Word{s}

1. 2.0
2. move
3. count
4. down
5. pack
6. again
7. LDR
8. end
9. in
10. sight

Veterans Day.

Back Later.

Wordless Wednesday.

Happy Birthday, Rudy!

i love you mostester,
~ blondie

Exhausted.

and never so glad to be home and yet so sad to be home at the same time. *sigh*

I will recount my day today later.
or tomorrow.
or something.

check back.
or not.

Is it just me or is there an amazing echo in here?

~ b

Day 8

With class completed Rudy and I have time to do a little sightseeing. I wanted to go see the Casa Bonita of South Park fame for my kids who wanted photos and to see The Brown Palace Hotel where my parents stayed on their honeymoon in December of 1957.

After sleeping in a bit we fired up St. Brendan {our gps. St. Brendan is a Navigator Saint} and made our way to the Casa. Overpriced bad food and campy entertainment was the theme. The sopaipillas for dessert were quite yummy. We ate, watched the bad entertainment, took some photos, choose souvenirs for the dog sitter and the kid and beat feet out of there.

The haphazard parking that was taking place when we arrived at Casa Bonita had turned into quite the spectacle when we returned to our car. Gotta love a parking lot with no lines where people just pull in and stop where they please. *rolling eyes*

After a couple of wrong/missed turns because St. Brendan didn't speak up quickly enough I pulled out my iPhone and mapped our location. We discovered that we were very close to The Brown Palace and decided to put the car in a lot by the shopping and walk in.

We happily took a side trip into the bookstore as it is one of our favorite places to go and browsed for a bit before heading out in search of the Palace. We knew it was on a corner and a triangular shape and headed towards what appeared to be just that. Come to find out - it wasn't. WTF, people. That is just one too many triangular brown buildings in one small area. Turning around and heading to in the right direction we were soon at the Brown Palace.

We wandered in and looked around. I headed off to see if anyone would have some nice words and perhaps some sentimental souvenirs that I could bring back to my daddy. The desk clerk I spoke with was an ass and said he supposed he could offer me a couple of pens. He handed them to me and looked at me as if I should kiss his feet. Nice PR work there buddy. So not impressed and your boss will be hearing from me.

We did find a gorgeous photograph history book and a chocolate bar which I will be bringing to Daddy along with the pens. I am sure he will love them and I will keep the ridiculous treatment I received to myself rather than sully his memory of the place where he and his beloved wife spent their honeymoon.

Leaving the Brown Palace behind we realized that we were in need of a cup of coffee. {yeah yeah, so when am I not, eh? Well don't you judge me. tee hee} We grabbed some Starbucks and sat outside to people watch, rest and enjoy our drinks.

The rest of our afternoon was filled with stopping into The Hard Rock Cafe to get a couple of shot glasses {way too crowded/busy to even consider getting a drink}, a quick side trip to Panera for some baked goods for breakfast {they have a wickedly delicious orange scone} which will save us needing to get up and schlepp down to the overcrowded breakfast room and will allow for sleeping in. We came back to the room to relax but did go out one final time to the Village Inn for breakfast for dinner.

Back to the room for good found us surfing the web on our iPads using the fancy connection dealio that Rudy set up on his MacBook and flipping channels to find something to watch. And then he discovered Kill Bill Vol.1 was on.

Cut to 3 am where blondie is still awake because the morning person got super tired, powered through it and then looped around and couldn't sleep after Vol.2 of Kill Bill and Rudy snoring away.

Tomorrow -
Last day in Denver. Last day with Rudy. I hate this part. meh!

Happy Sunday.
love,
~ b

Day 7

Patty picked me up about noon-ish and we made our way back to her cute little town. Once in town we stopped off at the grocery and picked up what we needed to make dinner together. Baked Ziti, garlic bread and salad were all on the menu. She choose a delicious chocolate raspberry torte for dessert. SO yummy.

Once at her house we put the groceries away and chatted for a bit before starting the prep. The pasta was set to boil and the sauce started. Once everything was heated/cooked we tossed the pasta and sauce together with some ricotta and mozzarella and poured it into the baking pan. So easy to do and now it was ready to go into the oven when we were ready to bake it.

I had a first ever after the grocery shopping. We had to go to the liquor store for the wine because you can't buy it in the grocery. That is just so foreign to this SoCal girl. I can now cross *go to the liquor store for liquor* off my bucket list. ;-)

We spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging out and chatting. I have totally loved being able to spend time with Patty. She is such a delight. Her laughter is infectious and her sense of humour is wonderful.

Once Rudy was finished with his day he joined us at Patty's for dinner. We shared a bottle of Ménage à Trois Red and chatted and laughed. Blake gulped his glass of wine down and said it was horrible. LOL! I asked why he downed it and he said he didn't want to waste it. bwahaha! He quickly switched to a corona.

All too soon I was turning into a pumpkin and it was time for us to go. I was super sad to do so but look forward to a return visit some day, hopefully sooner rather than later. Maybe sooner than any of us thought - but that is a story for another day.

Tomorrow will be filled with spending the day with Rudy seeing some sights around Denver.

Happy Weekend!
~ b

Vacay!

I need one. Seriously. And I am so lucky to have a man who likes my company enough to take me on a business trip with him. We are heading to Denver this morning for 10 days. My children tell me I need to go see the Casa Bonita of South Park fame and I have plans to see the Brown Palace Hotel where my parents spent their honeymoon. What I am super excited about is that while Rudy is in his classes I will be hanging with my bestie, Patty! YaY! I am very excited to see her as it has been far too long.

I hope y'all have a great weekend.
love and hugs,
~ b

Thank You:

Daddy, Rudy, Ryon.

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms.
It means a strong desire to live
taking the form of readiness to die.

~ G.K. Chesterton

Vacay.

Thursday Thirteen:

A September Bucket List.

1. Enjoy a cool morning on the front porch.
2. Take our first plane trip together. {little tiny plane included.}
3. Share a meal with The Creature. {Not Your Average Joe's - provided we get there in time}
4. Find a comfortable Starbucks to hang out in.
5. Plant fruit trees in our backyard. {Washington Navel and Meyer Lemon are already bought and waiting to be put in the ground}
6. Practice honeymoon behaviours. ;-)
7. Spend time with the kids.
8. Put a fire in the fire-pit out back in the evening.
9. Play dominoes.
10. Try out the Thai place down the street. Rudy says it must be good because it always has a lot of cars around it.
11. Watch Blondie's 'Devils beat Rudy's Badgers. {vote your choice in the new poll!}
12. Celebrate with our friends in Maine.
13. Savour every moment.

Happy Birthday, Rudy!

I love you my darlin!
*kisses*

Happy Sys Admin Day!

love you, darlin!
~ b

Wordless Wednesday.

Thursday Thirteen.

13 Things Blondie Is Looking Forward To.
In Alphabetical Order - Because She Likes Order.
{don't you judge her.}

1. A trip to Alaska with the kid in six weeks. His first. My second. We get to meet Rudy's Son on this trip. Cool!
2. Dinner with Rudy and the Creature in September. I asked the Creature today for dinner recommendations. He supplied me with quite a list. Now I have choices to consider. Not sure if this is a good thing.
3. Drinking. Cuz I am not really lately.
4. Marrying Rudy. *sigh* I love Rudy. He's my hero.
5. My Roma's ripening. Last count there were 5. Finally.
6. My next cup of coffee. Starbucks would be nice. Cinnamon Dolce Latte. mmmmm. I can even smell it now. Maybe I will go get one after the grocery tomorrow. {If I am lucky I will see the cop who gave me the effing fix it ticket last week. Course, that will only be if they still have sprinkle donuts. *rolling eyes*}
7. Reaching my goal weight. Go Team WiiFit!
8. Rudy finding a job in SoCal. {He is working on his resume as I type this. And applying for a job nearby on Friday. All good thoughts and prayers are gratefully accepted and appreciated}
9. September 25, 2010. Although I am a bit nervous about being the main photographer. I hope I don't disappoint. :-/
10. Staying at The Pemaquid. And not making too much noise and bothering the other guests. {That's what she said}
11. Tastycakes. Butterscotch Krimpets to be exact. I told Rudy I am bringing an empty suitcase and filling it with Tastycakes. I am seriously serious about this.
12. The little tiny airplane. NOT! It's really tiny, you guys. It freaks me out a bit. Good thing they sell booze on it. And this time the kid will be with me.
13. Traveling with Rudy. By plane. Again with the little tiny airplane. GAH! But we have never traveled by plane together so it should be fun. Or something. I will have to get back to you on that one.

Wishing You a Very

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need.
Then God combined these qualities.
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... "DAD!"

with love,
~ Blondie

Thursday Thirteen.

It's all about I.

1. I have had a most difficult week which included writing an extremely sensitive and pain-filled email to my siblings.
2. I did so because my brother and his partner added my X to their personal fb pages.
3. I told them of the abuse I suffered by my X's hand.
4. I told them that my X cheated on me repeatedly.
5. I told them how sad and hurt I am.
6. I am outraged that my brother ordered my siblings to delete the email without reading it.
7. I am confused yet not surprised at the obviously powerful hold my brother has over the others.
8. I am laughing about the fact that my brother is telling me that I must have an adult conversation with him and my siblings. Apparently email discussions are not Adult-like. Go figure. I bet the real business world will be shocked when they are told about this. HA!
9. I have not spoken to any of my siblings and have no plans to do so. I have not lost anything but rather just confirmed what I already knew. They are horrible people and I am better off without them in my life. Sadly this is a choice that they have made but I will respect their obvious wishes on this. Don't get me wrong, I am sad that they have chosen not to be in my life. I will miss the parts of them that is good. I am just, after all these years, finally strong enough to stand up for myself. It feels good.
10. I have deleted them from my FB. As has my daughter. The kid refused to friend them in the first place. And technically I only deleted the partner. My brother deleted me from both his personal page and his business page. My X remains on all their pages for those who are wondering.
11. I am laughing at the bit of Karmic retribution that I saw happened to my brother on Monday. Nothing like a flat tire on a snowy/rainy day to put a kink in trying to run a business that depends on the ability to get from here to there. HA! {Yeah, its petty. Don't you judge me!}
12. I am relieved that it is all out in the open and I no longer need worry that something may slip.
13. I am basking in the outpouring of love and support I have received from my children, my Rudy and G.{and all of you as well as I know that you would have been right there with me had I made you aware of what was going on with me} Y'all may never understand just how grateful I am to have then {and y'all} in my life.

Wordless Wednesday.

Thursday Thirteen

{click it to big it}