Back home. Had a WONDERFUL time in CO. So many photos to process. So much laundry to get cleaned. So much catching up.
In the mean time, I'll leave you with this shot I took (thanks to E's polarizing lens) of the sky over Evergreen Lake.
I'm back in Colorado. E and I are spending Tofurkey Day with his dad and step-mom. We're here for a week, and I am so excited. We get to see B on Friday, and spend the day together. Which will be great fun and full of craziness (the good kind), cause, well, that always happens around B. I miss her so.
But I also get to take E to Evergreen, to the house I lived in from 3rd-5th grade. I can't wait to show him what it was like. To point out — see, there, that's Mt. Evans sticking out over the trees. If you can't see it, then we have about a hour to get milk, bread and toliet paper cause a major storm is on its way. To show him the herd of buffalo that live across the street from my elementary school. I know I will be surprised at how much Evergreen has changed. I was the last two times I was back. (The Walmart across the street from the El Rancho is just wrong.)
But this time I feel that I am going back with a different purpose in mind. There are specific spots that I want to photograph. Not the snapshots of things like I took on a previous trip. I want to spend time in the meadow photographing the mountains and broken down barns and stuff. I don't have the deep seated longing that this is "home" like I've had before. It's more... things are familar (Look! A King Soopers! Village Inn!), and the mountains are more beautiful than I remember. But it's different some how from other visits. Maybe it's because I'm different.
The other super double cool thing about going to Evergreen is that we are meeting up with J. I haven't seen J since 1991. We were best friends starting in 3rd grade. I am so excited to see her and catch up. We've been exchanging emails for over a year now, but it will be so wonderful to be with her again.
Now if I can just get the John Denver songs out of my head, this will be an awsome week.
The past two days I've cooked. I consider myself someone who enjoys cooking and baking. Though I go through long periods of time where opening a box of mac-n-cheese is too time consuming to be bothered with. But when I do cook, I enjoy it.
Yesterday I made a simple casserole that my mother used to make all the time. It's broccoli and cauliflower in a cheesy sauce with Bisquick crumbles on top. For the longest time it was the only way my mom could get my brother and I to eat those two vegetables.
Today I'm making butternut squash and apples. It's another recipe that I grew up with, that we usually had at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's a slow cooker recipe — so you get to smell the butter and sugar cooking down with the sweet apples and squash for a good six hours. Yum.
Well, Trader Joe's has changed my life, in well, so many ways, but especially when it comes to these two recipes. You see, I purchased their little baggies of pre-chopped up veggies for both of these recipes. The broccoli and cauliflower was simple enough as it is, using pre-chopped veggies just seemed silly. But the butternut squash? I'm just not sure that I believe it will taste the same if you haven't fought with four pounds of sticky squash for over an hour first. It was so easy and quick.
The frugal New Englander in me cringes at the thought of paying for someone to chop my veggies for me. I don't need to pay more for that — I can do it myself. But the truth of the matter is that while I could do it myself, more and more likely is that I won't. And is a few extra cents worth me actually eating something that resembles a balanced meal? You betcha.
About fucking time!
Rumsfeld Steps Down
I feel the intense need to run through the streets with streamers and banners and fireworks of joy.
So... today I finished my deliverables for this massive project I've been working on. And the client LOVED it. Yay. I'm really proud of the work I did, especially in light of all the drama that has gone on with this project.
I am speaking at Web Builder 2.0 in December in Vegas. I just got notice that they will pay for 1 night hotel (I'm only going for one day because I have to do some training in Dallas the next day - oooh I know you're jealous). AP will cover my airfare. AND I'm getting a speaker fee paid to me. I would have done this conference for free (shhhh... don't tell them). This ROCKS!
Looks like going to the Caribbean for E's friend's wedding in March just got a whole lot more likely.