I ask you.....am I old already??







Last night I went to the Black Rose, which is a community center in
Black Forest. My boss had asked me and another co-worker if we wanted to go to this place to listen to music featuring Chuck Pyle, seen in this picture. I said "Yes!", thinking that the other person was going to say yes too, we had had a stressful week. But she said no, and so did everyone else she asked, so I was stuck. My boss loves going to the Black Rose, and loves Chuck Pyle even more. He is actually famous in the Country Music world, and has written many songs for famous singers, but I only knew he was old and sang country songs. Here is an epitaph I found on his website:



An accomplished songwriter, Chuck's songs have been recorded by John Denver, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Suzy Bogguss. Country fans know him best for writing, "Cadillac Cowboy", recorded by the late Chris LeDoux, and "Jaded Lover", recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker.

At the Community Center, they serve cookies and brownies, coffee and tea. No wine. I really needed some wine! You also have to sit on metal folding chairs for 4 hours! There were three acts before Chuck, who were three guys with guitars from Madison Wisconsin. They were all really good. Then Chuck came on, and to my surprise I liked him. He has been doing this a long time, and he is very comfortable on stage. He is also a really good story teller. So, despite the headache I had the next morning from sitting in those chairs, I had a fun time. More importantly, my boss had a great time.

Ok, the reason I asked if I am old before my time, is tonight I am going to a Bowling Alley to hang out with a friend from work. I am learning to knit. I joined the Easter Choir at church. I sit at home a lot. Seriously, who am I??

Ahhh domestic bliss.....

Here is my attempt at Banana Bread last night. I baked it the time it stated in the recipe, forgetting that I sorta live in high elevation. I used the tooth pick method in the middle, and nothing clung to it, so it's done right? I set it on the stove to cool, and when I came back, this is what I saw. I did eat some this morning. I had to microwave the 'bleep' out of it to cook the middle, but once that was done it was pretty good. Guess I won't be taking this little beauty to work with me.

Which side is my side?

I dare you to figure it out! Yeah, like it's hard! Welcome to my new hobby. A hobby I thought I would never attempt, mostly because I am not crafty and I lose patience easily for things like this. Some women from church taught me, or at least got me started. I borrowed a project from a friend of mine from work who is really good, as you can probably easily see which end is hers. She had said she messed up on it anyway, but I couldn't find where, unlike my side where you can see billions! It, surprisingly, is pretty fun and relaxing despite my lack of skill right now. I am getting better, and I really like the process. I am just doing one type of stitching right now until I firmly have a handle on this one. The group from church meets again, their craft group is called UFO (Unfinished Objects), next month. I can't wait to show them my progress! Custom made scarves, here we come!!:)

Christmas' last hurrah!

As you can see from the first picture, I was smiling from ear-to-ear all night! A couple days before I went to RC to see my old friends, I was going through my Hope Chest, Gramma made me. She is slowly trying to get rid of stuff, no easy feat if you have ever been to my Grandparents house. Anyway, I found a box of notes written to me from my friends from High School. I had notes from Suree, who affectionately referred to me has "Pisshead" or "Piss", Cher wrote some funny ones as you might imagine, those of you who know her, and some from Janet and Beth. There were several from people who called themselves my best friend, but I can't for the life of me remember who they are! For some reason Karen and Carey's notes were not in there, I think I had them in a different place. Anyway, it was so fun reading these, and made me want to be in RC that much sooner. My intention was to bring the notes, so Cher, Suree and I would have a good laugh. Also thought it might be a good conversation tool in case we have those awkward gaps in conversation. Why I always worry about that, I don't know, cuz that never happens with these friends of mine. It really truly is as if we are in each others lives everyday. We don't miss a beat. I forgot to bring the notes anyway! But we did talk about them, and did some reminiscing of the past. We were laughing pretty hard already by the time the guys showed up. Our guys!:) I haven't seen Mitch, guy with the snow hat on, for 20 years! It was even easy to talk with him, as if time has never past! Mitch is happy, married and has a youngin that he beams about. His smile was as big and constant as I have always remembered him to be. It was better than I can describe to you all, how it was for me that night. I have never had better guy friends in my life, and I really miss that, having guy friends. And my girl friends, well I love them so much, and I will carry my time with them in my heart for a long time. I haven't laughed like that in so long. I haven't felt a part of a group in so long....trying not to cry here. So, thank you Suree, Cher, Robbie, Pat and Mitch for a night I will hold very close for a long time. Can't wait to see you all again soon! Mitch and Pat said they will be coming to the big 20 year! They better! I told Robbie, who graduated a year before us, that he might as well come, he practically was an honorary member of the '89 class! Happy New Year my friends!

Squeaky Dog Christmas, second annual!

I couldn't put the pictures in order. I guess I am still not all that savvy with this whole blog thing. Anyway, we had Squeaky Dog Christmas on New Years Eve. In part because I was snowed in Cheyenne the night before, and in part because I didn't have anything going on this year for New Years, Wa! It was fun though. After dinner, I brewed some Starbucks Christmas decaf coffee and put a little Carmel Bailey's in it!:) Then let the festivities begin. We had lots of dog treats of course! First came Rooby's stocking, but each toy I brought out went to a different dog. Then Millie's stocking was opened. As you can see, Rooby had a blast running around trying out all the new toys. Millie seemed, much like last year, a little overwhelmed by all the activity. And Rooby wasn't even stealing the toys away from her this year. So, not sure what was up with that. I had to prop the toys around her for pics, unlike Rooby. Millie did play with some toys the next day though. You can also see that a couple of the tennis balls I bought met their demise almost right away. Do not buy tennis balls from a pet store. Always better to buy real tennis balls, they last longer. Anyway, we capped the night with watching the ball drop in Time Square, see dogs in their hats. It really wasn't such a bad way to spend New Years. I thought it might be a little depressing, but I was also happy to be home and not still in a blizzard. Happy New Year! See comments WAY down below, not sure how I did that either!

I thought I would start out my New Year with some resolutions that I soooo want to keep! We will see where they take me:

1. The ever popular main goal: lose 10 pounds. To do that I plan to get back into better portion control; eat more fruits and veges; check out videos of yoga and Pilate's; more exercise with the poochies. I plan on losing a pound a week.

2. To give up more control to God. My life needs to be more about what he wants for me. I am getting there already, but I still have a lot of work left to go. Less about me, and more about what he wants for me.

3. Make friends. Also going in the right direction here, but I really want this/need this to happen.

4. Make my coffee dream come true. This also needs to happen in steps, but I need to really step it up. First step, get a part time job in a Coffee House. Finish writing my business plan. Sign up for Chamber of Commerce Business class.

5. Keep in better contact with close friends. All my really dear friends are far away. I want to make it more of a priority to keep up with their lives. I never want to lose contact with the people that mean so much to me, and would love to reconnect with others I haven't talked to in years.

There you have it. And they are in writing so I can reflect on them often. These goals mean a lot to me, and I don't want them to slide. I hope to update my progress periodically on my blog. For your enjoyment of coarse!:) May this year be good to us all, and full of great surprises!