Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Some fun Halloween games...
Just want to share some fun online Halloween games for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!!
Carve your own pumpkin
Bowling for Cats
Halloween Hangman
Happy Halloween!!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Christmas ads!!!!!
Hello! I don't usually post twice in one day, but I can't resist this one. I remember the old days. The days when we used to complain about Christmas commercials on TV before Thanksgiving. Well! Today I have seen TWO (TWO!!!!!) Christmas commercials, complete with new words to "Hark how the bells" (that is, "The Carol of the Bells"). Both commercials by Garmin. Two different commercials. Ugh!!!!!
My cousin Jane's annual Halloween Costume Party!!
My cousin Jane lives here in Colorado with her husband and their three (beautiful!) kids. Jane's birthday is October 28, and from the time she was little, she has always had a big Halloween/birthday/costume party. Well, because Jane grew up in Michigan and then moved to Colorado, I have never had the pleasure of attending one of her costume parties ... until now.I can't remember the last time I have been to a costume party as an adult. I can't remember the last time I needed a costume as an adult. It was probably over 11 years ago when I lived in Buffalo. I don't know. And I certainly didn't have any ideas for a costume for this party.
So, my first reaction in situations like this is always to google for ideas. So, I googled "adult halloween costumes" and got a bunch of results of costumes that I would never, ever even consider wearing. LOL!! But, when I weeded through the results and ignored the x-rated stuff, I found an idea that I knew would work well, and would be super easy (which is really what I wanted!)
A cheap pair of khaki pants from Goodwill, a $3 t-shirt from Target, some paint and makeup ... and the most expensive item, a new white Wilson volleyball. That's it. It took about 20 minutes to put the whole thing together. The party was last night. Everyone LOVED Wilson. In fact, I don't remember where I left him. Hmmm... Anyway - if you don't know the movie Castaway (with Tom Hanks), you have no idea what I'm talking about. It was a blast ... maybe I'll need to make sure that I'm at her costume party again next year.
Thanks, Jane & Jim!!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Go Rockies!!
I grew up in a city that did not have a major league baseball team. (Side note, Buffalo now has a minor league baseball team, the Buffalo Bison ... super cheap tickets, fun games, Friday night fireworks over Lake Erie after home games ... lots of fun!) Anyway, as a result of the lack of MLB action in my growing up years, I don't know a whole lot about major league baseball. Then, while living in the DC area, the Nationals arrived, and had the opportunity to go to several games while I lived in the area. I LOVE attending professional sporting events. So I always loved attending Nats games. But I still didn't know very much about how MLB baseball works.Well, I arrived in Colorado the second week of September. I guess that I didn't even know that Colorado had a team. Then, after awhile, I watched a game with my cousins who live here. What a blast! And to find out that the Rockies were on a total winning streak ... it was GREAT! I went to a restaurant in Denver a few weeks ago to watch the Bills play the Cowboys (WHAT a game!) and the restaurant happens to be across the street from Coors field. There was no game there that night, but I could just imagine how much fun it would be to be so close that you could hear the roar of the crowd. Only second to actually being in the crowd!
So I have watched a bunch of their games. It was SO much fun watching them mutilate the Diamondbacks for the championship. Well, at this point, the Red Sox are proving to be a worthy opponent in the World Series. But I am routing for the Rockies to win the Series. Let's see those Sox come up to Denver and play at altitude! Hah! They'll huff and puff and not be able to breathe to run the bases.
Go Rockies!!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
This morning in Colorado Springs
Today is October 21 ... this photo was taken approximately 10:30 a.m. It's still coming down, and isn't supposed to stop until this afternoon some time. They say that people in Buffalo need snowblowers!? Hello! It's currently 71 degrees in Buffalo ... and sunny. So there!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Rocky Mountain National Park
Well, I have been to Colorado quite a few times, but have never been to Rocky Mountain National Park. Well, that was until yesterday. What a gorgeous drive!! I left super early in the morning so that I could be near the park (about 2+ hours away) relatively soon after sunrise. The very top of the road through the park was closed, but I drove as far into the West side of the park as possible. I only saw about 4 other cars while I was in that end of the park so early in the morning. Did I mention that it was GORGEOUS!? Although the skies were overcast (apparently only on that side of the continental divide) and there was snow everywhere, it was still beautiful and I saw several elk.
Wanting to come around to the other side of the park, I asked the park ranger if going back down through Denver is the only way to get there, she pointed me out to a remote road north of the park. Again - gorgeous! It took about 3 or 4 hours just to drive that route (if you're into maps, look at the western exit from the park, go to Granby, north on CR 125 and then east on CR 14 to Ft. Collins, south to Loveland, west to Estes Park, and continue into RMNP). The skies cleared about noon, or, on the other side of the divide. I saw two moose cross the road right in front of me (near Cameron Pass, route 14 on your map). When I got to the east side of the park there were more people (although it wasn't "crowded") and again I drove as far as where the road was closed. Again I saw LOTS of elk. Took lots of great mountain shots. Got home about 8:30.
What a fabulous day!!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
My new feed link
For those of you who read their blogs in a newsreader like Google Reader or Google Homepage (etc.), I have changed the feed link. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then this doesn't apply to you. :-)
But I am trying to figure out how feedburner works, so I've switched to a feedburner feed. :-D SOOooooo ... here's the new link.
By the way, I think that the old xml link still works ... but help me out ... get my feed through feedburner, please. :-)
Friday, October 05, 2007
The Bourne....
I have to say that I LOVE the Bourne movies!! I've seen all three and none of them disappoints! One of my favorite things in all three movies are the car chases. I have to admit that the second movie (The Bourne Supremacy) has the best car chase scene ... but all three rank up there! I wonder if they'll make any more Bourne movies? Robert Ludlum only wrote three Bourne novels before he died, but another author wrote two more...
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Pikes Peak
So picture this. I plug my iPod into my car stereo, set to shuffle my jazz playlist. I start up the Pikes Peak Highway ... a 19-mile road that takes you from about 6500 feel elevation to 14,100 feet. What a lovely drive!The aspen are mostly golden at that height. They're simply beautiful ... and you can absolutely see why they call them "quaking aspen". The little round leaves shake in the breeze. The other cool thing about the aspen is that when they are golden, they stand out brilliantly against the evergreen color of the pine surrounding them. It makes for a gorgeous hillside around every bend.
And bends and more bends there were. The Pikes Peak Highway is nineteen miles of twisting and turning. Some of it is paved, and some of it is dirt. But that's mountain driving for you! Take a look at a diagram of the road.
The peak is above the timberline (about 12,000 feet), and for the last 2,000 feet of the drive, it's a barren wasteland ... but it still looks down on all of that beauty that is Colorado. The view from the top is absolutely amazing! You can see all of Colorado Springs looking to the east, and you can see far into the Rockies when you look to the west.
A few years ago, I made that drive, and couldn't stand the lack of oxygen at the top. But this time, after having been at about 7,000+ for 3 weeks, I was mostly fine. (Although I did get dizzy twice ... once after standing up from looking at something on a bottom shelf, and the second time after blowing my nose.) The other thing about the top is that it is cold and windy. There is a little tiny bit of snow at this time of year. And the wind is almost unbearable. But the views make it all worth it!
