michigan that I would bring a blizzard with me so they could get overtime plowing snow. This backfired, and I wound up in a lake effect snow storm on the west side of MI at 3 in the morning... I was already exhausted, and it was snowing so heavy I thought I would go cross eyed! But with my sweet new tires, I passed everybody on the freeway... Of course, they probably saw my Colorado license plates and knew they were dealing with a professional. ;)

I rolled into the driveway of my parents' house at 7:30 am, went inside and the dogs started barking like nuts. I just wanted to sleep but there was no way they were going to settle down. Sue saw me and was like, "What are you doing here??" Then I went upstairs to see my parents and they're just like "Oh hey." Hardly any surprise at all! Then again, my friends later reminded me that people expect me to do the unexpected by now, so why should they be surprised anymore? :)

Once the mutts calmed down, I proceeded to sleep ALL DAY. I finally woke up at like 5:30 pm and sent a text message to everybody that said "I'm in Michigan, bitches! SURPRISE!!" and that's when the phone calls and texts started pouring in. By 6 pm I already had most of my week booked with visits to people. I didn't hear back from Donna right away though, so I hoped maybe she was working at Champps Restaurant and I could surprise her. I drove up there and got a seat in her section. She came over to take my order and I look up from my menu... She does a literal double take... Then shouts "LISA! OH MY GOD!!!" By far, she was the best reaction of the whole trip, all happy and loud in the middle of the restaurant. So we tried to talk between her waiting on tables and made a lunch date for later in the week. I hadn't seen her since her wedding, and hadn't even heard about the honeymoon! Definitely had some catching up to do. After Chammps, I went over to see Jess and Michelle... I hadn't even seen them since July, and Michelle is having a baby in 2 months!

After a while, the days ran together so here's just a recap of what else happened. Monday, I went down to the City of Novi DPW garage to visit my old coworkers and brought Logan along. Everybody freaking loved him, he was so well behaved! My friend Marc has owned a few shepherds in his day and loved that he already has that German Shepherd swagger (like a panther!) down. ;)  I also met up with Tara at the Bamboo Club and found out that her hubby Kevin got a job offer in Arizona - so hopefully they'll be moving West too!! Monday night, Linda and I went to Ann Arbor to see Kevin and Beth. Did I mention that my sister, Kevin and Beth, AND Donna and Jason are all buying houses?? We went out to Sidetracks in Ypsilanti, and I can't believe that in all my years living out there I had never been there. If you're ever in that area, GO THERE! The deep friend mushrooms aren't normal button mushrooms... they are portabellos! Soooo good!

I think Tuesday I went out to visit my Dad. He's not really big on dogs, but I think he liked Logan more than he let on. My first dog was an albino German Shepherd that he got when I was little, so I think he might have a hidden soft spot for him. ;)  That night I went out to Outback with Mom, Linda and Sue. Unfortunately, my stepdad was soooo sick for most of the time I was there... so it ended up being a girl's night out. Wednesday was my lunch date with Hot Donna. We switched it up and went to Godaiko, which is a Japanese Steakhouse/Sushi place. I accidentallyordered the wrong lunch combo... I thought I was getting mostly rolls with just a little bit of sashimi (raw fish). Instead, I was presented by a very attractive plate of one roll... and a whole lot of colorful raw fish. Yikes! I guess it was a good way to try new things! By far the salmon is the best; wasn't too keen on the tuna... but it was all pretty good! Mmmmmm raw fish. Much better than it sounds!!

I met up with a few of the Novi guys at a place called Famous Dave's for happy hour - $1 pints of Guinness! I ended up hanging out with Steve, John, and Drew... and got in a pretty heated discussion about gun laws, and about multi-use recreation areas. Drew says he shouldn't have to worry about getting run over by mountain bikes when he's hunting. I said I don't want to worry about getting shot when I'm mountain biking! It was pretty amusing. Then hung out with Linny over coffee and talked about her house hunting and the fact that she is essentially engaged to Tony!! It's not "official" but it's gonna happen. My little sis is gonna get married!!! Don't ask when, because she doesn't know - lots on her plate right now - but I think I'm more psyched up about this than she is! ;)

As is my new tradition, I saw my stylist and got my hair cut when I was back. I always joke that she's just as important as my family, since I make it a point to see her when I come back. Hey, I just haven't found anybody I like cutting my hair out in CO yet!

And in a wonderful coincidence, Thursday just so happened to be Jack's retirement party. Who is Jack? Jack hired me for my first job out of high school with the City of Novi. He hired me among almost all guys to work at the parks, mow grass, run a tractor, prep ball fields... Got me hooked on manual labor... Then put me in forestry where I got started. So if it wasn't for Jack, I probably wouldn't be out here in Colorado doing forestry work! I hadn't seen him in a few years either, and he hired me when I was 18. He was also sooo important as a reference for me, and said great things about me for jobs everywhere from Maine to Alaska... And helped me with a good reference for the City of Oak Park. It just so happened his retirement party was at 5th Avenue, which was where I was going with my friends that evening anyway.

Linda, Susan and I (all three of us work or used to work for the city) show up for the party. I didn't even realize how many people would be there, so many people that I used to work with! A few of my "boys" were there, so my sisters hung out with them. I went up to Jack to say hi, to which he replies, "OH MY GOD, LISA!" He wondered where the heck I was living now, since he gave so many references all over the country. I told him he needed to come upstairs later and dance with us. It was good to see him!

Later, my sisters, Jess and I went upstairs for the music and hung out. Who shows up?? Jack, Tim, and Fozzy. Tim's son is my cousin's best friend; Fozzy is the forestry tech and would have been my partner if I had put in for that job instead of coming to Colorado. Jess has a few photos I'll post when she sends them to me. Donna even showed up! It was a lot of fun, but I'm definitely not used to being somewhere that crowded. Definitely like the quieter atmosphere up here in Estes! Guess I'm getting old, haha.

Friday, Linda and I took Logan out to see Tara's lab puppy, Lucy. Lucy is freaking HUGE - 65 solid stocky pounds, and a freaking wrecking ball of puppy energy! At first it scared Logan to see this massive dog run and jump at him, but he finally got sick of being pushed around and started wrestling back. It was exhausting just watching them!! Later, I got coffee with Jabena and saw her for the first time in almost a year!

All in all, it was soooo much talking! I didn't even get to see everybody that I wanted to - Aaron, Nat and Carl, Jeff and that crew... I was so busy and exhausted. Friday I could have taken my little bro to a Red Wings game, but I was so tired and was going to hit the road between 1 and 3 am Saturday morning so I couldn't. I could have also gone to the Wings/Avalanche game last Sunday if I had told them I was coming back! Doh! That's ok though. I watched the game with my mom on Friday night and got a couple hours of sleep.

Said my goodbyes and hit the road by 1:45 am Saturday night. I left earlier than I had planned because I heard some more snow was coming. The lake effect snow greeted me once again on the western side of the state; it wasn't too bad at the time, but I guess just a couple hours later there was a 20 car pile up! Glad I left early or I might have been stuck!

The ride home was exhausting and just NOT FUN. Logan was an angel again, but it was so windy and record cold temps along the way. It was 1 degree in Iowa with a -25 windchill... at 10 am! It was so cold I couldn't even really nap in my truck, it got too cold too fast. Logan couldn't even walk in the snow becausehis paws hurt! I didn't think I was ever going to make it back. I started getting a little loopy but lots of people called me to help keep me sane. I was convinced I would never get out of Nebraska! It's the state that never ends!

But I did make it, and was home by 8:15 pm (Colorado time). I haven't done the math to see how long it took. I showered up and went over to Tim's; he watched Deadwood and I passed out. Yesterday, we made a big bacon, eggs and toast breakfast, watched more Deadwood, and went to the Rock for the superbowl. I was suppose to work today but I got a nice little migrane and couldn't get out of bed. So, here I am on the computer!!

And that's pretty much all I have to say for now. Still don't feel great and am still exhausted from my trip to MI. Enjoy some photos!

From Winter 2006-2007

Surprise!! I'm in Michigan!

Yep, didn't even tell my family that I was coming home - just showed up at 7:30 am yesterday morning (and proceeded to sleep until 5 pm)!

So, I have lots of people to see! Call me! I'll explain more about why I am here now and not in late February like I thought when I get a chance to write more.

Time to wreak havoc on the suburbs of Detroit! ;)

Photostitched of my truck in the Centennial Valley at Red Rock Lakes Nat. Wildlife Refuge, MT

Sucks to be Ford...

Too bad my entire family is associated with the Big 3 in some way or another. Thankfully, my stepdad is retiring from Ford soon and won't have to worry about all the uncertainty and volatility of working for them... it's only going to get worse before it gets better, right? Unfortunately, my mom still has to deal with the constant threat of layoffs/forced retirement. She's been spared each round of cuts so far... I can only hope her lucks stays good for another couple years, when she'll have her 30 years in and can finally buy a good quality import off her retirement funds! ;)

Work is good. We can't burn piles when it's not windy enough to disperse the smoke, so I had Monday and today (Thursday) off. Tuesday and Wednesday was more snowshoeing up and down Deer Mountain, burning piles and falling over in the deep, heavy, wet snow (it's been about 40 degrees). One heck of a quad and buns work out, that's for sure! Logan starts Doggie Day Care tomorrow; we'll see if I get to work or not. Next week, we have Tues-Thursday off (no burn bosses around to take us out). What to do with all that time off...?? ;)

I guess Steve and I are no longer friends. After he nixed me from his wedding party because I'm "not a guy", I haven't been speaking to him. It's so insulting and ridiculous!!! Breaks my heart, 11+ yrs as best friends and he gets sexist on me. So, that's a big bummer.

Well, Logan is waiting for me in the truck. I think I'll take him for a little walk, maybe check out the dog park for the first time. I'm sure there's more news but having a puppy in the car keeps my online time short!

An almost dreary day in Estes

From Winter 2006-2007

 

Today is the first dreary day we've had in Estes. It's overcast and grey, we had some fresh snow this morning but it's stopped and just been cold. At least there's no wind. It's much like a Michigan winter day... but even as I'm typing this, the clouds are lifting and I see some blue in the horizon. Gotta love Colorado!

Click on that photo of Logan to see the latest pictures of my handsome four-legged friend. As of Wednesday, he was 12 weeks old and 32 pounds. I'm sure he's put on more weight even in the past few days. He's a great alarm clock too - he never fails to wake me between 6:45 and 7:15 am to go outside and eat breakfast. My friend Kim is letting him out in the middle of the day; I also found a really cheap doggie day care that I can drop him off so he's not crated all day. The lady that runs it also works on socialization - introducing him to lots of strangers, weird noises, situations, etc - so he'll be ready for anything! I'll probably start a puppy kindergarten class soon, but I have a feeling he'll be ahead of the class before it even starts. ;)

I didn't go ice climbing in Ouray. But I am on my way to Chris and Edy's to watch the Patriots hopefully win... so gotta make a beer and chips run! Tomorrow I start another week of trudging through the snow and eating lots of smoke while burning piles on Deer Mountain... At least I'll get in shape FAST!

Hot and cold

I started working with the fire crew on Tuesday. My first day of work, we snowshoed (my first time ever) up Deer Mountain. It wasn't windy enough to burn piles (ironic, because Estes is SOOO windy... if it's not windy enough, the smoke won't disperse and settles in town, which is not good) so we spent all day shoveling 2-3 feet of snow off of slash piles and got off early. It was tiring but felt good to be working again.

Yesterday, it was windy enough to burn. We parked on the south side of Deer Mountain and went up, over and down the north side of Deer Mountain, with our fire packs, shovels and drip torches - probably an extra 50 lbs of stuff, wearing only a cotton t-shirt, a polypropelene (moisture wicking) shirt, and a Nomex fire shirt, Nomex pants and gaiters... in 17 degree weather, wind blowing icy snow on the exposed ridge in our faces...

Yeah, I've been unemployed since October and it shows. I was EXHAUSTED just on the hike up. All uphill, without snowshoes until we got to the top... then we strapped them on because the snow was 3-4 feet inside the forest. I haven't done this much physical work, yet alone in these extreme conditions, in a long time. Once we hiked down to the piles, we had to shovel more snow off of them, then light them (they actually burn pretty easily despite all the snow) and make sure they don't get out of hand and start lighting the standing trees on fire. I mean, these piles were letting off 20-30 foot flame lengths, and it does get into the green trees and start torching them from the bottom up. Plus, all the dead snag trees were a hazard, and the deep snow... Let me put it like this. I was supposed to do 15 piles; I only got to 9. One guy did 20. Now, this was my first day, and most of them were on hot shot crews so they're in great shape... But I just couldn't keep up. And, I was not used eating all that smoke, so I was hacking and my eyes were watering. After we light the piles, we go back and "chunk" them - we jump into the pit left by the pile (usually 10-15 feet diameter, still very hot like a huge bonfire) and take the unburned ends on the outside of the ring and throw them into the middle, to try to completely burn everything. This, we do without snowshoes on. So I was hiking uphill in 3-4 feet of crusty snow with all this gear, jumping down into the 3 foot deep pits that are still burning, eating more smoke...

I didn't know if I could even hike out by the end of the day, I was so tired and sore. Everything from my neck, to my arms, my quads, my butt... soooo exhausted. We strapped our snowshoes back on and hiked up up UP the mountain and back down the other side, coughing the whole way. It was 30-45 minutes hiking out. Put this all together, and you have one worn-out Lisa.

I coughed all evening and my body hurt more and more. There was no way I was going to be able to do this again today, 2 days in a row. It's just TOO MUCH too soon. Between inhaling smoke and the cold air, and my aching muscles, I know I couldn't have made that hike today. I called in and told them that physically I just couldn't do it. Not a big deal. They understand, because they've had since November to get used to it... hard to just jump into something like that. I have Friday off to go ice climbing, and will be going in again on Monday.

I was so tired that I couldn't make the shrimp fettuccine that I was going to attempt last night. Instead, Tim and I finally got my belated New Year's tradition chinese food. :)  We tried to watch a movie, and I couldn't even stay up for it (Gladiator, which is one of my favorites)... I passed out, drooling on poor Tim ha ha. I'm only half kidding about the drooling part. :P

I slept like a log last night and had crazy dreams. One was that the pocket on my jacket ripped open, and Logan pulled all the stuffing out. I didn't know how on earth I was going to fix it! Another part, Tim asked me if I was excited for our big vacation. I was very excited, except I don't know where we were going. The weirdest thing is that I didn't know I was dreaming. I woke up thinking my jacket was broke, and that I was going somewhere with Tim. ;)

Logan is getting more shots today. His other ear finally popped up and he looks like a real german shepherd! Need to get some new photos on here soon. He's over 30 lbs and, though he's super smart, he's a little stubborn and loves to nip and mouth. He loves to "talk" but doesn't bark much. He's pretty much housebroken and not nearly as shy as he was before. I can usually expect to sleep from 10 pm until 6:30 or 7 am without him waking up... but then, he needs to go potty and expects breakfast! While I am working, I keep him on a leash indoors so he can get to his crate and water; I don't want to keep him in that little crate all day, but when I let him loose he hangs out on the couch, eats my slippers, and goes potty in the corner. He doesn't make a mess when I keep him in a small area, and he has a huge crate coming any day now (48" tall; will fit him when he's an adult!). If you go to the Silver Creek Kennels website and scroll down, you'll see something cute and funny that the breeder wrote about Logan. ;)

They still haven't posted the notice for that crew leader hazard tree job that I want; It may go from Resource Management to be directed by the Fire program. I doubt we'll be on the West side of the park as much as before, but I ran into Doug (the maint. supervisor on that side) and he told me he expects me to come back over there and he'll make arrangements so I can bring Logan. ;) 

We'll see if I'm going ice climbing in Ouray. It's like an 8 hour drive, and gotta figure out how much the hotel/renting equipment costs... and, I'll have psycho puppy to attend to while we are out there (yes, he'd be going with me).

That's the latest and greatest. I'm just gonna chill out while my aching body and congested lungs repair themselves today, while the wind blows the old, icy snow into huge drifts and the clear blue sky is deceptively inviting. By the way, snowshoeing is so much fun!! I highly recommend it if you've never tried it; they are light weight and easy to walk in, and keep you floating on even the deepest snow! It makes walking in winter more fun. ;)

Logan at 11 weeks old

Tim drinking Glenlivet scotch and watching the Eagles lose at the Rock Inn... with our "turkey feather" Eagle mascot and Randall the bear

Bruce and the Eagle, after shotgunning two Old Style beers

A comic from the local paper about all this damned wind!

Working! Not going to MI!

That's right, I've got a job! The fire crew picked me up for a month or so as an "AD hire" (kindof the fast track to temporary employment for a while with the gov) so I'll be burning slash piles in 3 feet of snow and blowing wind, maybe get to stay on the west side for a few days also. So that means I won't be coming back to MI. Kindof bummed but then again it will be fun working with the fire folks and making money is always a plus. ;)

Looks like next Thursday I'm going to Ouray, CO to do some ice climbing with Kevin (Tim's friend), his girlfriend Kim, Logan, and a few other people. I've never ice climbed, should be fun!! I love it down there in Ouray, Tim and I went there when we hiked those 14ers.

Guess I'm watching football at the Rock tonight... Go Eagles!

An Inconvenient Truth - WATCH IT!

Yes, that's right. Al Gore's documentary about global warming - An Inconvenient Truth - watch it now. Make your friends and family watch it. I don't care what you think about Gore as the should've-been president or anything like that. It's an eye opening look at the science and facts, and the images of the melting polar ice caps and glaciers (Glacier National Park; Switzerland; Greenland)... I mean, you can SEE it. I remember learning about this stuff when I was in elementary school; even then, I worried than in my lifetime that I would see this happen. In fact, I had totally forgotten that I had my own little "environmental club" in 3rd grade or something, I sent away for a kit in the newspaper. Now, it was only my sisters and maybe a couple friends in this "club" and we never did much but plant some little weenie twigs from the Arbor Day Foundation that all died... But it was fun. ;)

I'm hanging out at the Barking Dog Cafe in Lyons waiting for my awesome new Goodrich T/A KO tires to be put on my truck. I got them for a great price (but they're still expensive)... But maybe, just maybe I can make it up the driveway. At least I'm set to drive back to MI.

It snowed again today. Not as much as they thought - originally over a foot, but only got 3 inches maybe - but still, this snow is abnormal here. Actually, here's a good article about how even the Yoopers (residents of Michigan's upper peninsula) are noticing that there just may be something to this global warming thing.

Besides that, just hangin' with my pupper dog, drinkin' at the Rock, and hittin' the gym every day. Fun fun fun! Gosh, I can't wait til April and I can run a chainsaw again!

Happy New Year, I'm a slacker ;)

Let's take a look at the news. Everybody keeps calling and writing me wondering if I'm buried up to my head in snow. No, no, no. I'm just buried up to my @ss in snow. THESE people were buried up to their heads... and cars, trucks, and SUVS... in snow. There was an avalanche on the route - Berthoud Pass - that I take to drive from Estes to Granby/Winter Park when Trail Ridge Road is closed. Nobody died or anything but people were buried. It's always a really hairy section of road, even in June there can be crazy snowstorms along the winding, steep mountain pass. I almost applied to plow snow there, ha ha! Would have been a rich woman by now. ;)

We got another 1-1 1/2 feet of snow on Christmas Day. They didn't call this one a "blizzard" because compared to the 2-3 feet in the two previous storms, this was NOTHING. Bring it on! We're blizzard pros now! I'm posting some pictures, some of which are Dave getting stuck at Mark and Jen's on Christmas Day eve. He just doesn't know how to use 4x4. :P

Besides that, I'm learning that the stories of the "hurricane force winds" in Estes are NOT rumors. In face, I think the wind and blowing snow is worse than the blizzards. Blizzards are fluffy, friendly snow and usually falls very calmly. It's ok to shovel. It's ok to play in. These winds, which started 2 or 3 days ago, are just unbelieveable. I literally dug 3 trucks (including my own) out of our driveway/parking lot for our cabins on Saturday... and we hadn't gotten any new snow in days! It drifted so bad that Tim barely made it out on Saturday morning, but come the afternoon, I couldn't get out! It took some time and luck (and ruts from other people gunning it in and out of our parking area) and I shotgunned it out and haven't parked there since. It's absolutely rotten to be outside with the now-icy blowing snow pelting you in the face and literally blowing cars off the road. Ironically, it's a mostly blue sky and deceptively nice looking outside... And I dread leaving the coffee shop. ;) We even lost power for a few hours to the whole Park this morning. Fun fun!

New Years Eve I did end up working for the Rock Inn doing dishes. Tim realized that I-70 wouldn't open in time so him and his friend that drove with him stayed with his buddy in Kansas City. They drank expensive champagne and played video games. I was bummed he couldn't make it back! We vowed to do Chinese food and champagne for a belated New Years Celebration some time soon. I worked until 10:30, then went home to change out of my grubby wet clothes and look in on Logan, then went back and proceeded to do Jager shots and Jack and Cokes all night. I got one girl so drunk she couldn't put her jacket on correctly and she insisted she could walk home. Woops. Guess she just couldn't hang like the rest of us. ;)  Just lots of drinking and hanging out and I was in bed by 1:20 or so.

New Years Day, I watched that embarassing Michigan/USC football game with Tate and Tim got back later that evening... and got to meet Logan for the first time! He's great with dogs and Logan is really starting to like him. Hopefully not TOO much... he keeps joking Logan is gonna be HIS dog because he'll love him more! Ha ha, I'm not worried. Logan's a momma's boy! ;)

And really, I can't remember much of what else I've done this week. Got Tim a DVD player and Seinfeld season 7 for his X-mas/birthday presents, he got me a really nice sweater and I guess there's more stuff coming (probably DVDs) once my mom's other presents she got me comes in (so he doesn't buy what she bought me). Hung out at the Rock. Read books, watched movies. Played with dogs. Actually I just read a great book called "Arctic Daughter," a true story about a 23 year old girl and her boyfriend that decide to canoe up a river in Alaska to the Brooks Mountain Range, build their own cabin, and live off the land. It doesn't always go very well but catches the spirit of an adventerous soul that is searching out the wilderness experience.

Yesterday the 7th was Tim's 28th birthday! Oh I almost forgot, Tim shaved his beard, first thing he did before he even saw me and Logan! I hardly even recognized him! I joke that he looks like a frat boy (not really, but he was clean shaven and brought back some Tommy Hilfiger shirts from his parents' place) or a football player. But that's the last time I think he's going to shave again until... New Years Eve 2007. ;)  It's pretty scruffy and rough right now, can't wait til it's long, soft and FLUFFY again! Anyway, the Eagles made it to the playoffs so we went over to Bruce and Kerri's to eat Philly Cheese Steaks and chocolate caramel birthday cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream... The boys got schnockered in celebration, drinking Philly's own Victory Brewery beer and Jager shots, since they beat the Giants ("It's ok, we've got Akers!") and will be playing the Saints next Saturday. I brought Logan to play with Daisy, Sailor and Sun Dog and they all had a good time... though it scared the crap out of him at first when the boys started yelling at the TV and jumping up and down. He soon learned to ignore it much the way I do. ;)  Ha ha just kidding, I do my fair share of cheering!

So it looks like I might leave CO for MI on the 21st and get back to CO on the 3rd - gotta be back for the Superbowl Party! Since the Eagles are gonna go ALL THE WAY!!! WOOOO!! It's nice to have a good football team to cheer for. I love the Lions, in all their sucky glory!

I don't know if I'll bother watching Ohio State tonight. Because I hate them. But I want to watch them lose. ;)

Logan's getting bigger. His nickname is Pack Man, he chews on everything/everybody! Actually he's not THAT bad. Not yet. He's probably 26 lbs now. He can sit, shake, lie down, and stay for a few seconds (pretty good for a pup). He's so laid back he gets along great hanging out at the bar after closing and watching football. I didn't sleep well last night though and wanted to sleep in, and the little bugger kept dragging my new sweater (or my socks, or Tim's clothes) across the floor. So tired! No rest for the weary when it comes to puppies.

 

From Winter 2006-2007