It's not so cold anymore.

It's been so long since I updated, it's almost spring. We had a seventy degree day this past weekend. We took advantage of it by riding our bikes around the lake near out house and hitting some golf balls on the driving range. I am excited to see grass turning green and soon the leaves will be out.

Bernie's parents were here again this past weekend. They were on their way down to the Phoenix area where they recently bought a vacation house. I would imagine we will see them frequently as they're going back and forth. We mostly shopped and ate out, which are our normal activities.

Bernie will be in Boise while I am on spring break in a couple of weeks. I was going to go with him, since I have never been, but my mom got her new Apple and needs some help learning how to use it. She needs to start from the basics because she never learned how to do things like save a file. She also says we are going to do some "Cooking 101" which should be fun. Hopefully we won't drive each other too crazy.

School is going well, I'm almost halfway through the semester. I got the OK this week to teach next fall for credit. So I will be the instructor for the Gero 205 class, which I am very excited about. I will probably have around 70 students. It will be a good challenge for me.

I have a book recommendation for everyone. It's called "Bodies and Souls: The Century Project" written by Frank Cordelle. It is a collection of photos of nude women from birth to age 100. We looked at it my Sociology of Aging class and it has had quite an effect on me. Each photo is accompanied by an explanation or poem written by the subject. The main idea of the book is to convey women and body image throughout the lifespan. I have cried a number of times while looking at it. I think some of you out there would appreciate it. You can see a sample of the photos at thecenturyproject.com.

It's cold here in Colorady

But not as cold as in Montana. The downside of the weather here is that it is semi-crappy for long periods of time with no Chinook wind relief. Where I go to school in Greeley is always about 10 degrees cooler than our house in Longmont, which makes the shit smell even stronger it seems.

We have had a busy month. I am indeed back in school taking twelve credits again, although the classes seem like a bit less work this time around. I have grant writing, sociology of aging, health aspects of aging, and a class about community resources for the elderly. I just got a call back from the Boulder County Aging Services today and I will start training to be a respite volunteer tomorrow. Respite care in this case is a two hour per week commitment to socialize with an older adult who is mostly home bound. It will be a new look at the population for me, as I am accustomed to very frail and sick residents. I am also excited to make a new friend...okay that sounds a little corny.

The ice rink continues to smell of hockey player sweat and feet, but it is fun to get out of the house and into the public arena. It's nice to make a little bit of money also as we seem to be hemorrhaging it lately. The car needed new tires and brakes in December and is currently getting all new belts (total cost $1700). And then our hot water heater went out two days ago for another $800. Adult life is so exciting sometimes.

We took Bernie's birthday skiing trip over the weekend and had a great time bumming around, eating, drinking, and of course skiing. I only went for one day, but felt like I make improvements since last year. I still have that terrified feeling at times, but I am learning to face it. Bernie's parents were also here for a few days last week to bring and buy Christmas gifts and for a general visit. I always enjoy having them.

The other piece of exciting news is that I plan to try out for the Longmont Symphony this fall. I talked with the lady today and she says "orchestras always need violas," so that's promising. I had better get practicing. When I broke out the viola a few days ago, there were dead spiders in the case. It's been awhile.

Happy Chistmanewyear!

Christmas break has been a bit exciting so far. I got a job at the city ice rink taking money and dealing skates. I have been working most days, usually 5-6 hours a day. They don't pay much, but at least it's a positive contribution and I have something to do. Christmas was fun, my family in Boulder came over and I made a mostly vegetarian meal for them. Spanikopita was the main dish and actually turned out to be really good. I also made apple crisp and a artichoke salsa. Everything was very nice and it was great to have some company at the house. Too bad Bernie had to work.

I have seen my grades and got a 4.0, which is very exciting. My planning for Bernie's 30th did not turn out so well and it looks like we'll be the only ones in attendance. We still plan on going up to one of the ski resorts for the weekend. His parents plan to stop by sometime in January on their way down to stay with Bernie's sister and brother-in-law in Arizona for awhile . That's the other exciting news. Bernie and I are going to be an uncle and aunt again in August. It should be an exciting summer, with four weddings to attend and an internship in Great Falls.

School starts again on January 15th, which I think I will be ready for. At least I will be ready to not go to the skate trailer every day!

One more week...

That's right, only one week of school left until January 15th! I had two icky finals last week and two more on Tuesday and Wednesday. I haven't decided what I'm going to do over Christmas break, hopefully get a job of some sort.

We went to a North Dakota/Denver hockey game last week, which was my first trip to a hockey arena. It was interesting and we had a good time...I might be persuaded to go again. I can't think of anything else new going on. We did get a shit ton of snow this weekend which ended any fantasies we had about the warm weather down here in Colorado. Actually, it's still better than Montana because the wind rarely blows.

That's all for now I suppose, sorry to be so boring!

Home again

Well, officially we've been home since Friday. We successfully spend one entire week in Great Falls without too much drama. We actually had quite a bit of fun and got to spend time with everyone we wanted to. My ex-step-sister Nicole recently became a Pampered Chef Rep, and my mother has jumped head first into helping her. For me this meant sitting through three parties in three days. It definitely got old, but I did get some free stuff.

My mother and I had our moments during the stay. We both have very strong opinions (as most of you know) and they happen to be opposite most of the times. I'm not sure how that happened with her strong influence on me growing up, but it did. And she doesn't like it much. Usually we can have a decent debate about an issue, but she got pretty upset with me a couple of times. (and yes, I do enjoy getting her wound up) For example, we had a conversation about work, pay, retirement, etc. I told her I felt that CNA's at nursing homes are undervalued and underpaid. After all, they get yelled at, hit, and shit on all day. She took that to mean that I undervalued her work somehow and proceeded on her in-public rant about all she sacrifices for her job (weekends, evenings, vacations). Then she told Nicole the next day that I said people at McDonald's should make the same as her. Never mind McDonald's was never mentioned. Maybe the alcohol had something to do with it. Sometimes I think she's disappointed that I have opinions of my own, even though she taught me to have the strong personality I do.

We also got to spend some time with Marlena which I had not done in some time. It always reminds me that no matter how different we become, we will always be friends. I can count all of my friends on one hand and I thought about all of you over Thanksgiving.

We went out too much, drank too much, ate too much-a fairly normal vacation. I managed to get hardly any homework done, but I am catching up now. Only three more weeks left in the semester.

Thoughts and love to Sara who lost a good friend of hers last week. RIP Maggie!

fun goings on

Well, I don't know if writing papers and preparing for a stats test is actually fun, but I'm certainly giving it my best effort. This update is my break time.

We took Hailey back to the vet today, after she chewed her bandage off twice since last week. Luckily he did not yell at us and the wound seems to be healing. I feel so guilty. She gets hardly any attention and hasn't fetched her frisbee in over two weeks. Then we put the lamp shade on and she looks at us like her life is the most awful doggy existence ever. Hopefully she can play on Friday.

Which reminds me, we are headed to Great Falls for a week long "vacation" on Friday. By vacation I mean doing homework in a novel environment. Actually, I hope to finish the bulk of it in the vehicle. We'll see. Oh, I almost forgot to talk about my advising appointment last week. I have official permission to teach an undergraduate section of the gerontology class next fall! This development makes me especially happy because I get 4 credits for it.

I did a little bit of shopping today and successfully spent the rest of my birthday money. I bought a small wine bar to free up some much needed cupboard space. And best of all, it was on sale at Dillard's from $350 to $90. I was a good little bargain shopper.

Lastly, Bernie and I have set out weight loss goals for June. I hope to see 125 (137 now) and Bernie hopes for 150 (I don't have permission to post his current weight). I think we can do it. The main problem (like everyone else I suppose) is that we love to eat.

Dog Days

Hailey has had a ruff couple of weeks. I took her hunting with me back in ND and the morning after the first day of hunting her paw swelled up like a club. A piece of wood or a thorn pierced her paw and went half way in. This is what the Vet. in ND told me after x-rays. The infection area on the paw swelled up so big that it burst and left a big wound on her paw. Last week we took her to the vet again and they cleaned and wrapped it and told us to come back next week (yesterday). Then yesterday they knocked her out and sewed shut the paw. So far its been 3 trips to the vet. Let's just say those pheasants better taste real good cause the cost of them keep going up.

Here is a picture of her with her e-collar (lamp shape) on so she doesn't lick it.