Sunrise/Sunset

  When I moved from Reno I thought I’d miss the beautifully painted sky, but when I experienced what Colorado has to offer, Reno pales in comparison.

  If you look at the photo album you’ll see why I love my drive to and from work. This morning the sunrise was spectacular.  I pulled over about 4 times to get out of my car and take pictures.  And the sunsets are just as magnificent.  I’m surprised there aren’t more car accidents from people looking at the beautiful sky and mountains. 

  Every day at work is pretty intense, trying to fit 16 hours worth of work into 8.  So my beautiful drive home is very relaxing and it helps me get rid of thoughts of work.

  I now always have my camera with me so I can capture the beauty.  I’m able to share with my mom, She loves me to send pictures.  She lives in LA County and if you’ve ever been there you know that a beautiful sky to oooh and aaah at is pretty rare.  But here in Colorado,WOW, almost every day gives you something beautiful to look at.

Gobbled Gifts

  Well, I just don’t know what to do with my dog, Chili. He keeps getting into things. I came home yesterday from work and, "DEJA VU " , he opened my son’s birthday gift. I’m sure after the licorice incident he was hoping there was something for him in that package!

  Anyhow, tomarrow is Robert’s birthday and I wrapped his present and I’m late getting it in the mail. I hope it gets there before the weekend, I’ll "2nd day" it.

  I got him a couple of books and a  nice leather journal that you can get refils for. Happy Birthday Robert!!!

Christmas Day

   Merry Christmas everyone!!!  It’s 5:45am and I’ve been up since 4:30. Just can’t sleep. I’m looking forward to getting on the webcam with the family and to here if they liked their presents.

  I got my tree up early, shopping done on time, but didn’t get the lights on the house. Next year I want to decorate the house. Everyone has seen that house with the light set to music. That’s what I want! Ha Ha Ha  Jeff says he could do it if he had the right equipment. Hmmmmm, I wonder how much that would cost, $$$$$

  Well that’s our tree. I want to open presents…NOW!!!!!

Christmas Licorice Turds

   Jeff and I always get each other little things we know the other likes, ie:gadgets, candy, cookies, etc., you know stocking stuffers. We both love really good licorice. Panda is a good brand. Jeff wrapped my gifts and was putting them under the tree and I told him I just put another one for him on one of the branches. He looks for it picks it up and shakes it. Then with this goofy grin on his face he shakes the gift he got for me. Then he holds them both up for me to see, yep two boxes of Panda licorice. Hee Hee Hee!!

  So the presents go under the tree. And the next day when I come home from work I open the front door to find boxes of licorice chewed up and scattered with bits of wrapping paper all over the livingroom….minus the licorice.

  The dogs were by the back door with that "I’m in trouble" look on their faces.  Chili wouldn’t look me in the eye.  I put them both out.  I’m sure Chili was the instigator and Nikki followed.

  The next morning I woke up hoping that the inevitable had not come to pass, but there it was in the middle of the living room floor, a small pile of licorice turd.  "Oh, that’s not so bad" I thought to myself.  Then I went down stairs to find our brand new carpet adorned with dozens of little licorice turds.  I immediately went upstairs and put both dogs outside, and firmly told Chili, "I HOPE YOUR ASSHOLE BURNS!"

  I started to clean the mess and realized that this was my excuse for getting that steam cleaner I always wanted!!!!  Merry Christmas from Chili and Nikki  So there is a little good in everything, if you look for it…..even licorice turds.

My daughter, Colleen, Is A Mommy!

  Siena Cole, what a cutie. and lots of hair. She was born at       7:49 pm  EST.  She was 8lbs 8oz and 20  1/2 inches long. And Sharon cut the umbilical cord. She said that made her pretty nervous, lol.

  My daughter is something else. right after she had the baby she bought the doctors and nurses pizza. She called me not too long after and you would never know she just gave birth, as my hubby put it, "to an eight pound bowling ball."  She sounded more like she just got back from grocery shopping. Hee Hee Hee.

  I received many pics on my cel phone. I was very excited to get those. It made me feel a part of this joyous occasion! And the next morning I was getting calls every half hour starting at 7am. That’s 5am my time, lol. Colleen promptly reported to me all of Froggie’s first time bodily functions.   Siena’s first poopie, her first pee pee, her first breast feed, her first smile. Doesn’t cry much. seems to be a quiet baby. Colleen told me all she does is poop, pee, and eat. I responded "welcome to motherhood."  

Froggie Has Been Evicted

.  Well Colleen and Sharon called me at 5:30am my time to tell me they are at the hospital getting ready to have a baby!!! Colleen’s a little nervous, exited, happy, etc.

  They had a bet going, when when I picked up the phone Sharon pretended to be the operator with a collect call and yep, I fell for it and pressed one to accept, He He He.

  Last night I got an email from them telling me that Froggie(baby) is being evicted. Sure wish I could be there. I’ll be waiting for updates at work. I’m sooo exited and can’t wait for pictures.

  Now I know you"ll be reading this, Colleen, I love you very much and am so proud of you. You are  going to be a wonderful mother!!!You’ll do and say all the things I should have and more. You will and have already "broken the chain"!!!!!!

Jeff and Pam’s Annual Stuporbowl Party

  My favorite time of the year is January. Christmas blues, stress, frustration, guilt, anger, and blah blah blah, well it’s over. Yahoo, now it’s time to plan our annual "Stuporbowl Party. Check out the pics and you’ll see why I love January. We had a blast, and every year it got better and better. Credit goes to our friends in Reno who we miss dearly.

  There are so many funny stories to tell, but one that stands out is the "jalapeno popper after burn".  There are a few main staples to our party and everyones favorite are my homemade poppers. Gotta tell you this recipe was my mother in-law’s, Jan. Anyhow this one year I forgot to buy some latex gloves, and I had about 100 jalapenos to slice in half and take the seeds out. Katy voulunteed to help and I warned her about  not having any gloves, but she insisted. Soooo…..about a month later I ran into her and she reminded me of when she helped out an said that her hands were burning for three days and so was her husbands penis!!!! 

  Well that was a lesson learned the hard way. JALAPENOS ARE HOT!!!! And I did ask her "What the heck were you doing at my party?"   and did you get it on tape!!! 

  Well there are more stories to tell, but for now goodnight.

Gift Giving

So Christmas is just around the corner and another year goes by without planning for…for anything!!! One of my favorite things to do is to buy gifts for people. We have an Angel Tree at work in the break room for the employees to buy gifts for. Well last year there were about 15 names left and no one was stepping up. Now I had already chose a name and bought all kinds of things for this kid I never met and never will. But when I saw those names left on the tree I ended up picking 5 more names. I shopped for about 3 or 4 more hours and almost $300. later I had a basket full of gifts to wrap and I felt good picturing the kids opening their presents! Then reality hit and I had no idea what I was going to tell my hubby,who gets grumpier the closer we get to Christmas. He’s a bit of a "Bah Humbugger"  Oh well Another day goes by, life goes on. We sorta make due, financially, and manage to get presents for everyone.  And this year I controlled my self and picked only one name. A 17 year old girl. It does kinda frustrate me that I don’t meet these kids. I know I would end up becoming attached and want to see them all the time…That would be the end of the bank account. Then I might end up on someones Angel Tree! So here goes the repeated new Years Resolution..BUY GIFTS THROUGH OUT THE YEAR

Snow eguals love

Today we got our first snow of the year. Forcast says we will have 3 inches of snow with a high of 8 degrees. Brrrrrrr. Jeff called me at work to ask if I could get off early, worried about the roads getting too slick. He loves me.