As promised, here's the update . . .
I realise it has been a while since I last posted. There's just been too much exciting stuff going on to take the time, but I finally figured I'd better do so.
Anyway, I am now a mature 22-year-old (please, no rolling of eyes!). My birthday was March 15th, but my real present came on the 16th, when I flew home. I went to surprise my mom for her birthday (she turned FIFTY!), so it was officially a present for her, but it was just as much a present for me. We had a ball, especially because Dad flew out her best friend from college. They hadn't seen each other in 18 years, but it was like no time had passed at all. The best part is that now I know the person that Mom talks about.
I also got to see my brother and sister-in-law and their apartment (and pets), my mom's side of the family, plus the mountains and snow. :) So all in all, a very good trip.
The previous post's smiley faces, however, are due to the fact that as of 3:00 pm yesterday, I am officially a homeowner. Yay!! I signed my life away and cut a huge check, but I couldn't be happier. I cannot wait to get out of this apartment! I won't actually get to move in until Wednesday, but I have started packing all my junk. It's a good thing I only have an apartment's worth of stuff to move and not an entire house . . . .
¡Hasta luego! (that's for you, Mom. Just imagine me saying it with a gringo accent . . . ;)
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Friday, March 24, 2006
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
3/7/2006
Well, I believe that I have finally arrived at work. I got back to my office today after having wandered around outside, and found a little white box on my desk. Business cards! Yay!!! Now I can hand them out oh so casually, imagining all the while how they will be filed away in somebody's Rolodex. Oh, the bliss! :D
My mom sent me an email the other day that I found amusing. I hope you enjoy it too! (The parenthetical notes are all my own).
You know you're from Colorado when:
1. You switch from "heat" to "A/C" in one day.
2. You know what the "People's Republic of Boulder" means.
3. Your sense of direction is: towards the mountains and from the mountains (yes, I have gotten lost here without the mountains!).
4. The bike on your car is worth more than your car and you have your own special bike lane.
5. You're able to drive 65 mph through 13 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without even flinching.
6. You take your out-of-town guests to Casa Bonita even though you would never go there otherwise.
7. You think your major food groups are granola bars, tofu and Fat Tire Beer.
8. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit (as opposed to here, where they are purposely designed skimpy . . .).
9. You think that sexy lingerie is wool socks and flannel PJs.
10. You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and blizzards.
11. You've been tear gassed in a riot to celebrate a CU/CSU victory (CSU all the way, baby!).
12. You can never figure out why your out-of-town guests faint from altitude sickness on a picnic to the mountains.
13. You know the "correct" pronunciation of Buena Vista (and it makes you cringe . . . ).
14. Your car insurance costs more than your car.
15. You have surge protectors on every outlet.
16. April showers bring May blizzards.
17. "Timberline" is a place you have actually been.
18. You know what a "Chinook" is.
19. You know what a "Rocky Mountain Oyster" is.
20. You know what a "fourteener" is.
21. But you don't know what a "turn signal" is.
22. A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you nearly as much as a Republican in Congress does.
23. Your golf bag has a 9-iron, a 3-wood and a lightning rod.
24. You know who Alfred Packer was and what he did.
25. You know who Baby Doe Tabor was.
26. SPF 90 is not out of the question (and is probably not strong enough . . .).
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. A full moon has never kept you awake at night.
31. You have an $800 stereo in a $300 truck.
32. A sudden loss of cabin pressure is not a big deal.
33. You think a red light means 3 more cars can go.
34. Where we're going, we don't need roads!!
35. You know where Doc Holliday's grave is.
36. You know where Buffalo Bill's grave is.
37. You know where the real "South Park" is (I get a lot of grief over this!).
38. You can recognize the license plates of all 50 states on sight.
39. Driving directions usually include "Go over ___________ Pass."
40. You've done "checking for ticks."
41. You've dressed in shorts, sandals, and a parka w/ a hood.
42. You've gone snow skiing in July and...
43. You've gone sunbathing in January and...
44. They were in the same year!
45. You've urinated on the Continental Divide just so it could "run into both oceans." (Mom said that this one is especially for my brothers. The sad thing is, I know it's true, as I hid in the car while they did their dirty deed!)
46. And the most important: You get a certain feeling of satisfaction from knowing that both California and Texas are downstream. (Mom said this one was for me. And all I have to say is: Go for it, Michael and Peter! ;)
My mom sent me an email the other day that I found amusing. I hope you enjoy it too! (The parenthetical notes are all my own).
You know you're from Colorado when:
1. You switch from "heat" to "A/C" in one day.
2. You know what the "People's Republic of Boulder" means.
3. Your sense of direction is: towards the mountains and from the mountains (yes, I have gotten lost here without the mountains!).
4. The bike on your car is worth more than your car and you have your own special bike lane.
5. You're able to drive 65 mph through 13 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without even flinching.
6. You take your out-of-town guests to Casa Bonita even though you would never go there otherwise.
7. You think your major food groups are granola bars, tofu and Fat Tire Beer.
8. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit (as opposed to here, where they are purposely designed skimpy . . .).
9. You think that sexy lingerie is wool socks and flannel PJs.
10. You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and blizzards.
11. You've been tear gassed in a riot to celebrate a CU/CSU victory (CSU all the way, baby!).
12. You can never figure out why your out-of-town guests faint from altitude sickness on a picnic to the mountains.
13. You know the "correct" pronunciation of Buena Vista (and it makes you cringe . . . ).
14. Your car insurance costs more than your car.
15. You have surge protectors on every outlet.
16. April showers bring May blizzards.
17. "Timberline" is a place you have actually been.
18. You know what a "Chinook" is.
19. You know what a "Rocky Mountain Oyster" is.
20. You know what a "fourteener" is.
21. But you don't know what a "turn signal" is.
22. A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you nearly as much as a Republican in Congress does.
23. Your golf bag has a 9-iron, a 3-wood and a lightning rod.
24. You know who Alfred Packer was and what he did.
25. You know who Baby Doe Tabor was.
26. SPF 90 is not out of the question (and is probably not strong enough . . .).
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. A full moon has never kept you awake at night.
31. You have an $800 stereo in a $300 truck.
32. A sudden loss of cabin pressure is not a big deal.
33. You think a red light means 3 more cars can go.
34. Where we're going, we don't need roads!!
35. You know where Doc Holliday's grave is.
36. You know where Buffalo Bill's grave is.
37. You know where the real "South Park" is (I get a lot of grief over this!).
38. You can recognize the license plates of all 50 states on sight.
39. Driving directions usually include "Go over ___________ Pass."
40. You've done "checking for ticks."
41. You've dressed in shorts, sandals, and a parka w/ a hood.
42. You've gone snow skiing in July and...
43. You've gone sunbathing in January and...
44. They were in the same year!
45. You've urinated on the Continental Divide just so it could "run into both oceans." (Mom said that this one is especially for my brothers. The sad thing is, I know it's true, as I hid in the car while they did their dirty deed!)
46. And the most important: You get a certain feeling of satisfaction from knowing that both California and Texas are downstream. (Mom said this one was for me. And all I have to say is: Go for it, Michael and Peter! ;)
Monday, March 6, 2006
3/6/2006
Well, I have two more incidents to chalk up to my ability to attract older men. Not only did I flirt with my instructor at Rescue Training so I could get photos like this (see more on my photo page, they extend to the second page on that site), 
I also managed to pick up a guy at the grocery store today. Or rather, he tried to pick me up. I went shopping right after work (still wearing my coveralls, which I know better than to do if I want to shop in peace!) and sure enough was hit on by some random old guy. After ascertaining my marital and dating status he tried to give me his number, poor guy, but I told him it wouldn't do him any good. I did, however take pity on him, since he had just moved to the area, and gave him directions to the local bar in that area . . . The only problem is, I really couldn't remember quite where it was located. I'm pretty sure I gave the right directions, but I might have led him on a wild goose chase. Oops! Oh well, I figure if I did it should teach him not to try to pick up young women in the supermarket. Oh, and he said I didn't look like an engineer!!! Harrumph! Serves him right if he's wandering around Nederland in the dark! :)
I also managed to pick up a guy at the grocery store today. Or rather, he tried to pick me up. I went shopping right after work (still wearing my coveralls, which I know better than to do if I want to shop in peace!) and sure enough was hit on by some random old guy. After ascertaining my marital and dating status he tried to give me his number, poor guy, but I told him it wouldn't do him any good. I did, however take pity on him, since he had just moved to the area, and gave him directions to the local bar in that area . . . The only problem is, I really couldn't remember quite where it was located. I'm pretty sure I gave the right directions, but I might have led him on a wild goose chase. Oops! Oh well, I figure if I did it should teach him not to try to pick up young women in the supermarket. Oh, and he said I didn't look like an engineer!!! Harrumph! Serves him right if he's wandering around Nederland in the dark! :)
Saturday, March 4, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
2/21/2006
I love getting to play and getting paid for it! Today I started my four-day rescue training class. Instead of going to work, I got to sleep in and drive half the distance to go jump off towers. Woo hoo! We played with knots, learned how to set up rigging, and practiced lowering each other off a 60 (or so) foot building. Very fun! Tomorrow we're going to practice patient packaging and lowering. Man, I can't wait to be dropping to the ground while strapped to a backboard . . . .
I was one of two females in the class of 27, and the other was quite a bit older. While this in no way bothered me (Mines taught me nothing if not to be used to being in the extreme minority), I found it interesting that there was always a guy waiting to help me unhook after being lowered. Even more interesting is the fact that none of the guys in my group received any help unhooking when they were lowered. So the question is, did the asistees think I needed more help, or did they just enjoy getting up close and personal with the sole pretty young girl? Hmm . . .Fortunately, I am either a) easygoing or b) egotistical, and have decided it was the latter. I found it very amusing. We'll have to see if that continues through the week!
Oh, and I've decided that BBQ is to (SE) Texas what pizza is anywhere else. Lunch is provided with this course, and what else did we get but BBQ. This has been quite the trend in most of the lunches I've had in the past month or so. However, I don't think I've had pizza yet. The amazing thing is that the BBQ is always the same: brisket and possibly sausage, baked beans, dirty rice, flimsy white bread, onions, pickle and banana pudding topped with vanilla wafers. The drink is always iced tea. Today I was really excited, because there was potato salad too. Amazing! I guess I really can't complain (and honestly, I'm not, the food is generally pretty good), it's just another way to tell that I've a moved into a whole other culture!
I was one of two females in the class of 27, and the other was quite a bit older. While this in no way bothered me (Mines taught me nothing if not to be used to being in the extreme minority), I found it interesting that there was always a guy waiting to help me unhook after being lowered. Even more interesting is the fact that none of the guys in my group received any help unhooking when they were lowered. So the question is, did the asistees think I needed more help, or did they just enjoy getting up close and personal with the sole pretty young girl? Hmm . . .Fortunately, I am either a) easygoing or b) egotistical, and have decided it was the latter. I found it very amusing. We'll have to see if that continues through the week!
Oh, and I've decided that BBQ is to (SE) Texas what pizza is anywhere else. Lunch is provided with this course, and what else did we get but BBQ. This has been quite the trend in most of the lunches I've had in the past month or so. However, I don't think I've had pizza yet. The amazing thing is that the BBQ is always the same: brisket and possibly sausage, baked beans, dirty rice, flimsy white bread, onions, pickle and banana pudding topped with vanilla wafers. The drink is always iced tea. Today I was really excited, because there was potato salad too. Amazing! I guess I really can't complain (and honestly, I'm not, the food is generally pretty good), it's just another way to tell that I've a moved into a whole other culture!
Sunday, February 19, 2006
2/19/2006
Just a quick note to let everyone know that I placed a bid on a house and it was accepted. Yay!! :) I will now be going through the lending, inspecting, etc. process, but assuming that it all goes well, I should be in the house within 2 months. I cannot wait to get out of this apartment!
For the curious (Dad), the address is . . . well, just email me to find out. While I haven't actually driven from the house to work (I'll try that on Monday), I'm sure it is no more than 10 minutes from work. Much better than the 30/45/60 minute drive I have to and from work now!
Also, I've posted some pictures online, so visit my photo page (link is to the right), check them out, and let me know what you think! :)
For the curious (Dad), the address is . . . well, just email me to find out. While I haven't actually driven from the house to work (I'll try that on Monday), I'm sure it is no more than 10 minutes from work. Much better than the 30/45/60 minute drive I have to and from work now!
Also, I've posted some pictures online, so visit my photo page (link is to the right), check them out, and let me know what you think! :)
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