Melting

As the snowbanks around Durango continue to wither into slushy pools, every one's mood is likewise improving. Even my toddler has returned to her normal, bubbly self.

Today at daycare she showed me her favorite, almost completely demolished book, and told me "Dat Kis-fer Robin has hunny for Pooh and Pig-et!" Her fragmented sentences are getting longer, and I'm having trouble keeping up. She likes counting too, except she usually gets carried away at the number 4, and starts excitedly shouting, EIGHT, TEN, SEVEN, TWO, ONE!

She also has started posing. When a crowd surrounds her, she pretends to be shy for about 3 minutes, hugging my legs demurely, then I swear to god, she starts batting her eyes. Then cracks a grin. She will continue this act, until I can't handle the ridiculousness anymore and put a stop to it.

Ye Gads. I swear there is a little Leo in her :P

Another symptom of Durango Snow-Melt Syndrome is the unleashing of yard sales and weekend grill parties. As soon as grass is visible, and temp is above 50 degrees, you will start to see carboard boxes on street corners, depicting where the sales are. If you walk around your neighborhood, you will hear the communal barking of dogs, the sound of hissing burger meat, and the clinking of Ska beer bottles.

Yes, there may be snow on the La Platas until June, but by god, the people of Durango shall not be denied their yard sales and barbecues!

Gotta love how all the Marquees around town no longer display "Think Snow." I'm half expecting them to read "Think MELT" in a week or two.

Ask and ye shall receive

Its a whopping 34 degrees outside. Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 45-50!!! Hallelujah. Watching the snow melt this weekend was definitely the highlight of a long, coughing, runny nose-filled week. Keeping fingers crossed to ward off the Flu. Happy Prez day.

Jeff Foxworthy

My MOTHER sent this to me, and if she can have a sense of humor about life, I guess I can buck up and laugh a little too. I know there are some people out there who can appreciate this (You know who you are). Colorado REPRESENT.

You are a Coloradoan if .............

1. You switch from "Heat" to "A/C" in one day.
2. You know what the " Peoples Republic of Boulder" means.
3. Your sense of direction is: towards the mountains and away from the mountains.
4. You're a meat-eating vegetarian.
5. The bike on your car is worth more than your car and you have your own special bike lane.
6. You're able to drive 65 miles per hour through 13 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without even flinching.
7. You take your out-of-town guests to Casa Bonita even though you would never go there otherwise.
8. You think your major food groups are granola bars, tofu and Fat Tire Beer.
9. You design your kid's Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit.
10 You think that sexy lingerie is wool socks and flannel PJs.
11. You know all 4 seasons "almost winter, winter, still winter and spring blizzards
12. You've been tear gassed in a riot to celebrate a CU/CSU victory.
13. You can never figure out why your out-of-town guests faint from altitude sickness on a picnic to the mountains.
14. You can drive over a 12,000-foot pass in 4 feet of snow, but can't get to work if there are 4 inches of snow.
15. You know the 'correct' pronunciation of Buena Vista .
16. When you visit friends at sea level, you can drink a case of beer and not get a buzz.
17. Your car insurance costs more than your car.
18. You have surge protectors on every outlet.
19. April showers bring May blizzards.
20. 'Timberline' is someplace you have actually been.
21. You know what a 'Chinook' is
22. You know what a ' Rocky Mountain Oyster' is.
23. You know what a "fourteener" is.
24. .But you don't know what a "turn signal" is.
25. A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you nearly as much as a Democrat in Congress does.
26. Your golf bag has a 9-iron, a 3-wood and a lightning rod.
27. People from out of state breathe 5 times as often as you do.
28. Having a Senator named Nighthorse doesn't seem strange.
29. Thunder has set off your car alarm.
30. You have an $800 stereo in your $300 truck.
31. You think a red light means 3 more cars can go.
32. Where we're going, we don't need roads!!
33. You know where the real " South Park " is.
34. You can recognize the license plates of all 50 states on sight.
35. Driving directions usually include 'Go over_________ Pass. '
36. You've 'checked for ticks.
37. You've dressed in shorts, sandals, and a parka with a hood.
38. You've gone snow skiing in July and.........
39. You've played golf in January and.......
40. They were in the same year!
41. You've urinated on the Continental Divide just so it could run into both oceans.
42. You know what a down slope and an up slope weather pattern is.
43. And the most important: You get a certain feeling of satisfaction from knowing that California and Texas are both down stream.
44. You actually understand these jokes and send them to your Colorado friends.

Guilty Pleasures

I have managed to find some sense of peace in the last few days. I think most of it has to do with the statement: "knowledge is power." I have sucked a lot of wisdom out of people this week, and it has brought me a little comfort in the process.



I also was a little indugent this week too. Ok, more like ridiculously indulgent. Here are the activities I gluttoned myself with:

1. Hour long Bubble bath, complete with candles and kick-ass handmade products from local businesses.


2. Flash-back to High School, while watching the oh so silly, but oh so "Remember Dawson's Creek?" MTV movie, Varsity Blues. I swear James Vanderbeek is wearing JNCOS in that movie. I am so glad to be part of the "Ginormous Jeans" Generation.


3. Buying a 12-pack of Cherry Coke Zero, and drinking 3 cans in one day.


4. Walking 6 blocks and forking over $14 for the Sushatarian Unan Noodle Set Lunch.


5. Eating the classic dorm food: Totinos Pizza with Tobasco at 11:30 pm, while plotting coordinates on my Birth Chart, completely ignoring the fact I most likely would be getting up at 3 am with a feverish toddler, and outside a blizzard was raging.


6. Succesfully saying "White Rabbit" this morning.

What guilty pleasures did you partake in this week? Did it involve dressing up in a gown or a wizard's hat? GO SNOWDOWN!

Fortune

Last night I took myself and my 19 month old out for dinner. Alone. Since she is going through the anti-public-space phase, I was a little worried about how she would handle a restaurant without back up on hand. I was also still in my work clothes, which consist of skirt, heels and hose, and are not easy to chase a toddler in. But I took a chance and headed in for some Chinese.

I am so lucky to have such a great kid. She of course was her usual charm-the-pants-off-everyone-in-a-2-mile-radius self, and as long as I kept switching up the entertainment options every few minutes, she was fine. In other words, a tight circulation of book reading, block stacking, water sipping, peekaboo playing and thing naming was required to keep the dark side of a Gemini at bay. Much thanks to the employees of Mongolian Grill, who got the food on the table within 15 minutes of our arrival. Double yay. I left fat tippage.

I also managed to squeeze in a trip to Wal-Mart for some brownie mix, and purchase a buy two-get-two free DVD deal from Game Stop. All without a major toddler breakdown. I was wicked proud, but mostly relieved. If I can get through an evening like that, AFTER working an 8 hour day, and still get LB to bed before 8:00 pm, it makes me think I can handle this single mom thing after-all.

I was so pumped, I actually baked brownies after LB went to bed, instead of popping in my new DVDs. And the best part? I didn't even eat any of them. Nope. I have decided to give them to the construction workers who have basically saved everyone's ass this week by using their front end loader to plow our cars out.

Well I would have given them brownies, if I had followed the *High Altitude Directions on the box. Oh well. Another stop at Wal-Mart tonight will remedy this problem. Hopefully I will end up with yummy chocolate goodness instead of high altitude sludge cake.

Also. My fortune at the Chinese restaurant:

You need to forgive that person today. Just believe me.

Hmm...

Good Morning

Short post, because I have a pile of billing to get through today. Its snowing again. Yay. My boss is so damn cheery about it, gushing about finally having a real winter. I know she is right. I know that this summer will bring happy farmers, full wells, stoked river runners, and overall relief about the drought that has been chewing at SW Colorado's neck.

I'm just praying to the snow gods to keep me and LB safe in the process.