Time flies when you're old!

Why do the weeks go faster when you get older? That is a question I am always trying to answer and yet I can never seem to come up with a good answer! Another week has passed since I last blogged. Let's see, what did I do? The sad part is I can't remember and/or it was so pathetic, it's not worth mentioning!!! But I'll give it a try...

Ah yes, I remember now... last weekend we went camping up by Buffalo Creek! We had never stayed at that campground before (Buffalo) but Dan assured me we had been there before. It was about 15 years ago and the slope surrounding the campground was in "rebirth" after a fire. If that is true, then in 15 years, trees do grow fast!! It was very quiet there and a perfect place to retreat and relax. Yes, I said relax! We actually took a nap in the afternoon while a t-storm dumped rain on us! We talked by the campfire and ate s'mores (or the fixings separately)! It was rather enjoyable. We took a new route home that went along the South Platte River and it was beautiful! I think Dan will go back there and fish one of these days!

I have been busy this week at work with my assistant gone. I'm not getting much of my own stuff accomplished, but rather cleaning up some of hers. At least I only have 2 days left and Friday is bound to be easy before the holiday!

I haven't felt much like blogging or crafting in the evening this week. I think I'm in a little "funk" because yesterday was the anniversary of my mother's death. It's been 17 years and it almost seems like yesterday. Especially because 1 co-worker lost her mother yesterday and another's is very ill with cancer. All that brings back the memories of that dreaded weekend when we lost Mom. I was going to blog about it yesterday, but couldn't bring myself to it. Maybe later I will...

TCP Tuesday

This week's TCP Tuesday challenge was a color challenge - Blue and Orange posted by Toni! I've played a few times over the past few months, BUT never in time to add to the contest! I'm excited because this time I finished on the 1st day!!!

I used pattern paper scraps from Scenic Route I believe... Sprinkle of course, some dotted ribbon, flowers and of course some rhinestones for her collar! The sketch for this card was lifted from Frances. She does some amazing work! I'm always in awe of her stuff!!! Maybe because she's from "down under"?

Have a great day!

It's raining, it's pouring...

this little old lady wishes she was snoring!!!

We had t-storms last night that woke me up at 3:30 a.m. which included hail! The gray skies and misty rain has continued all day long too! What a beautiful day to stay inside while the brown lawns turn green again!!! I am SO HAPPY that Ed came last weekend - this weekend would have been a complete bust! It's SNOWING up in the mountians today!! Moira called from the Eisenhower tunnel at lunchtime and it was closed due to an accident in the snow! Hopefully she made it, settled into her campsite and is keeping warm!

Tomorrow we have errands to run and then Melanie's b-day party. We are taking her and 3 friends to Dave & Busters for the evening. It's a very managable group of kids and will be lots of fun! Then the girls will spend the night! I wonder if they'll get any sleep! Sunday is Melanie's actual birthday. She will be 13! Can you believe that? Where have the years gone? They went by fast, that's for sure! It just means I'm getting OLDER too!! By her next birthday I'm sure she will be taller than me too! She's almost there!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Really, this is the top!!!

What a fun weekend I had with my big brother!!! Of course, I usually have a great time with him, so I wasn't surprised!

Dan and Ed arrived at the same time from Chicago on 2 different planes on Thursday night. They swung by Castle Rock, picked Melanie and I up and we headed for the mountains arriving before midnight!

On Friday we went out for breakfast and decided on a hike to a ghost town outside of Frisco. The town turned out to be less than a mile up the hill and when we got there, we were all anxious to keep going! So we continued up the path towards Mt. Royal. I have looked at this area of rocky ledges every time we cruise over to Vail County and have often wondered how you get up there. Now I know! The views from up there were cool and Ed really enjoyed sitting on the rocky outcroppings! The sky's were mostly cloudy but we didn't have any rain, so it was a great hike! All in all we walked about 5 miles - a great warm up for Ed with our elevation!

After the hike, we headed to Vail for lunch and a walk around the Village. We ducked in lots of shops but didn't buy a thing - besides the jelly bellies Ed got! Then at 4 p.m. we waited in the line to take the gondola up the mountain - for free!! It was so weird to look at the mountain without snow on it and remember how you ski down it! We got a fair view of Mount of the Holy Cross (a 14er) before heading back down the gondola. A good dinner and an early night were the end of our day!

On Saturday we got up early and had clouds again. But we hoped for the best as we traveled South to Alma where the trailhead for Mt. Democrat, Mt. Bross and Mt. Lincoln lie. No such luck. We were surrounded once again! We set out anyway towards Mt. Democrat. The hike went slow but steady and we all got used to the lack of oxygen - some faster than others! When we reached the saddle between Mt. Democrat and Mt. Cameron we could see a little bit down the other side but not fantastic. Thankfully we all had adequate clothing on, including gloves because it was a bit chilly! As we left the saddle and headed up to Democrat we first reached a false peak and then another... finally getting to the top! It wasn't exactly easy to find because it was int he clouds!! (Thus why that picture is not very clear!) Hurray! We made it! And I let (YES LET) my older brother summit first!!! Isn't that nice of me?! He's a typical flatlander too - making phone calls back home from the top of the mountain!!

On our decent back to the saddle, we had a few brief glimpses of the valley below! Quick take a picture because it was gone quicker than it came! We also noticed the clouds beginning to grow and turn darker. The weather reports called for T-storms in the p.m. and it was just about noon. We knew we had a bad chance of getting caught, so we opted to climb Mt. Bross and Mt. Lincoln another time and headed back to the car. It was an amazing hike in the clouds! I'm so glad that I got to share that with my brother!! He did an awesome job and I know he'll be back to conquer a few more in the future!

On Sunday we slept in a bit before packing up and heading for breakfast. While waiting to be seated we called and made reservations to go on an ATV tour that afternoon! Unfortunately when we go to the place it was pouring rain. Not a very comfortable way to ATV! So we decided to bag it and headed to Leadville and tour the town. More disappointment... the Opera House was closed. But we did look through some of our favorite antique stores before heading back home. The trip home we opted for a 4-wheel drive road called Weston Pass. It was a nice drive and a great end to a fun weekend!

Ed headed home BEFORE the crack of dawn on Monday morning and the reality of back to work was upon us again! I'm so glad I got to share this time with him! Thanks bro!!!

Butterfly Card

Over last weekend I finally got around to buying shelves for my office/scrap room! I settled on wire shelves that are 16" deep. They are deeper than I would have originally preferred, however the space between the rungs is closer, which I thought would work better! And to my happiness, Dan even installed them the same day for me! Now I'm trying to organize and fill them up! That is a tough project for me because every time I see something I forgot about, I want to stop and start a new project!!! Thus, the butterfly card! Found these butterflies laying on my desk. I've had them FOREVER! They are from Target. I started with a design from Taylored Expressions and then I rummaged through my old scrap paper and found some that matched fairly well. I changed her sketch to fit my butterflies and my mood and came up with a card I really like! I think it's the colors that attract me most! Wish they showed up better here!! Well needless to say, it's Wednesday and I'm still not finished organizing my stuff! I doubt I'll ever be finished!!!

My brother arrives tomorrow, along with my husband! Ed is coming to visit us and we are going to climb our first 14er together!!! He climbed Long's Peak many moon's ago! I hope he's not too disappointed that I ruled that one out this summer, but I wasn't prepared for a 16 mile technical hike quite yet! Instead we are going to try a trio of mountains - Lincoln, Bross and Democrat! There is actually a 4th one there that doesn't always count - depends on what book you read! We'll see if we can conquer all of them or not! I'm really excited to see my brother!

Dad is doing great! He's out and about and feeling as though this never happened! We'll know next week when his next operation will be. Then I'll probably go visit him!

Oh and before I forget, after 20 years of marriage, I'm finally getting a honeymoon!!! A trip to Cancun in October! I'll tell more another day....

A new card finally!

I got inspired late last night to make this card from one I saw on Taylored Expressions blog. I've had these vellum stickers FOREVER! Bought them on a trip to the Paper Source a few years ago with my BFF Marlene! The minute I saw this card on her blog, I knew what to use for my card! I gave this to a friend at work for her wedding shower. I thought it was quite fitting! I have 3 more stickers and I'll be using the same sketch! What? If I find a good sketch, why not use it over and over??!!

I'm all alone tonight. Dan went to Chicago for a few days. That lucky bastard, he's eating my favorite Mexican food tonight. So I'm eating Nacho's too, but they are no where near as good as at El Buritto Loco! And he's going to get stuffed pizza too - I sure hope he brings one back for me!! It's the biggest thing (after the family) that we miss from Chicago - PIZZA! I won't trade my mountains in for it though!!! And Melanie is in the Springs with Betsy tonight. I'll be happy when she comes home tomorrow!! So tonight, it's me and my computer!!! How fun!

Brillante Weblog award!

Thanks to Benita for giving me the Brillante Weblog award! I'm honored that she selected me. I am not going to pass it along however, because everyone I blog with regularly has either gotten it or the last one I posted this past weekend and I just can't do it to them again!!! I either need more blogging friends... or in reality more time to blog!!!

I've won the BFF Blogging Award!!!!

Thank you to Toni for sharing the "Blogging Friends Forever" award with me! Can you believe it's my first Gold Card!!! (JK!) Now I get to pass this along too!

The rules for the "Blogging Friends Forever" award are:

Only five people allowed

Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog

One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog or live in another part of the world.

You must link back to whoever gave you the award.The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.

Here's my list for the "Blogging Friends Forever" award:

1. Patti

2. Roccio

3. Lisa

4. Debbie

5. And Benita!!!