So Simon and I have been out in Colorado for over a month now, and I figure it’s about time I get to writing a little bit about what’s going on out here.
First and foremost, it’s gorgeous. I love waking up in the morning and seeing the sunrise coloring the snow on the mountain tops...I never tire of that view. The sun is always shining, and the sky is always blue. Well, today it’s overcast and there’s no sky to be seen, but I think this is the first day since we’ve been here that I haven’t seen the sun. The sun is intense too! On a 50 degree day with the sun beating down, your skin feels like it’s at least 80. I’ve gotten used to putting sunscreen on when I know I’ll be outside for any length of time. Definitely a change from those terrible Minnesota winters!
I realized upon arriving here that I had grossly overpacked. None of you that know me well should be surprised by this. I’m heading back to Minnesota next week to do some job training, and I’ve packed up two suitcases to take back with me and leave there, since I really have no use for 20 pairs of jeans, 10 pairs of shoes...5 of which that are heels, 5 button down shirts, 3 sweatervests, 36 t-shirts, 45 pairs of socks, 63 pairs of underpants, 5 sweatshirts, and 4 sweaters. Why did I ever think I would need that much clothing (I should add that I have about this same amount of clothing left behind in Minnesota...)? I could practically go the entire three months I’m out here without doing laundry more than twice. Haha. Silly me. So what do I do...I pack the suitcases, then proceed to buy 10 t-shirts off my favorite tshirt site, vintagevantage.com (check them out...their shirts are my absolute fave and I’ve been a fan since 2003!). I really couldn’t help it...they were having a huge sale and they’re the softest tshirts the world had ever did see...how could I not? I got 10 shirts at just under $8 a piece...tell me that’s not a bargain! Okay, so I splurged on tshirts...that happens, and really, it’s been a while since I got a really good zinger of a tshirt. Then, the other day, Simon and I went hiking south of Denver and we took Lady with us. She came back from that little trip a bit of a mess...mud almost from head to toe...belly for sure. So we took her to PetSmart to pay someone else to bathe her because I hate bathing her. For an extra $15 they brushed her teeth...how about that! So, while we’re waiting for her to get done with her spa treatment, we wandered around the little strip mall to kill some time. I wound up leaving with 2 books, a scrapbook, and 3 pairs of shoes. I know! I don’t now how it happened either! I told Simon that we should avoid the shoe store, but after wandering through REI, Michael’s, Office Max, Christy’s ski and patio furniture shop (I know, I don’t get it either), and chips and guac a Wahoo’s, we really had no other place to go except the shoe store, and there I found myself surrounded by bargains aplenty! I got a pair of Rocketdogs (one of my favorite shoe brands) for $11! I could hardly contain myself! And look over there, yet another pair of Rocketdogs (in my size!) for $19! And look at these...a cute pair of beige satin t-strap Kenneth Cole’s of his (my favorite) Unlisted line for $20! I ask again, how could I not? Simon was beside himself but supportive, as a good boyfriend should be. And just as we were checking out, Lady was done (talk about timing), and she looked quite marvelous if I do say so myself. They used a whitening shampoo on her, so she no longer looks yellow. And she smelled good too, which is a great accomplishment when it comes to her. She brings the funk and the noise most days. So, the moral of this story is, I should never downsize, because I just feel the need to replace. And I never truly downsize...it’s not like I took anything to Goodwill, I just put it in a suitcase...my clothes and shoes hadn’t even left the apartment yet and already I was getting replacements. It’s a sad world I live in.
In other news, after a tax return, a paycheck, and some left over money, my credit cards are now paid off. It’s taken me 2 years, but I’ve done it! It’s a wonderful feeling. If only I could do away with the rest of my debt. I really don’t feel the need to pay off my student loans because the payments are low and I like the tax breaks...and I like to enjoy my money...as is evidenced by the above paragraph. I don’t want to be lying on my deathbed someday in ratty old togs, thinking...I should have paid off my student loan sooner. No, I want to be dressed in my favorite pair of barely affordable jeans, my favorite tshirt topped by my favorite hoodie and say to myself...I wonder if there are any sales going on right now? I could use a new pair of Rocketdogs.....
And now the job. It sucks. To be delicate, I hate the pants off it and would love to quit, if only it wouldn’t leave a black mark on my work resume. The thing is, I love my coworkers...they’re awesome...they’re so supportive and nice and very smart, but the unit is so understaffed that it’s borderline unsafe. I try to do the best I can, but somedays I leave the unit thinking....thank God all my patients are still alive. It’s added a degree of stress to my life that I haven’t felt in a long time. For a while there I felt like it was putting a strain on my relationship with Simon, as he was the one I was projecting most of my stress on to. It’s definitely been different...we went from living and working in different places to living and working in the same place. But it’s also been very comforting. He’s able to bring me up from my lows and bring me down from my periods of mania better than anyone...and he puts up with all my shit. He’s a saint. A saint with a dynamite ass. I say that because he’s currently bending vacuuming the baseboards, so I have a bird’s eye view of what his momma gave him.
Today is the first day we’ve vacuumed since we got here. Well, I shouldn’t say we, since Simon is doing it. Living with three dogs leaves the carpet a bit furry, and while I’m decently content to live in a certain degree of squalor, this is Simon’s first experience in living with dogs...dogs that shed....a lot. At least they’re little, and their hairs are little. It’s not like we’ve got a pack of huskies running around here. And Simon is not content with once around the carpet with the vacuum as I would be...he’s got the attachments out, is getting the cracks in the tile, vacuumed the baseboards, the kitchen, the bathroom. He even shook out the rugs. I’m sure if we had a mop, he’d be getting that out as well. All while wearing a shirt that says on the front "women, you can’t beat ’em." And here I sit...typing on my computer. Where’s the justice in this world? I do the dishes...and I pick up...sometimes. Sometimes I cook. I’ll just quit right now.
Now the snowboarding...not my crowning achievement. I tried...once. It didn’t go well. We were going to go today but we decided that sleeping in sounded better. I think if I had had a better go at it the first time, and if I was more motivated to learn, I would have pushed that we go today. But here I sit instead. Am I quitter? A little bit. I think I’m not all that motivated to learn to snowboard because I know I can ski. If the whole snowboarding thing doesn’t work out, I’ve got that to fall back on. I thought that snowboarding would be a good challenge, but I don’t take challenge all that well, so it may not have been such a good idea after all. And it’s hard to learn out here...it’s at least a good hour and a half to the closest ski hill, and lift tickets out here are pretty ridiculous. I wish that we would have gotten more snow in Minnesota before we moved out here so I could have practiced on the little hills there without feeling like I was getting my wallet picked to spend the day on the bunny hill out here. Then again, I might just be making excuses...hahaha! So yeah, I’ll keep the board for now and give it a few more tries, but I can honestly say that there might be a set of skiis in my future...which is all right. Snowboarding...skiing, it’s all the same, right? I don’t even like winter that much to begin with, so maybe taking interest in a winter sport was a doomed idea from the beginning. Time will tell!
Simon is going to the gym without me. I hate the gym. Sometimes I go, but most of the time I don’t. I should, because we’ve got the Grand Canyon trip coming up in about 3 weeks or so, but I’m not overly worried about it. Maybe I should be. I’m looking foward to it, at any rate. We went to Castlewood Canyon on Monday. It’s a canyon-esque area south of Denver and it was really fun. We scrabbled around on rocks, climbed up stuff, jumped across the little creek. Amazingly enough I didn’t end up in the drink. We have a video of me trying to fall in...I’ll post it on my page if I can figure out how to do it. I’d rather do that than work out...I can’t stand the idea of walking on a treadmill only to not get anywhere...that’s my excuse anyway...I’ve got a million of them to get out of working out...hahaha!
Last night we had a little piece of Minnesota...we grilled out with David and Denice and had beers and brats...complete with sauerkraut! It was delish! I do miss Minnesota sometimes. I miss my friends more than anything...all my buddies. I had quite the network. Hopefully my travels will take me back that way for the summer. I want to sit outside on the Mayslack’s patio and have a ranchero burger and some tots. Mmmm....nobody does a burger and tots quite like Mayslacks. Maybe we’ll participate in the meat raffle this summer. I hear the Twin Cities meat raffle phenom made the travel channel the other day. It is what it sounds like...a raffling of meat. Weird. Although, I wouldn’t mind paying a little bit of money for some meat...it was good meat. Maybe we could play bingo with some blue hairs while we wait for the numbers to be called out.
My family came out to visit in early March...it was nice to see them...and their 3 dogs. We had six dogs and 5 people living in my one-bedroom apartment for a few days. It was a bit cramped, but we made do. We went to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, which was pretty cool. Stephen King got his inspiration for the book The Shining at the Stanley Hotel. Turns out the hotel had plenty of ghosts of its own before that story even came about. Interesting history. Those Stanley boys were some interesting characters. They also masterminded the Stanley Steamer car, if you remember hearing about that at all. They broke the land-speed record in their day at 127 miles per hour with a steam car. After a day in Estes Park we went to the Red Rocks ampitheater, a natural rock formation that was been turned into a concert venue. It would be so awesome to catch a show there sometime. Their first show isn’t until after we leave though, so that’s a bummer. That’s the thing about being out here in the winter...if you’re not a skiier or a snowboarder, there’s not a whole lot to do outside that’s open in the winter. Hiking and off-roading trails are closed, a bunch of the higher elevation mountain roads are closed, areas of the state and national parks are closed. Denver itself has a lot of stuff to do though...we spend most of our time in Denver. We’ve got trips to Boulder, Fort Collins, and Colorado Springs planned though, probably later in April when hopefully more things will be open. Brewery tours....yummm...can’t wait for those, hiking, driving around, sight-seeing. Lots or pretty things to see out here.
All righty, I think this has been long enough! I haven’t written in while though so I’m making up for lost time. I hope this finds you and yours well and happy...and warm for those of you in Minnesota! Toodles!
