President Obama at CSU

We left work early yesterday to see President Obama speak at CSU.  What an experience!!

Because I am so eager for fall to arrive, I wore tights under my skirt...but I did not anticipate it would be so hot outside!!  After an hour or so, I knew that to prevent a heat-induced bad mood I needed to get the tights off of my body.  So very nonchalantly, while standing in line, I discovered that I am capable of removing tights without making a scene.  Phew!  Instantly my body temperature regulated and I felt relieved that I would not have to be removed from the scene on a stretcher.

As we went through security, I forgot about the tights until I saw the security guard holding them in his hand as he went through my purse.  Good thing he was wearing gloves.

We got to the quad and found a nice shady spot with a decent view of the stage.  Well, we thought it was decent until Jared Polis came on stage and we realized there was a teleprompter-looking rectangle that perfectly blocked his face...and Hickenlooper's face...and Ken Salazer's face...and President Obama's face.  But we had a super view of the snipers on the rooftops!

 

Erin and I found ourselves standing among some children, who were about the same height as us.   We blended in so well, I'm surprised we didn't get swept into their family van after it was over and taken home for chicken nuggets and macaroni.

At one point, the media turned their cameras from the stage to the audience, and at that moment I was embarrassed of our cellphone-obsessed society.  Every single one of us had our phones out, holding them up in the air, trying to snap the perfect picture or get a clean, crisp video of the President.  I'm sure we all looked incredibly silly. 

I am not a die hard Democrat, but listening to our President speak was such an inspiring experience, and I loved hearing him veer off of his speech every now and then to crack a joke.  When he would mention his "opponents", the crowd would boo...and his response was, "Don't boo! Vote!"  If he doesn't get re-elected, I think he has a future in motivational speaking fur sure.

He is a very clever, reasonable fellow and I am proud that he is our President! 

Thoughts for a Monday

I love Ben Rector

Big miracles can come in small packages.  Welcome to the world lil Charlee Aalborg!  You are so loved and I can't wait to snuggle you up!!!

The misuse/overuse of the word "disenfranchise" makes me want to barf.  I know I can be an overly dramatic gal, but come ON people!!!  If you are eligible to vote, let me assure you, we will practically bend over backwards to get you a ballot.  With a cherry on top.

I love a good morning coffee buzz.

Every time the season is about to change, I think, THIS is my FAVORITE season!!!  But really, I really do think fall is my favorite.  Delicious latte flavors, football season, cool mornings, soup recipes, scarves, tights, boots, no A/C or heating bill...yippeeeee!  In the words of Tony from P90X, BRING IT BRING IT BRING IT BRING IT BRING IT BRING IT BRING IT!!!

Countdowns can be annoying, but here we go!
  71 days until the Election
  6 days til B & B become Mr & Mrs

  5 days til Erinbear and Tom Tom Tom arrive for the B & B wedding festivities

Aftermath

What happens when you have one too many beers after the kickball championship...
(note. we did not play in the kickball championship. whoops!)

You tell yourself its okay to go to work with wet hair
You break your "no-pop" streak (thank you, co-workers, for not drinking my Diet Squirt that I had neglected for so many weeks!!!)
You eat Taco Bell in your car at lunch while watching Aziz Ansari YouTube videos

Harold and Kumar vs. President Obama

When I heard President Obama would be visiting Fort Collins on Tuesday, I was like:

"Oh, cool!"

When I heard Harold and Kumar would be visiting Fort Collins on Friday, I was like:

"Hold all my calls cancel all of my appointments find me a new outfit where would be the best place to park should I call in sick on Friday should I say I'm going for work I wonder if they are spending the night where do you think they will have dinner WILL NEIL PATRICK HARRIS BE HERE TOO!!!!??"

The Peacock and her Flock

We celebrated Brynnie's upcoming wedding with a bridal shower and a bachelorette party last weekend in good ol Laramie.

What what!

Bridal shower highlights:
Bacon wrapped dates. Raspberry lemonade moscato punch. Adorable games and lots of funny story telling.

Delicious is right.

Bachelorette highlights:
Peacock hair pieces made by the very creative Kenna of Quirk Shop. Trolling around Laramie like we had never left college. Taco Bell (some things never change, like my ability to snarf cheesy gordita crunches, no matter the occasion or the hour)

Ain't she a beauty!

Cheers to Brynn and Bryce!  Meant To B! 

Anyone else?

Would anyone else rather wash a shirt again than have to hang it up?

Anyone else get extreme pleasure out of throwing your disposable contacts on the counter when you're done with them and letting them dry up to shrively little discs?

Anyone else out there using one of those food diaries...and anyone else let yourself believe that your bud light limearita can is actually 8 ounces instead of 16 ounces?!?

Time to put on the denim, people...pay day Friday has arrived!

The Letter X

Its not that I hate the letter X, I just think its unnecessary.  We could remove it from the alphabet and there would be no consequence.

Any word that contains this so-called "letter" could be spelled instead with a "Z" or "CKS".

See for yourself!

Xylophone = Zylophone
Sex = Secks
Exam = Ecksam

While I understand that the ecksitance of this "letter" saves us about .0024 seconds per day, I would venture to say by the year 2075, no one would even remember it ecksisted.  You'd be sitting on the porch reading through your old yearbook and you'd read some perp's comment about "Hope you have an exciting summer!" and you'd be like, "what the HELL......the letter X!  I'm SO GLAD they got rid of that dang letter."

I challenge any one of you...if you can come up with a word that ABSOLUTELY cannot survive without this "letter" X, I will let you be the Mayor of an up-and-coming town, Bosler WY (more on that venture later).

Thank GOODNESS! (http://society6.com/brianwjones

)

Panic is no picnic

I am a panicker.  I find it easy to work myself up and make a situation go from "La-di-da, just getting on an elevator" to "You are going to be trapped in this elevator for the rest of your life and no one will ever find you!!!!!!!"  When I was younger, I watched a movie about a little boy who got some terminal illness and INSTANTLY I panicked that my little brother would get the same illness.  I made myself so panicked I literally had to get up and walk around the house to try to calm my panic.

I used to be so scared that I would get stuck in the bathroom in the house I grew up in that I would look at the space between the door and the floor and wonder if they'd be able to slide some survival food underneath the door should I get trapped in there??

I got locked out of a hotel room once because my sister and cousin "pretended" to leave me in the hotel room - I was so scared of being left alone that I ran out after them in a panic and I forgot to grab the hotel keys.  Did I mention I was in a swimsuit so then I had to go find my parents in the dining room to get their key...not sure why but my mom was so furious about the situation!! 

I used to harbor the same panic about finding my husband.  It would keep me awake at night sometimes.  A simple thought of, "Hmm I wonder if I will meet him this year?" would turn into "You will never meet him and you will be lonely the rest of your life and you will just have to keep watching your friends get married and you better hope that your nieces take care of you when you're an old woman because you will still be single and you will die alone."  What IS that?!

The other day I saw a little boy crossing the street with his mom.  As he hopped on the curb he did some silly twirl that his mom didn't acknowledge.  I thought to myself, is she annoyed at him, that's why she didn't giggle at his twirl?  Or did she just not notice? Then I panic: When I have children, will I get so used to having them around that I start to ignore what makes them unique and interesting?  What if I only think other people's kids do cute things and what if I forget to appreciate my children? What if I don't even get to have children?!?! Panic, panic, panic.

I am having an incredibly dumb week at work...and I panic that my unhappiness is created by my own professional flaws - that its ME, not the environment.  But I have to remind myself that "not now" does not necessarily mean "never".  I know that happiness at work (or a new job) will come when I least expect it.  I know that children will come into my life when we're ready for them.  I know that whatever the weather, there is good to be found, and that good will calm the panic, when the panic surely comes =)

Noogies

Who doesn't love a good noogie!  After looking through some pics on my comp, I realized I have a tendency to give them.  A sign of affection, I suppose!

I know Emily does.

Erin does after 5 drinks.

I don't think this particular Erin loves them but she is a good sport.

Nick LOVES them. For sure.

Snapshots from our weekend with the girlies

Uncle Mike snuggling sweet baby Brynnie

Getting crafty for the new baby room!

Deck fishing in their undies.  They are so carefree...I love it!!

Weekend.

Friday eve: Learned how to play racquetball.  I think my version is more a combination of racquetball and dodgeball.

Saturday morning: Had a fabulous facial by my sweet Connie.  She has the touch of an angel!!!  Followed by a strong coffee and people watching in the Oak Street Plaza.  Made me never want to leave Fort Collins.

Saturday eve: Made pizzas on the grill with the Saters and the Aalborgs, then played telestrations while we ate mini bundt cakes.  That game is always a hit!!

Sunday: Went to Blackhawk with my dad, brother and uncle.  Is it considered playing craps if I only roll the dice?  Okay, great!  Blew through $20 in roulette and then watched Olympic volleyball.

Neck and neck in the competition of who could get more wristbands.

Sunday eve: Finally reconnected with the Dorr-Hvidstons over dinner and laughs and talks of their upcoming wedding.  On the trip home to their new house they timed it from our door to theirs...35 minutes!  Hip hip hooray!!

I love weekends like that.  DUH!