Fave Christmas Movies

So, I was all prepared to elaborate on my last post about the shootings at that mall in Omaha. For those outside of Colorado, you may or may not have heard that literally a day or two after that shooting, there was yet another shooting in Colorado Springs at two different churches. Again, by some lone, disgruntled Angry White Male. I had collected some comments that people wrote on the Denver Post right after it that I was going to use for my next article.

But then, I realized all of that was just plain depressing. And who really wants to focus on such negativity when we are supposed to be in a time of reflective peacefulness (a.k.a. Christmas). Right? And maybe I was just joining in the media frenzy of focusing on these types of events which in reality just brings more attention to them.

Who knows.

In any case, inspired by my friend Dave, I decided to instead write about my Favorite Christmas Movies of All Time.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

1. Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer

2. The Sound of Music

3. A Charlie Brown Christmas


4. The Polar Express

5. Miracle on 34th Street

6. Elf

7. How The Grinch Stole Christmas"

8. It's a Wonderful Life

9. Frosty The Snowman

10. Christmas Vacation


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And to further put you in the Christmas spirit (as if the movies weren't enough!) - here is a link to some streaming semi- modern Christmas songs (no cheesy church music!) for your enjoyment...... :)

Main KBCO link to audio player

Or try this.

I am listening to it right now as I am working from home!

Happy almost- Christmas!
xoxo

Questioning my species once again

It's sad but true. As I said in my post about Virginia Tech, that was not the first of those types of shootings and certainly will not be the last.

The Omaha mall shootings just reaffirmed my belief that nothing is ever going to change in this country.

One difference being that apparently this guy *stole* the gun he used to kill all those people out Christmas shopping that day, but what difference does that really make? The gun was around, someone had it because hell yes, it's our constitutional freedom, and he could easily get it.

The media focus seems to be completely on how the shooter was this "mentally troubled" youth. It was the health system. Yes, that's right, that's what caused him to crack. The health system let him down.

From the Washington Post's "Mall Killer Had History of Mental Woes":
The state intervened after the family's health-care program refused to continue paying for the shooter's treatment at Piney Ridge, Landry said. But the health department terminated its care in August 2006 after Hawkins failed to comply with a community service requirement and a court declared him "nonamenable to further services," he said.
Landry said the department acted properly in closing the shooter's case, which did not represent "a failure of the system to provide . . . appropriate services." He said he did not think the state could have done anything more and that "all appropriate services were provided when needed for as long as needed."
He added: "It would be nice to have had a crystal ball. . . . Certainly, if we had known this was going to happen . . . we would have stopped it."

Could they have really stopped it? Really? Isn't that what they said about the Virigina Tech shooter: "if only we had known..." But there is no way you can know. This guy wasn't much different than your average joe, as was the Viriginia Tech guy.

OK so he was fired from McDonalds?? and broke up with his girlfriend?? Who doesn't go through something like that? And since when are those reasons to go and shoot up a mall?? No one could have possibly known.

Ultimately, it's just another case of some loser thinking that because his life is so pitiful, he can somehow justify taking the lives of others to make up for his sad and dejected life.

I can't help but feel like if he weren't so easily able to track down a gun, maybe he would've gone to that mall and thrown rocks at people. Or something equally stupid. Maybe.

I'm sure some people will say, oh, but even if we had gun control laws, people like this guy would still be able to track down a gun and use it. He would find a way. Maybe so, maybe not. But it might help to make it just that much harder. And just that many more people's lives might be around. And they might be here to thank us. Maybe.

T-day

Just a little thanksgiving update from the K-funk homestead... My parents were here for the week, and on actual T-day we had my cousin & her new baby over too, along with my aunt from Virginia!

As you can see, I got some practice holding a baby!

Little Alayna Lenora was born on November 16th, 3:30am -- 3 weeks early at 6 lbs, 6 oz! After a 2-hr labor!!

Somehow I don't think our baby will be that small or my labor that short.....
But! one can dream.....

Hope everyone had a fab thanksgiving!!!!

Why I can't get any work done these days...

...Among other things......

My true induction into PreggersHood

My true induction into preggershood happened last night, right before my very eyes.

I signed up for a Pre-natal swim class, which basically means a bunch of big round-bellied women float around in warm water and talk about their pregnancies in glorious detail. I get to hear all kinds of stories about what happens as you get further along, what kinds of symptoms to expect, which activities become less enjoyable (and more!), and pretty much Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Being Pregnant!

It's awesome!

I never need to open "What to Expect When You're Expecting" ever again!

And if that wasn't enough, my true induction came at the end of the class, as everyone filtered into the showers.

Now I was never one of those girls who could strut around in the locker room wearing only What God Gave Her after gym class, starting from about age 13 on. I was always amazed by the girls who felt no shame, proud of their nakedness, as I sat there trying not to remove one single article of clothing without first pulling something else on at the same time.

Yet somehow last night it was different.

Here we were, all grown women, all going through the same thing. All scared, anxious, excited, empowered. Pregnancy had brought us together as if it were the most normal thing in the world, and I lost all my usual inhibitions and just went with it. Surprising even myself! Without getting too Vox Feminista on you, let me just say it was a bonding experience of the best kind.

And while we were all the same, we were also different in a way that was completely reassuring. For those of you who have never been pregnant, seeing your body change before your eyes can be super scary. But seeing other people going through it in their own ways along with you reminds you that it is not just scary, but normal and exciting and unique all at the same time.

Viva La Belly!

You knew it would happen....................

Nesting..........

I guess you could say I'm officially "nesting," now that I am home 90% of the time (when I'm not at work!), barefoot & pregnant! What happened to me?!?!????

We are trying to make sure the kitties are extra-comfortable lately, knowing we are about to rock their world.

They have noooo idea what's coming!

Here is my latest nesting creation: (not shown: Halloween cupcakes, roasted pumpkin seeds, you get the idea.....)

If you look cloesly in the background you can see someone laying on the changing table next to the plant... We are pretty sure she thinks this is a new bed just for her.

Baby Countdown part 2

Experimenting with baby countdown tickers......

What did people ever do before the web??

:)

Baby Countdown

I'll be glad when it is under 100 days.... Then the countdown can REALLY begin!!!

Identity Crisis

Now that I am just about 6 months pregnant (!) and starting to show more & more, I am feeling more than ever like a "pregnant lady." It's weird. It doesn't quite feel like me. It's kinda like, I feel like people make some assumptions about you knowing that you're preggers. And that might just be part of how society is... I mean, aren't we judged by our cars, our homes, even how we do our hair... (?) It's one of those truths about society I like to ignore. Something about me likes having a sense of anonymity when out in public. Just blending in, no one to judge. But when you have a big ol belly in front of you, there's no hiding that. A lot of women say they just LOVE being pregnant, LOVE the attention it brings, LOVE the Belly! I guess I better get used to it, cause soon I won't just be "the pregnant lady" but will be "Mom," which is even more of a label. Yikes!

papa don't preach

OK, so I've gotten some "constructive criticism" since yesterday and realized maybe that last post was a little harsh. At least I didn't bring God into it (heaven forbid!), for those who are having "as many children as God will allow." Um, altho that was in the article in case you didn't notice.

But - just to clarify, we are very excited about having a child and all the things that come with being parents. I never imagined what it would be like and now we are about to go through it!

It's just that the pro-Earth/environmentalist/eco-activist in me can't shake the idea that maybe we are getting just a little too big (humans) and maybe this world is getting a little too small (earth). But I'm sure that will fade the minute I hold that tiny little hand in mine and all my troubles melt away... Right? Isn't that what it's all about?

If I start shopping at Walmart & driving a minivan, now that's another story.....

population explosion

I can't help but be overwhelmed by the idea of bringing a baby into this world. Part of me thinks, wow, there are already so many kids and so many people in this world, aren't I just adding yet one more stress on the planet?? And it's true, yes I am. Yet there are people out there having 5, 10, even 17 babies, as if it's the most normal thing in the world!

The family's home in the northwest Arkansas town of Tontitown includes dormitory-style bedrooms for the boys and girls, nine bathrooms, a commercial kitchen, four washing machines and four dryers.

Among the "fun facts" listed on Discovery Health's Web page devoted to the Duggars: A baby has been born in every month except June; the family has gone through about 90,000 diapers, and Michelle Duggar has been pregnant for 126 months -- or 10.5 years -- of her life.

I actually saw something on the Discovery channel about this family. Hello, dorm-style housing and 4 washers/dryers...? 90,000 diapers? Do you think they were using cloth? Not to imagine how much food they probably plow thru in a week. Can you imagine if everyone lived like this? I hope they are recycling all that waste somehow!

It seems that some people tend to have this "Manifest Destiny" attitude about having kids, like it's their absolute right to bear as many children as possible... Yet how can anyone in their right mind who knows anything about the planet and the energy crisis proceed with a clear conscience?

It doesn't help that my family is going thru some sort of population explosion these days, and I am somehow being lumped into the middle of it... Sigh. Of all times for me to get knocked up! The guilt is building.....

Of course, I am one of those people who can't walk into a Kohl's without picturing all that crap on the bottom of the ocean floor someday... It's my curse in life. I also want to adopt every cat I see.

Woe is me!

Tangled Up in Blue

And in case if anyone was wondering where that "keep on, keepin on" statement came from (not like anyone really reads this blog anyway), I think this song was floating around in my head at the time:

And when finally the bottom fell out

I became withdrawn,

The only thing I knew how to do

Was to keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew..............

Tangled up in blue.

Hokie Hope

Now that football season has started, I've been inundated with images of Virginia Tech out on the football field, praying for classmates and wearing their ribbons. It had to be weird for them to go back out on the field and do something as silly as a football game after what they've endured this past year. Yet, somehow it's often the simplest things, like sports, that bring people together and allow them to continue whatever routine they had before. Our routine is life, and no matter what, we have to keep on, keepin on.

Some of my local friends wondered why I was so stricken by the Virginia Tech tragedy. "It didn't affect me as much as Columbine," they said. I guess it's a JMU thing, and a college thing, and a sheltered-world-of-your-twenties thing for me, but I just couldn't fathom that happening as it did. And I can't quite explain it in words, but it will sadly continue to affect me for the rest of my life. Here are some pages from our latest "Madison" alumni magazine.

Jock Jams, SF-style

One of my friends recently turned 35 and decided to choreograph a dance and perform it with his friends. (OK, so he's a young 35...)




To continue my Youtube kick, I just had to share it!

He is the one in the middle btw....

Kissing A Fool

Thanks to Evil Spock, I've decided to write about my obsession with love of George Michael.

I mean, of course, it all started off innocently enough. Like every other kid in the Eighties (including Evil Spock), I bopped to "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," swooned to "Careless Whisper," and was secretly thrilled by the scandalous "I Want Your Sex."

Yet I really didn't discover George Michael until I purchased his Greatest Hits album on a whim last year in a used CD store. (!! yes! someone actually parted with that gem!)

I happened to have the luxury of taking a trip out to California last year to visit my best buds in Hollywood and San Francisco. I flew into L.A. and decided it would be fun to drive up to San Fran along the coast for the 2nd leg of the trip. Armed with a few beloved CDs, I hit the road.

And somehow I ended up listening to the Greatest Hits album like the entire time! (sprinkled with the Indigo Girls and various others, of course..)

Anyway, this song in particular really struck me. I love its night-club-y/lounge music feel. His voice. Velvet. Perfect! I never saw the video til now so I thought I'd post it for your vewing pleasure.

And after browsing around "Faith," "Freedom 90," etc, I just have to post this one too. Whatever happened to great videos like this?? Videos that actually told a story?? I loved these back in the day. Don't get me started on my Duran Duran kick :)





And here are a couple pictures from that drive. Sheer bliss.

Dreamland Continued

So, I wrote about those dreams the other day and apparently Todd has been having weird dreams, too!

Then I got my first subscription of Fit Pregnancy magazine from my mom yesterday, and people had written in about their dreams--

Here are a few samples:

"When I was pregnant I dreamed that I had a litter of Siamese kittens. The
strange part was that this news didn't bother me: I was most upset about the
fact that I only had two nipples and would have to bottle-feed some of the
kittens."

"I dreamed that I had a beautiful girl and we named her Listeria. I woke up
thinking that Listeria was a familiar word but could not place it. I soon
remembered that listeria are the bacteria that can cause listeriosis, an
illness that can lead to problems with delivery!"

"When I was about three months along, I had a dream that we dropped the
baby off at my dad's house. When we went to pick the baby up, I walked in and
asked, "Where is he?" My dad said, "Oh, he's in the dishwasher." I ran
into the kitchen and opened the dishwasher and there he was, snuggled safely!"

I am waiting for the college dreams where I am just partying all the time. Those will rock!!

Dream Theme

So, speaking of dreams... I have been having some really weird and interesting ones recently. And I just about always remember my dreams when I wake up these days....

There are 2 semi- recurring theme dreams I've had:

In one, I give birth to a kitten, and we have to keep him in the basement for 2 weeks because of our other cats. I feel sorry for him, and continually go down to the basement to check on him, but I feel my cats get priority since they were here first.

In the other one, I'm just about always moving into a dorm or some sort of group housing arrangement, or camp. I have the dorm ones the most, where I am going back to school and moving into the dorm and figuring out what's what. In some, the dorm involves lots of roommates to a room, and dividing up everybody's stuff. The camp and roommates ones are similar, in that I need to get used to living with lots of different kinds of people, and have some sort of arranged adventure ahead!

In some dreams I'm aware that I'm actually in my thirties and it's weird to be going back to school.... but in others it's like the most normal thing in the world. A chunk of life to go through; a new set of changes.

I think one thing that may influence the dorm dream is that I have a tendency to compare things to the 4-year college block of time. Like for instance, the first time I had a boyfriend longer than four years, a job more than four years, lived in the same town more than four years, etc-- I always think: that's longer than I was even in college! Which to me, seemed like an eternity. Maybe I am just realizing that life is a lot longer than that!

Who knows. But dreams are cool. Even Harley-cat dreams!

Harley-cat

Last night Todd had a dream that we went to visit Grasshopper. We asked him how he was doing; how was farm life. He said it was okay, that it got kind of boring sometimes, but luckily there was a Harley-Davidson shop right down the road so he could get parts any time.

If ever there were a Harley-riding cat, it would be him!

Sunny & Shadow

OK, I have just one more kitty rescue story to write about, and then I promise this blog won't be entirely about cats!

I get all mushy when I think about Sunny and Shadow, two little balls of grey fur, who appeared in our office one day as outcasts from a construction site. Our HR Mgr had picked them up at the construction site near her house, and they were brother and sister. She was prepared to take them to the Humane Society, where they would hopefully find homes but surely be separated.

I thought maybe, just MAYBE, I could bring them home and our cats would lovingly accept them, the orphans that they were. After our, our cats could appreciate being abandoned, right?

No dice. They were not having it!

So I kept the kitties for a few weeks, during which time we named them Sunny (girl) and Ray-Ray (boy). Um, the name Ray-Ray was not my idea!

We soon realized that having 4 cats in a condo would officially qualify me as the "crazy cat lady" (um, my husband pointed this out several times), so we started trying to find them a home.

Luckily, a good friend of mine from work decided he would give kitty-ownership a shot, and now sure enough he has become a crazy cat person, just like me! :) They are all getting along swimmingly! Oh and he renamed Ray-Ray to Shadow, which kinda seems a little more fitting for this cat -- Sunny & Shadow actually matches their personalities!

When you see these pictures you'll know why we had to keep them together... There was really no other choice!!! :)

Freeing Grasshopper from Kitty Jail

So, I've been meaning to write about this but I don't know exactly how I feel.... I should be happy, elated that we found Grasshopper a home. And I am, really when I think about it! But deep down I wish we could have kept him for our own. Part of me still feels like we abandoned him, and for a cat who's been abandoned from owner to owner his whole life, that's no good.

Here is Grasshopper's new home!

Yes, it's true. He was adopted by a farm :) It's everything we wanted; I couldn't believe it when they called us back! We'll take him! They said, Are you sure he's an outdoor cat? And he gets along with other animals? cause he's definitely going to be outdoors and be with other animals.

And after being "locked up" in the Humane Society for the last month and a half, I couldn't think of a better solution for this cat.

The one thing I didn't realize is that he'd basically be living in a barn. Which is probably heaven for a lot of critters out there. But you also have to think of his safety. At the Humane Society, he was miserable but safe. Now he is probably loving life once again, but exposed to all kinds of elements he wasn't before.

I guess it comes down to: Would you rather have him be safe or happy? Probably a question parents ask themselves about their kids all the time. Which is why I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't make a horrible parent. Because for me, the answer is always: Happy, of course! I would be a terrible disciplinarian.

But then again, most of my experience has been with cats....

Grasshopper chillin in the barn

A friend in the barn

Solly wistfully thinking of Grasshopper:

I ain't no dog-hater

This just might redeem my faith in dogs:

Dog Mom Adopts Baby Panther video

....just might!!

Yeah, the other thing about the anti-Grasshopper people is that they are also anti-dog! They apparently hate all other people's pets! They were like: "We've lived here for six years (use annoying voice here) and that dog behind us has been barking every single day." I was like, "You mean Annie?" And they went on, "Whatever." OK, you've lived here 6 years and never even knew the name of your neighbor's dog? And you expect other neighbors to be friends with you??? They even invited us to their kid's birthday party. To that, I say: "Whatever!!!"

What Is Up with All the [Cat] Haters in Boulder??

I should have known. It all started when we first moved in to our condo on the outskirts of Boulder. Boulder is a Dog Town, and what should make our little subdivision any different?

We "inherited" two cats from New Orleans shortly after we moved in, in what began as an extended catsitting venture. Yup, eventually, they were ours! And at this point we wouldn't trade having them for anything in the world. Well, just about anything.... ;)

So, we started letting the cats outside a few months after we realized we were keeping them, and we quickly discovered that no one, and I mean NO ONE, keeps their dog on a leash around here! Our backyard happens to border a footpath used by runners & dog-walkers galore. And everyonnnnne seems to have a dog (or two, or three....).

I always tried to be polite: "Would you mind putting your dog on a leash, just through this part of the neighborhood?" I'd say. "My dog will do whatever the hell he/she wants to do!" was often the 5th-grade response I'd get. Or even better: "Oh, don't be silly, my dog won't chase your cat," they'd say, as I'd watch the dogs scurrying across the grass, up the fence, ready to chomp on our kitties. Always oblivious to their owners' incessant shouting in the background, of course.

OK, so I will admit, part of the problem was our cats not knowing exactly HOW to run away from a dog. They'd sit there and puff up their tails, or hiss & try to paw at the dogs. Not the best tactic in the world!

Anyhoo, eventually our kitties learned, the dog-walkers didn't change, and we've managed to live in a semi-cohesive happy animal-human community ever since.

Or so I thought.

A few weeks ago, my image of that community was shattered. Remember Grasshopper, our resident Kitty Clubhouse friend & loiterer? Well apparently one of our friendly neighbors decided they'd had it with the loitering. They decided to take the matter into their own hands.

Grasshopper had been hanging around on our deck for most of the day. He lives a couple blocks away and we know his owner, but it has never bothered us that he seemed to prefer our deck. Well it was getting to be dusk and he disappeared for about 20 minutes, and when he returned he seemed to be limping.

"What's that on his paws??" my husband said as he peeked out on to the deck. I opened the screen door and saw that there was something blue sticking out of his fur, and something was definitely not right. As I got closer, I realized it was a plastic "zip tie" (often used to tie electrical wires together) zipped tightly around his front and back paws! I couldn't believe it! Someone had done this deliberately, and poor Grasshopper was in pain.

As Todd ran inside to call the owner, I found my garden clippers and managed to cut the front one off. The back one, not so easy. It was tightly clamped right around the joint of his hind leg, and it obviously hurt him when I tried to get the clippers underneath. He started to writhe and hiss, and I feared that I wouldn't be able to get it off and he'd run away and hide with his foot circulation cut off. When animals are hurt you never know how they're going to react. Luckily, Grasshopper is such an easy-going cat that I was eventually able to get the clippers underneath and get it off without getting scratched. Much to his relief!

I kept imagining the same thing happening to our cats, and pictured them simply hiding away in a dark place somewhere, trying to bite it off themselves. I doubt they'd be brave enough to limp home, like Grasshopper did.

Who could do such a thing?? Someone would have to have a lot of hate to deliberately torture an innocent creature like that.

The owner called the police that night, who filed a report but said it was probably some cat-hating person who had done such a thing, trying to send a message in some strange way.

I went around asking the neighbors about it over the next couple of days, and got mixed reactions about it. "Well I can't imagine anyone in OUR neighborhood doing something like that," they'd say. "Although that cat was definitely a nuisance." Yet there were no clues as to who had done it, or exactly why. We were afraid to let our cats out, thinking there was a crazy animal-torturer out there, lurking in the shadows of the streets, ready to strike again.

Skip to a week or so later, and our Solly went missing for the day. I walked all over the place calling her, thinking she may have run off due to the workmen in our area that day. I tried to keep thoughts of the animal-torturer from my head as I searched and searched.

Finally, as I came back to our cul-de-sac, I saw some of our neighbors arguing in the street. One being Pepper's owner (remember Pepper?), visibly angered. As I walked up, I heard him spit out: "They have your cat." What?? They "have" my cat?? Both relief and curiosity filled me at the same time. What had happened?

"Well, no," explained the neighbor briskly, "We don't 'have' your cat. We came home and your cat had broken into our house and we thought it was a wildcat and tried to shoo it out with a broom." She then added, "he's mad about something else."

"They're the ones who tortured Grasshopper!" he said, looking like he was ready to drag them out into the street and have at it. I looked questioningly at the neighbor, still wondering what the deal was with Solly.

"Well, my husband has done work with animals before," she said, "so he knew what to do. He was just trying to get a message across to his owner." OK, 'work with animals?' 'message to the owner?' Ever heard of calling Animal Control???

"We have a child. We have to think of our child. We can't have cats bringing germs around," she said, matter-of-factly.

I don't understand it, and I never will. If you're having a problem with someone's pet, the last thing you should do is torture it! These people obviously had no concept of what it's like to be a pet-owner, assuming that their being a kid-owner overrules everything.

The sad part of the story is that Grasshopper's owner ended up taking him to the Humane Society because she didn't feel like she could keep him without letting him out. Chances are, the minute she would let him out again, he would come right back over to our street. He probably really just needs to be on a farm somewhere, somewhere he can roam all day. Not in a condo in Boulder.

But the happy part of the story is that I managed to find Solly. It turned out that their screen door was ripped open and across, and they had left only that closed for the day while they were out. "We leave it broken so that our 3-year-old can climb in and out through it," they explained. OK, so you think cats are going to bring in germs? What about skunks and raccoons and all the other little rodents that hang out behind our houses?? Like I said, I don't get it.

"Well we didn't realize it was your cat so we chased it around with a broom," she said. Even though they've met Solly on numerous occasions and I've helped their precious child pet her before! Anyway, not that I'm bitter or anything. "Feel free to walk around the house and look for her if you want!" they said, trying to brighten the obviously tense mood.

I walked around the house, wondering where to look, and went upstairs to look under the bed. Sure enough, tucked away in a teeny-tiny corner was the teeny-tiny cowering ball of my kitty. Trembling with fear, she wouldn't even come out when I called her and I had to pull her out with my hands. As the child came running in, Solly winced and trembled even more, and I remembered that she is completely freaked out by little kids. Between that and the broom, I'm guessing she'd been hiding there all day, terrified to come out.

I breathed a big sigh of relief.

Till the next drama.....

The menacing "wildcat".....

Grasshopper, we will miss you!!!

Straight Outta NoVa

Straight Outta Nova Vid

Didn't they teach you the Transitive Property in middle school?

Boys + hi-fives = mass chaos

Despite our differences

  "Despite Our Differences" is the name of the latest Indigo Girls album, and was the featured album at their concert the other night. As much as we had a blast (how can you NOT at a Girls' show?!), it also seemed like someone decided "Despite our differences" was going to be the overall theme of the entire show. As in, "Despite our differences, we are all at the same show." Ha.

It all started when we walked into Chautauqua Auditorium, albiet a bit late, and saw that everyone was seated accordingly, as if attending a school function. Um, ok. We were quickly ushered into a corner row by the staff who almost seemed like we were interrupting a play. It was still early, so we chatted amongst ourselves while the opening act hummed along in the background.

Suddenly, out of nowhere we were "shushed" by an older woman in the row next to us. "All right girls, it's time to stop talking and start clapping!" she said, a giant forced smile on her face, as she began to clap off-rhythm with the band. Is she insane, we thought? But then we looked around and noticed others doing the seated-clap dance as well. By the time intermission rolled around (meaning we were allowed to leave our seats), we quickly wandered off to get drinks.

Luckily we found a good (danceable! legal!) spot near the back of the auditorium later where we happily danced away the remainder of the evening. Despite having to hide the contraband drinks we brought in (hello, high school), and getting only one other dirty look by a seated non-dancing audience member, we managed to have a great time.

It's always so fun seeing the Girls and singing along to all their songs. They've only gotten better over the years! They played one of my faves, "Ghost," and then Emily even said afterwards it was her fave to perform! Yess! Another great song was a cover of Dylan's "Don't Think Twice" which I can even play on guitar. Rock!

So to you, the people of Chautauqua, I say *WTF*??? I think you need to listen to these lyrics:

"Don't drink the water! There seems to be something ailing everyone.
I'm gonna clear my head, I'm gonna drink that sun,
I'm gonna love you good and long while our love is good and young."

And here's a clip from that actual song! From moi! You just have to ignore the wavering clarity and (gasp!) singing in the background. :)
Get Out the Map clip
Plays with Quicktime.

The Power of Two

On the eve of the Girls' show tomorrow nite, I was reminiscing about our wedding and the moment of the SONG!


Brent & Tricia doin their thang

I remember thinking it was such a perfect wedding song, and then my mom heard it at the wedding and said something like, "I don't get it." But I just stumbled across the video on youtube and of course the whole thing is all about couples! All kinds! I love how near the end they show some scenes from a wedding and then it morphs into an old couple sitting on a bench.

The Kitty Clubhouse

Meet the newest member to join the Kitty Clubhouse clan:

Stats:
Name: Pepper
Age: 12 years old
Sex: Male
Owners: Anthony & Kristen
Favorite pastime: meowing when not hungry
2nd favorite pastime: pretending to be hungry

Pepper gets along with the rest of the KC members for the most part, especially when he chills out with the meowing. Grasshopper has been known to follow him around to the point of stalking, but so far everyone has managed to keep a good amount of kitty-stare distance between them all.

Below: Kitty Clubhouse mid-convention

Not pictured: Pepper

Closer I am to Fine

How rad was The Office last nite??? Always witty, I couldn't help but laugh at Andy & Jim's butchered version of the Indigo Girls' Closer To Fine, and eventually join in singing of course. Love it!!!



AND for those of you (like me!) getting pumped to see the Indigo Girls on tour (next week!) this was just a tiny teaser for the upcoming real thing!!!



It's gonna be onnnnnnnnn - going on!

So stoked!!!

The Indigo Girls are one of those bands that I probably listen to as much today as I did back in high school. They have gotten me thru good times and bad, brought me thru friendships and breakups, and their lyrics have inspired me to look for deeper meaning in life. Phew! Ok that was pretty heavy. Maybe I should just say:
I heart the IG!!!
:)

I also credit them with inspiring me to learn how to play the guitar. Along with the Grateful Dead, of course...

Here is a link to some of their latest stuff on youtube:
www.youtube.com/indigogirls

A day in the life

Many of you may have been wondering what the kitties have been up to these days... So I asked them to tell you about their latest adventures in Kittyville...

Lately it's been a kitty convention around here every night. We can't decide if we actually LIKE having other cats around or not. We mostly just sit and stare. We form a big kitty square around the back door. And sit. And stare. It's pretty great. We love it and hate it at the same time, but we can't stop.

Our nemesis, Grasshopper, is the most frequent loiterer on the back porch.

Bring it on, bitch!

He likes to show up just around dusk, so he can torment us in his unabashed freedom to be outside at all hours of the night. Actually, he pretty much hangs around all day, but likes to especially show up at night just for that reason. Our owners seem to like him for some reason, but we know he's just using them. He just knows how to work that kitty charm!

Our other latest interest is some type of giant, oddly-shaped kitty bed that recently appeared in the driveway. We have no idea where it came from or why, but so far we are diggin it. It's got soft fluffy padding on top and is *almost* as cool as the giant convertible kitty bed in the garage. Almost!

Next we're going to figure out how to take it for a spin. Kitty convention hittin the streets!

I came, I saw, I almost puked

I decided it's about time I post a follow-up to my Bolder Boulder post on here. I went running today for the first time since the race (which was on Monday) and all the sweaty, thigh-burning memories came flooding back!

The starting line:


Looking around my starting wave, I saw people of all ages, young and old, which was reassuring. There was even a "Bolder Boldist" in my wave, which I have since learned is someone who has run every single race since it started (all 29 of them so far) and - gets to do it for free! (???)

The starting gun... and we were off! I was pumped!

Ahh, gettin my groove on... And already-- the 1 km sign looming in the distance. (1K! That's it? I rock!) And again the 2K sign looming up ahead. (2K. Wait, what? I've barely left the starting line!) And then 3K. (Um, what was I thinking? Seriously, what was I thinking?! Can I really do this??) As I felt myself slowing to a moderate jog, I really wondered if I could finish it.

In the past I've run several 5K's somewhat successfully, but it had been quite a while since I'd doubled that distance. Actually, according to the 'results' history we looked up in the previous blog, it was back in 2001! Did I really have other plans every single Memorial Day for the past 6 years??

True, last year I was goin back to Cali about this time, but I can't really remember anything before that. Memories. All.. Hazy....

Anyway, back to the race. I have to admit, I was able to keep my mind off the monotonous pounding of my feet on the asphalt for most of it, thanks to all the sideline attractions along the way. There were bands playing every few hundred feet or so, people dressed in costume (some running, some not), the infamous belly dancers, and people handing out beers and bacon!

29th Bolder Boulder Race Tops 50,000/

Oh yeah, did I mention there were 50 thousand people??

Excerpt:
Along the way, there were the requisite bands,
bellydancers and bacon.A group of about 15 gave the bacon away on Walnut Street
and about 21st Street, just before the last of four official Gatorade-and-water
aid stations. There were choruses of "If your legs are achin', eat some bacon!"
"Last nitrites!" and "Pork: the other PowerBar!"Runners had eaten 24 pounds last
year, said Sarah Chesnutt, who came up with the idea of giving away bacon on a
lark a few years ago. This year, Chesnutt introduced vegan bacon, which had
found a dozen or so takers by about 8 a.m. They were on pound nine of real
bacon, with heavier consumption expected from later waves and, particularly,
walkers.

I seriously considered grabbing a slice off the tong as I passed, but thought my tummy might rebel....

So, back to the looming km signs, ever taunting me of how far I still had to go, I was reminded of a funny story my mom likes to tell... When she was in Paris a million years ago when she was in college, she wanted to see the Eiffel Tower. And since she could see it from her hotel window, she decided, how hard could it be? And began walking. Towards the Eiffel Tower. The teeny-tiny Eiffel Tower. At some point it became the medium-sized Eiffel Tower. And eventually, the larger-than-life Eiffel Tower! Only then did she realize she didn't know how to get back to her hotel.... Classic!

That story helped sustain me a bit as I laughed, somewhere on the inside, about the tiny increments of kilometers slowing ticking away. I wondered if perhaps I was actually running in place?! That would explain a lot.

Yet I trudged on, trying to my best to plant a "slow jog" song in my head (the Lemonheads "Drug Buddy" is my current fave), convinced I could do this without stopping.

She's comin over
We'll go out walking
Make a call on the way.......

This seemed to work for a while, although somewhere around mile 4 or 5, things got reallllly hot.

And then, in the midst of my Drug-Buddy-running haze, suddenly, like an oasis, there it was: the 8.5km sign. 8.5! A wave of warm fuzzies washed over me: 8.5! That's almost 10! Now I knew I could really do it. I pictured myself running, slow-motion like, across the finish line. With confidence in my step and a smile on my face. I did it!

Oh wait, except I was still only at 8.5..............

And by the time I crossed the finish line, well, let's just say it wasn't exactly how I envisioned it would be. It was more like an overwhelming nausea and need to puke!!

But, finish I did. My final time was around 68 minutes -- check it out -- slow jog in effect!

But, I completed my goal and ran without stopping - WooHooooooo!

Here is my Why the Hell Am I Doing This Again? face:

I am SO kicking that old man's butt!

On the other end of the spectrum, my rockstar teammates weren't quite in the slow-jog realm. Their times were all under an hour!

Simon, looking way too refreshed to be running a 10k at 7am on his day off!

Matt, checking his time as he passed the taunting Goofy hat (see behind him)

Regina, the Bolder Boulder posted child

Mike, practicing his La-Mas breathing technique

Randy, beating his time from 10 yrs ago

Oh and we can't forget my supportive husband, always giving it his all!!!

(Luckily he wasn't on our team!)

More about the race:
http://www.coloradodaily.com/articles/2007/05/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt

http://www.bolderboulder.com/