The Powers that Be

Currently my family and I are fighting the "powers that be." What this means is that we are trying to reincorporate the town in which we live (Franktown) to remove it from country rule. Essentially we are trying to make our town a self governing entity again. And the county commissioners are fighting us...very very hard. According to Colorado state statues any town that was legally recognized as a town prior to 1874 can reorganize and "re-awaken" their incorporation and bypass current state regulations. As it happens Franktown was formally recognized as a town by the territorial government in 1864, so HOORAY! we should be able to incorporate no problem, right? WRONG! The problem we have been slammed up against is that there are a number of "large landowners" in Franktown with more money than you can shake a stick at that don't want us to incorporate. To give you an idea of what we are doing, the original town of Franktown (then Frankstown) was a mile square...think about it people, all I'm talking about here is incorporating a mile square of land. This square mile has 20 "official" registered voters. However, the landowners up to 10 miles away from the area we are trying to incorporate have a BIG problem with what we are trying to do. So to stop us, they are using their financial weight to sway the commissioners to their side. These people, who haven't lived in Franktown for more than 5 or 6 years, and have no appreciation for what we are trying to do, are trying to kill our hopes of self government. Their reasoning...they don't want Franktown to grow...EVER. They don't want new businesses, or a change in the landscape that they can view from their quarter million dollar home in the trees. You may be wondering why I'm so totally opposed to their view of the situation. Let me elaborate. My family has lived in Franktown for over 100 years. So while these people are complaining that they don't want their view ruined, they fail to realize (or realize and don't care) that when the 3 story monstrosity they call a home they completely decimated the view from our house. They don't want to understand that by incorporating we are trying to save our town. Save it from being swallowed by Castle Rock, or Parker, or even Elizabeth someday. We want Franktown to stay Franktown, we don't want it to dry up and become a ghost town and we don't want it to lose its identity to one of the bigger cities that every day creeps closer to our borders. Franktown is still a small town, one of the few left this close to Denver, and now we might lose it forever. When we filed legal action in District Court a few weeks ago, the County Commissioners filed a petition with the State Secretary to abandon the town of Franktown, as well as several other small hamlets within Douglas County. They want to officially declare us non-entities, they want to say we are not now, nor can we ever be an "official" town. Perhaps its just me, but this is very reminiscent of a 3 year old throwing a fit. The citizens of Frankstown are standing together and telling the county seat that we wont be told what we can do with our land, or risk having our land condemned so that they wealthy newcomers can have a pretty park against the river (which is what they are threatening to do with my families land). And because we are a perceived threat to their autonomous power they are trying to say we never existed. It saddens me more ever day that our government can be bought. That it isn't always about the rights of the people, be they the few or the many, its about the rights of those with the deepest pockets. That people can have more respect for a dollar, then they do for a town with 120 + years of history that will just fade away into nothingness if we don't do something for it. I want anyone who reads this to ask yourself, what would you do to save your town. Is the place you live important enough to fight for? We know our town is worth fighting to save, even if we lose the fight in the end, at least we'll know we tried.

Perhaps you remember, or perhaps not, my mention of a date I was supposed to have back in December (wow that seems like a long time ago heehee) with Aaron. Well we are finally going to give that a go tonight. There will be pasta involved, and cheesecake...mmm cheesecake...and perhaps some random fun on his radio show afterwards. It should be a good time. You should listen in, it might be interesting!

Family Reunion

We had a family reunion today. Now most people would cringe and tell me how sorry they are that I had to attend such an event. However, I must tell you that I absolutely love when we all get together (well at least this side of my family). We laughed so hard all day that my face hurts. We also played a rousing game of lawn darts. Yes, I know you aren't supposed to have them anymore...but its still a fun game.

This is my uncle Rob...he was very good at lawn darts (I really suck by the way). We had second cousins, great uncles and aunts, girlfriends, and other various extended family members. Its a great time. So withouth further ado some more pictures of the day.

I got to be the grill master!!

The food was great. And there was a lot of it. In fact I think we still have a lot of it left.

Ya know, lawn darts really isn't that exciting to watch...but we tried.

Uncle Rob decided it would be a good idea to tackle Great Aunt Betty after she beat him in lawn darts. She was definitley winning at this point in the proceedings though.

It was a really good day. And I can't say anything bad about family reunions!

Sugar and Spice

So as it turns out I've been very angry lately. For no good reason, with no excuses to offer for myself I've just been angry. Between an ex that doesn't know how to quit while he's ahead and other vague and uninteresting problems with my life, there never seems to be a time when I can just cool down and simply enjoy things the way they are. One alarmingly noticable incident of my growing hostility came last week. I just wanted wine with dinner. Just a nice glass of white wine that I've been saving for the last 6 months for no special reason. It of course was not chilled. Fine! Stick it in the fridge and get dinner going, I have a wine chiller (which is a fabulous investment by the way) so its not a crisis situation. So 20 minutes later when my pasta is ready and salad made I take out the wine chiller. Clearly the bottle in the fridge is not ready so a quick round in the newest gadget is warranted. And low and behold the power cable is no where to be found. Are you kidding me?! I just used the thing 2 days ago and now the stupid cord has magically disappared! Long story short this episode turned into a 15 minute search for the cord, determined to find it. Still didn't find it, by that time dinner was completely cold and no longer appetizing at all (I made the meal to go with the wine, no wine...no meal). So I trashed the whole idea and that was that.
Yes, I realize looking back on it now, I may have over-reacted just a tad...okay a lot. But that gives you an example of my state of mind lately. And that is about average, there have been worse episodes and there have been less dramatic ones ( those usually involve me muttering insulting or unfriendly things under my breath to people who I'm not totally sure were trying to offend me in any way), but generally that's been about the norm. You can imagine how much fun this has been for my friends/family. But they love me anyway (mostly).
And then this weekend the awful feeling just kind of evaporated. I don't know where it went, and certainly don't want it back. Partially responsible for this change in mood is a...what I can only call acceptance...of the way things are. I spend too much time trying to fix things, line things up in neat rows so that I know what to expect and know for sure that I'm in charge. Then I realized I'm not in charge. Not all the time anyway. And every time I try to stack the deck, or make others play the game my way I lose, and I'm talking big time lose. So I decided, the hell with that. I'm happy with me, who and what I am. I love my job, despite all of the crap that can go on there. Life right now, for me, is pretty good. And once I let go of that need to know everything, things just felt better. I agreed to go on a double date with a guy I hardly know, which I have here to for refused to do because of previously mentioned reasons, and it was actually a lot of fun. And as he pointed out (and surprisingly it didn't totally piss me off) I was very friendly and very funny, and actually a sweet person when I wasn't trying to be such a bitch. So yay me!
So for any one who has noticed the increase in my vile moods, or had to suffer through hearing about them, I apologize. At least for the moment I am much better, and sincerely hope to remain that way, at least for awhile. I mean lets face it I can't be nice all the time...what would people think of me LOL.

Have you ever?

Its been one of those days. Nothing seems remotely interesting, and though I've run around like a crazy person all day trying to get crap done it feels as though I've accomplished absolutely nothing. Some days just turn out to be sadly unfulling, and usually leave you wanting more. There have been highlights in my day, I have a lifesize carboard image of D-Wade (he's a basketball player) and today my cube-mate Adam and I took turns shooting him with an airsoft gun, yea that was a good time. Just wondering if you've ever had one of those days, and any advice for getting out of that funk.

Lookey here!

Yup your eyes are true. I cut 7 inches off of my hair on saturday! Its super cute! Hooray! LOL

UPDATE: New Toy!!!

Here is a picture of me and my new bike!

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New Toy!!

Well, it's official. I bought a motorcycle this weekend. I know what you may be saying (something along the lines of crazy B$*%&). But I honestly do love it! At first I thought I was settling because it wasn't exactly the one that I was originally looking at buying. Then I took it out and learned to ride on it. And I must admit it is amazing!! I should be riding like a pro in no time. Well maybe not a pro, but at least really well. Everyone was very suprised, and very impressed that I learned to ride so quickly. I still need to get my permit, and then my motorcycle endorsment, but i should be ready for that in no time too! Anyway I was really excited (now that I've officially made the decision) so I thought I would share! Here are a few pics of what my bike looks like. Obviously they aren't my actual bike, but mine is the exact same color. I will have pics of me riding it soon!!

Just to make you smile

You can't look at this picture and tell me it's not totally precious!

Fitzy the Sloth

Once upon a time in a place not so far from here, there was a bornean tree sloth named edgar fitzgerald. Fitzy, as his friends (of which there weren't many) liked to call him, wasn't a handsome sloth, but he was kind and funny if you could pay attention long enough to hear the joke. Fitzy made his home in a very fine cecropia tree, with a big wide trunk and lucious green leaves. But the thing that made Fitzy different from all the other sloths was that he loved to sing. He had a deep baritone singing voice that should have made all of the girl sloths crazy, but more often than not just made them look at him oddly and whisper to each other about him. Now it could be that Fitzy's choices of songs weren't particularly popular, most sloths generally enjoy old ballads and soft lilting lyrics, but Fitzy had a style all his own. He had invented a kind of wild ride between jazz and reggae, it was fast paced and it was fun. No one really knows where Fitzy found the energy for these belting solos, but when the urge took him, nothing could slow him down. It was during one of these rousing performances that Fitzy sensed someone watching him. Not being the quickest of creatures, he looked around lazily, curiously trying to determine what might be making him feel this way. Then he saw it. A young leapord crouched in a tree, not 100 yards away from the boogying sloth. Unable to run away, Fitzy decided to try a different tactic. "Hey there spots!" he called out, "you got something hanging on your but." A low rumble started to eminate from the cat, and Fitzy had just about given himself up for dead, when he realized that he cat was laughing, swinging his majestic tail (the source of Fitzy's joke). The cat had actually been enjoying the music, for it is obvious that leapords are true swingers and love jazz, and had not even thought about eating this musical morsel. Jumping gracefully from one true to the other (a skill which the sloth envied very much) the leapord, whose name was Clarence, stalked over to Fitzy. Then with his tail he started thumping out a low beat on the trunk of the tree. Fitzy was overjoyed! He had never found someone that liked his music, let alone wanted to participate in making it. After several bars Fitzy started to belt out his favorite song. After five breathless minutes the song ended and the two of them slumped against the tree laughing. This was the life! Fitzy thought. Then the leapord said something remarkable. "I'm starting a jungle jazz club (the name of which is Jungle Jazz), and I would like you to headline for us!" Fitzy could only stare open mouthed at this huge cat, was he really offering him a chance to perform? "I will personally see to your transportation, and your safety," said Clarence. Well, as you can imagine, Fitzy could hardly pack fast enough. After several months Fitzy's popularity had grown to phenominal proportions, and he found a very attracitve monkey girlfriend named Lola. He never thought about those clueless sloths, who by this time were green with envy (and algea). Fitzy the star had arrived!

Law Dogs Forever...Forever Law Dogs.

Hooray for motorcycle clubs! Two of my best friends have started a chapter of the Law Dogs Motorcycle Club for Colorado. The short version is that it is a club for law enforcement officers, and those who respect what they do. The clubs goals are to promote safe and moral riding, a love of motorcycles, and to contribute in any way possible to the charitable organizations of our choosing. So as this post obviously implies, I have joined the High Plains Law Dogs MC. At the moment I'm just a Lady (a rider because I don't have my own bike yet) but someday I'll get to move my status up in the world {wink}. I'm also the club photographer, so it’s my job to catch people doing ridiculous, funny, and or memorable things without them noticing it! Good luck me. As a shameless plug for our group, we are hosting an event on St. Patrick’s Day. We are holding our first annual Poker Run in Eastern Colorado to benefit the Fallen Officers Memorial Fund. It should be a fabulous day of riding (or driving, you can bring a car if you want!) so you should definitely come out and hang with us. End shameless plug.
And now for something completely different. It DIDN'T snow this weekend!!! YAY!! Of course it still snowed some during the week...Thursday to be precise, but it wasn't the weekend and that means things are looking up. Plus the fat ground hog didn't see his shadow (mindless thought: what if the Phil is a liar, you know he is in that little fake tree trunk laughing his furry butt off at us right now) so perhaps we will have an early spring. This in Colorado seems to mean that instead of winter ending in June, this year maybe it will end in May. But on the up side, when Spring does decide to make an appearance everything will be greener than a leprechauns as....I mean its going to be really green here in the spring!

Paris

So last night I met up with two of my dearest friends at Paris on the Platte. Its a wine bar/coffee house, and it has a great atmosphere. They have a pretty decent wine selection (if you like Rieslings there is a good one from Colorado called Two Rivers) and some excellent martinis. Of which we par-took in liberally. I fancied the Godiva Chocolate Espresso and one called Frolic, they were amazing and I highly recommend. David had a Vesper, but that was just to irritate Toby, so we aren't going to count that one. I adore my friends; they make me laugh entirely too hard. Between the Louis Black impressions and Borat impressions we spent the majority of the night helplessly laughing at one another. It was tremendous. After several of these tasty cocktails we decided that a walk was in order to wear off all of the alcohol before deciding to drive home. The walk was almost as much fun, if not more fun, than the wine bar itself. Denver is a beautiful city. I don't care what anyone else thinks, if you really stop and take the time to look at what is surrounding you here you'll see what I mean. David, Toby, and I managed to find our dream loft, and plan on moving in as soon as the two of them decide they just can't live without Colorado and move back ;-) Yea that should be any day now, right? Although directions to our house would probably include the phrase "drive toward the gigantic white erection" (trust me if you were there it was hilarious) it would still be a fabulous place to live.

It was just really great to be immersed in a place with such great night life...or any sort of night life at all. It was very cold, but that crisp kind of cold that makes the lights shimmer and everything seem more alive. There was a point that we were walking across a footbridge over the Platte River, and you could hear the water rushing by underneath, and see the lights of downtown Denver welcoming you to the fold, and it was just so....beautiful, and fun, and exactly what I'd wanted out of the day. A peaceful moment in a city full of life and movement.

To break the eloquent, flowing propaganda that has become this post, I will change the subject. David, who manages to find some of the most random things I've ever seen, introduced Toby and I to a radio show that he occasionally calls in to. To make what seems like a very long story now that I'm attempting to write it down shorter, the three of us ended up on the radio show and I managed to get a date with the host (don't look at me like that, you weren't there). At this point I would like to be able to tell you about the fabulous time I had with Aaron, however, we will have to wait until March as he is leaving for Manila tomorrow, but hey it could be fun! If you feel like it check out the radio show (it seems that I am actually going to be listening to it, and perhaps calling in (Toby as well...blame David Aaron, he started it)...so you might as well partake in the fun!) Okay well work is calling me. I'll post some fun pictures of the evening later!

Thanksgiving

Hooray for a sense of accomplishment. Yesterday, officially, our kitchen (and I say our because i live with my grandma, which I enjoy very much) was finally finished!! It is gorgeous, completely transforms the house, and I picked out the wall color. In reality I have no particular reason to feel any sort of accomplishment for the completion of the kitchen. I did do some of the work, nothing excersises angry demons like taking a sledge hammer to your old counters, while they're still attached to the wall. But what the heck, I helped so I'm going to feel proud that its finished. This great news means that we will be able to have Thanksgiving dinner at our house, as has become a custom over the last couple of years. Thanksgiving is always a lot of fun and you should use this time of year to learn things about your famiy. For example:
We play card cames. For hours and with a voracity that one might normally associate with pro sports. We also play cards when there is alcohol involved. "first blood!" is a phrase commonly heard around the card table, this means that someone has been injured in the process of playing whatever card game we happen to be playing, this usually occurs during spoons.
Some people refuse to be cheerful. There are just some members of my family that refuse to be cheerful no matter what we do to them/with them.
If you give someone and extendable fork, they will use it to stab you from across the table. My stepdad who is renowned for his ability to eat off of everyone elses plate was given an extendable fork for Christmas several years ago to make this process easier for him. Now it has become a game to give the fork to random people at the table and see who gets stabbed with the amazing long fork first.
These extra special glimpses into what Thanksgiving dinner is like at my house should hopefully spark some imaginative efforts on your part to observe and record all of your love one's exentricities and share them with the world. Its just more fun if we can all laugh at each other together!

Revelation

I have come to a revelation. I thrive on stress. Although this particular tidbit of information probably doesn't come as a shock to some people, lest of all me, the realization of it does explain a few things about the way I live, and now apparently work. The high stress, deadline oriented environment in which I now find myself is turning out to be ideal working conditions. The constant threat of failure is a fabulous motivator, and is helping me turn out some of my best work ever. Although the gnawing, stomach churning feeling that I have forgotten something really important has taken some getting used to, I actually quite like the rest of it. Althought occassionally my inner history geek feels compelled to make an apperance at work (for those that don't know I work at the corporate office of a sporting good meca, making this apperances supremely random and causing my co-workers to stare at me blankely). The most recent example of this was the frantic rush and worry that accompanies black friday. Now when I first heard the term "black friday" being whispered around the office like some great god, or reverant diety, my immediate thought was..."why are they so concerened about the day the stock market crashed?" There is salvation for me though, as I happen to work with a fellow geek. Who saved me from terrible embarassment by voicing this concern to the other peole I work with, by informing me that this in fact refers to the day after Thanksgiving, the first day of the holiday shopping season. Who would have thought. I always did like learning new things.

Hooray for concerts!!

Tuesday Toby and I went to see Gomez at the Fillmore. Needless to say it was an amazing show. But the opening act really impressed both Toby and I. Here is a little video of them. Their names are Rodrigo and Gabriela and their band is self titled (Rodrigo y Gabriela). Enjoy!

Observations

1. People like you more when they know you're leaving.
This is something that I have noticed recently do to my exodus from the state of Nebraska. Within the last 3 weeks I've eatin more cake, had more alcohol purchased for me, and generally been hugged a lot more since people found out I'm leaving. This only leads me to believe that people must like you more when they know they wont ever see you again. Most would look at these kind gestures as people's way of showing you they cared about you and enjoyed having you around. But not me. I look at these things and say why was I not good enough to take to lunch when you thought I would be around for a couple of years? Always the master of the glass is half empty philosphy I pose this statement. People just like you better when they know your leaving.

2. People like you stuff a lot more when your leaving.
Also something I've noticed recently. I've gotten a lot of compliments on the random assorment of things I have in my office. They are just trinkets really, things that make me happy to look at them, and no one has ever really paid that much attention to them before. However, no every second person coming into my office comments on at least two or three of the decorations. The only resonable conclusion that I can come to is this is their subtle way of offering to eliviate my removing it from the building and packing it up. The old "Hey I really like that {{inner monoluge...I'd sure take it off your hands if you wanna give it to me}}" trick. This is a ploy I find highly amusing, and also a really convieniet way to make some money. "You know if you really like it I'll sell it to you for..." Yea..good stuff.

Just for fun...

For no other reason then I just really like watching this...

CATS!

So last Friday my family got tickets to see CATS at the Denver Center for Performing Arts. All I can say is that it was AMAZING. Its been my #1 goal in life (not even kidding it really has been) to see CATS, and now I've done it...its a very accomplished sort of feeling. So now we are looking at getting season tickets for next year, but don't know if that is going to happen as they are $570 and that's a little out of my price range out of the moment. But it does include some great plays, and discounts on tickets to non-package plays like Lion King and Phantom of the Opera..so I guess we'll see what happens. But if you ever have the chance to see CATS do it, its totally worth it.

A new journey

Well its official. My last day of work is September 29th. That weekend I'll be moving to Franktown to live with my grandma until I can afford my own apartment. I think I probably have a job with Lakeshore Staffing. Its a temp agency, but it will be good for a temporary fix until they either place me permenantly or I find something better. I'm still scared out of my mind, well more nervous than anything. But just wanted to update on the new chapter in my life. It will be nice to be back in Colorado where I belong.