No surgery!

MacKenzie had to take a bath tonight as she enjoyed a bone this evening!

I went to the knee doctor today and got "good" news today: no surgery...yet. I need to do some more physical therapy to get it stronger and see if we can avoid the invasive scoping procedure. I was a little bummed as I just want it to feel better. I was not looking forward to surgery, though. Ah, such is life.

Things are work are really busy for both of us. I'm so ready for it to be October 15th already!

Well I have some Gossip Girl to catch up on. Cheers :)

9655

My parents sold their house. After a mere 4 days on the market some Taylor family snatched it up. I am trying to be excited for them as it really is a blessing, but I am kind of sad. I have a lot of memories in that house! It is where I got ready for proms, graduations and  my wedding. *Tear* I love that place. I'm so sad that Kate and Carter (Jackson and I have already named our children) won't get to go into the room where mommy slept as a teenager. No worries though, they're building a new place that I am sure will be super nice and a lot easier to maintain. 

The market tanked today. TANKED. 778 points! It is really kind of scary. I hope people do not freak out and make a run on the banks even more than they already have. I would never want to be a politician, but I really wouldn't want to be one right now. Ugh. 

We're still sick, but we both made it through the day at work. Tomorrow is my knee doctor appointment- fingers crossed that I can get scheduled for surgery soon. MacKenzie meets her new vet on Friday, too. Big week! ;)

Not quite up to par...

MacKenzie lounging in the recliner- the story of our sickly weekend.

We did try to get out for a little bit to rollerblade. Jackson made it about 1/2 mile before he fell right on his butt! Ouch!! He is a little sore this evening. Then on the way home from that fall, he started tottering again and as I tried to help him...HE FELL AGAIN!! This time on his side and skinned up his leg something ugly. He blames me for that one. I call bull- it was plain to see that he sucked at skating. :) 

We went to church today and it was a sermon on health...how fitting! Then we went to breakfast at one of our favorite places: The Original Pancake House. YUM! Jackson had the Dutch Baby. Yick. He enjoys that big old thing. I had french toast, delicious! Then Jackson dropped me off at work. I was supposed to be there for 4 hours, but after 1.5 hours they sent me home sick again. Gotta love it. 

We found a new dog treat recipe last night and made it tonight. It is basically a banana nut oak cookie. MacKenzie seems to like it. She loooves bananas! :) 

Not much going on here folks...hope you all are well! :) 

Sick...

Jackson has passed on his illness to me! Now we're both super sick. Jackson missed 1/2 day Thursday and all day Friday of work. I missed 1/2 day on Friday, but I have to make it up Sunday afternoon. Hopefully we're feeling better by then. We tried to run errands today but after 1.5 hours we threw in the towel without finishing our list. Grr. I hate that. It was just too much. 

MacKenzie met a really cute westie on the trail today. They really hit it off! It was so cute. :) Poor baby, she's not had as much ball play as normal. 

We watched Indiana lose to Michigan State.  That stunk.

I hope you all are having a nice weekend. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHANNON!!!

Happy Birthday, Shannon! We hope you have a GREAT day! :) Love and miss you! (Pretend this was posted Friday morning, I have an early meeting so I did it tonight, sue me)

P.S. Jackson is still super sick. He got sent home from work today even. :( Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks, Mom

Just in case you hadn't noticed from my last few posts, I have been a little angry at my job situation and very, very homesick. Today my Mom did the nicest thing and sent me a plant (that I hope I can keep alive) and a little package with a candle and bath soaps in it. The receptionist phoned me around 4:30 and had me come get it. What a sweet surprise! I love my Mom. Thank you again, Deb.

In other news...we went to dinner tonight at our friend Meg's house. She made a quite delicious lasagna. It had mushrooms in it- yum! My pudding pie didn't look too pretty (darn altitude) but still tasted very good. I'll figure out this altitude baking sooner or later. Later, I am sure. Meg, as most of you, has breast cancer and is currently in treatment. She was losing her hair she she (with the help of her sister whom I admire so much for her supreme love and dedication to Meg) shaved it off. She has a ton of really cute scarves and hats now. She was wearing a wig when we got there and it was so real-looking that if I did not know she was bald, I wouldn't! Very impressive. Jackson and I are going to walk in the Race for the Cure with Meg's team on October 5th. We're pretty excited to support such a great cause. They have a walk with dogs in the spring that MacKenzie is looking forward to participating in as well.

I talked some at work today. Gasp! I just decided that not talking until October 16th was an unreasonable request. Fire me. I'll take unemployment in a heart beat. :) My favorite co-worker, Melissa, has 2 sons adopted from Russia and an adopted daughter from China. The little girl, Sara, is so darned cute! Anyway, she had parent-teacher conferences last night and he younger son's teacher told her how her son was a little behind in class but that he was "a wonderful human being." When she asked the teacher why she said that the teacher explained that they have a socially-challenged child in their class this year who has no friends. Melissa's son, Ben, has taken to helping this boy out. He invites him to play at recess, he eats lunch with him and he even picks him to be in group for classroom projects. The teacher was amazed at Ben's kindness when all of the other children were so mean to the boy. Melissa said her heart exploded with joy and overflowed with love for her son. I couldn't help but think that someone felt the same way for the socially-challenged boy. I was so impressed with how God can use even children to do His work. Ben is only 7 and already using what he has learned at church (mass, whatever) to be a follower of God. The story really did a world of good for my heart. I hope it can do that same for yours. And hopefully it is a reminder to us big kids to be a Ben to someone who needs one.

One last thing for the day: Jackson is really, really sick today. He just hasn't felt up to par. Any prayers or happy thoughts you could send his way are appreciated.

STILL not talking...

There is still no talking at my office. Today was like the slowest and most boring day at work ever. Tonight I made a chocolate pudding pie to take to our friend Meg's tomorrow. Other than that, really not much going on. Shannon and Gracie got their packages today. :) I love sending out presents! Grace has 2 (2!!!!) boyfriends at school these days. She is a little shy about her crushes. Too cute! We love it. 

The last 2 days have felt like years. I wish I could quit! I just want to go home! :/

Enough whining. I hope all is well with all of you. 

I'm back to not talking tomorrow. Yippee. 

P.S. What's up with the Colts?! 

NO TALKING!!!!!

Today at work my bosses made a rule that there is to be no talking until after the October 15th deadline for extensions. Yep, really. I don't think I have ever been so mad. Ugh. Anyway. That's all for tonight as I don't feel chatty. ;) 

THE TUNNEL!!!!!

This is for Susan Petefish- she is terrified of tunnels. :)

Vail Village

These photos give you a feel for Vail Village. They had an awesome farmer's market today that we really enjoyed.

A view of the mountain from Vail Village. Can you imagine skiing that? No. (Jackson says it looks a lot steeper in person!!)

Alpine Gardens

Jackson beaming at the Alpine Gardens...he couldn't stop cracking jokes about whether Betty Ford started this before or after rehab...

A very cool tree at the Gardens. I have learned (thanks Uncle Charlie) that "garden" means pretty place in nature and not always flowers. There is not enough top soil in the mountains for gardens as I perceive them. One learns something new everyday. :)

Hiking pup

MacKenzie got a present from Vail: a backpack! We had been looking for one for a loooong time that would fit the little girl and here it is. She doesn't love it yet, but she will. She looks very cute in it, too. It is from a cute little store in Vail called Mountain Dog. If you're ever up there I highly (get it? highly? on a mountain?) recommend that you stop in!

YUM!!!!!

On the way home from Vail we took a detour to a CRACKER BARREL!! There are like 3 in all of CO and this is the closest one- 35 miles away! I was so happy to eat there! :)

We also went to the car wash here in Parker that calls itself "Richie's Express Carwash" but it is clearly a Mike's and should therefore take our free passes from Will. Someone work on that for us, ok? ;)

In Vail

Vail is really cool. Totally not what I expected! I have never really been to such a "winter town" before. Everything here is all about snow! I usually hate snow, but up here I can see its appeal. There must be 35+ different snow related activities to do here. It is gorgeous- even without snow! There are a lot of walking trails that we explored today. We are staying in "Vail Village" and it has little winding streets with shops and restaurants. There are almost no chain stores or restaurants here. We love that!

This morning we dropped of MacKenzie and headed up here. We stopped for lunch in a town called Silverthorne. It is a GORGEOUS mountain town with lakes that have sailboats on them! (If you know Jackson, you know he LOVES sailboats as he used to sail with his father) We are going to look into whether or not they rent them out. (This photo was taken from the car hence the reflection) When we got here to Vail, we went right to the Betty Ford Alpine Garden. It is a really cute little place-not enough flowers for me to consider it a garden. (What is with these Colorado people and the loose use of the word garden?!?!) It was nice, nonetheless. The air up here is so thin that rest breaks are mandatory! We drank so much water today to fight off the altitude sickness. We went to dinner tonight at a great Italian place. We wanted to sit outside, but just as we got there it started to rain! OF COURSE IT RAINED!!!! We sat inside and enjoyed a lovely dinner. Since it is off season here many things are discounted, including dinner that was 30% of menu price! What a deal! We walked back on the cobblestone roads all dressed up (me in heels, obviously) and got soaked! Luckily the hotel has multiple hot tubs and we got right in. I love hot tubs when it is so cold outside! :) Steam! yay! We walked around a little more tonight and shared an ice cream- yum! :)

Tomorrow I get to go to the spa here at the hotel. (The hotel is awesome! It has got to be the nicest place I have ever stayed. Fancy!!) The spa is also having a sale- 50% off! Wow! I am getting an hour massage for like $65. That is a steal of a deal! Jackson is going to hit the golf ball for a while. It all sounds like a very nice day. Then we'll head home and get MacKenzie from camp! We miss her!

I'll post photos from here in Vail tomorrow when we get home. Love to you all. :)

Headed out...

We are headed to Vail- brrr. We picked a chilly weekend to go!

MacKenzie did not get sick this weekend- amen- and can be seen on camera at Camp Bow Wow.
http://www.campbowwow.com/us/co/parker/CamperCams/tabid/1143/Default.aspx

Have a nice weekend! :)

Since when...?

MacKenzie snoozing in the morning. She hates it if I try to make the bed too early! :)

Now...on to my rant: When did we all get so important? When did everyone else suddenly become minimal to us? What spurs this rant? People on their darned cell phones! Now, I know some of you may start thinking "pot, kettle, black" but stick with me here. I love my iPhone. It is honestly like my baby blanket. I love being able to get in touch with my friends and family whenever I want. However, I draw the line at talking on my phone in line at Target, Qdoba or insert public place here. What is so important?! Does your phone not have a hold button?! Could the person on the other end not call you back in 5 minutes? I mean you're being so RUDE by yacking away. I will not say that I am never in a Target on my phone, but I always hang up to check out. Also, talking on the phone at dinner? Seriously! Quit it! Hang up! HANG UP! HANG UP!!!!!!!! Just enjoy the people you are dining with and stop checking your phone! Grr. Ok, end of rant. 

In lighter news...my friend Laura called me today. I was having such a bad day at work and laughing with her was just what I needed. I think it is awesome how God puts people in our lives just when we need them. 

Jackson and I both had really busy days today. Jackson started really WORKING today! He couldn't have picked a better time to be selling investments. ;) He likes what he's doing so that's awesome. I, on the other hand, would love to be back at Bill's working in the basement! :/ I miss Indianapolis. :( 

This weekend we're headed to Vail. Yay! Then October 17-20 we're going to visit my pal Cali Kate in San Francisco. :) We plan to head to Indiana sometime in November for an early Thanksgiving. I cannot go right at Thanksgiving because I have to work the day after. Boo. December brings a trip to NYC for Christmas then home for a little bit of family time for the holidays. We have a lot to look forward to!! :) 

Wacky Wednesday...

The state of the market has things a little wild around my office these days. While I do not actually deal with clients' accounts, they still have questions for me. Anyway. I guess I should be glad because it makes my days go by really quickly. I got my knee appointment set up today. We're trying to head to San Francisco soon. Weekends get full so quickly when you do not have vacation time. We're getting excited for Vail this weekend! Friday night we plan to go see the new movie "My best friend's girl" because we (we being used loosely for me) enjoy Kate Hudson in chick flicks. 

We got Jackson rollerblades tonight. He strapped them on when we got home-after dark. Let's just say that you might all want to tune in to see what kind of injuries he acquires in the near future. He refused wrist guards so that could be the first disaster. Oh Jackson. He is supposed to practice tomorrow while I am in class. 

At work I listen to my iPod a lot. (I am just working on returns and no one really needs to talk to me) So anyway, today I was listening to the new Jessica Simpson country cd (which is really good!!) and Sally, the receptionist, made an announcement that the "mountain man is here!" Now, I had in my earbuds and had never heard of the "mountain man" so I ripped them out and yelled, "The milk man is here?!" Everyone around me DIED laughing. Oops. :) I'll never live that down. By the way, the mountain man is some dude that sells snacks. I think that is weird, too. 

I hope you all are doing well. Take care :) 

Another day another lost dollar...

Good evening bloggers.

We are sitting here watching the Cowboys vs. Eagles game. Talk about some great football! And I don't even like football that much (I love T "I love me some me" O he's so funny and I'd love to have earrings like his- Jackson, hint hint!!) Quite an exciting game.

So let's talk about today. The market dropped 504 points in one day. What a disaster. The market's lowest day in 2 years. (thankfully I moved a lot of positions to cash last week on an up day- score Petefish) People hit their panic buttons at AMG. I was in meetings all morning learning how to respond to clients. A.) Clients NEVER ask me about their investments unless they need to take a gain or a loss B.) We did not even own Lehman, Merrill or AIG! So why on earth make Jenna sit in a forever long meeting?! ARG! I think the market will correct itself. During the meeting the staunch Dems in the room kept cursing George W. Bush. I leaned over to the guy next to me and whispered, "If I were G.W. I'd be sitting in the office going 'take that, suckers! you'll always need oil!' and then go shopping" he about died trying to hold in his laughter during the meeting. I mean honestly did G.W. tell Lehman and Merrill to give out mortgages to people who cannot afford them? Nope. I am certain he had nothing to do with that. Why doesn't anyone ever get mad at the Federal Reserve? They control the interest rates that made people think they could afford more than they could. They opened up funds for these poorly reviewed mortgages. (Jackson may disagree with my stance on this)

The Noblesville house had an inspection today for our refinance. Susie represented us, thanks Susie! She thinks it went well. This market condition should only help us to get a lower 30 year fixed rate so I'm pleased with that. We plan to keep it as a rental forever. We also found the plans for the house we'd like to build in the Zionsville/Carmel or Pendleton area in a few years. (Click the title at the top of this post to be linked to the house plans)

I am glad people enjoyed Jackson's post. Let me make it clear that I do not tell him he cannot post, he just does not do it. He can whenever he wants, Kathryn. ;) I wish that I could have been having a day off today like Grace!

We got a Colts flag in the mail today. Thank you, Aunt Jill and Uncle Charlie! :) Jackson was pretty excited to wave it after the big win. We're hoping no Broncos fans try to mess with us!

Jackson's New Church

This is the first time I the male member of the Petefish family has dared to enter into the blogsphere, but after Jenna spent a little while telling everyone about our new church I thought I would let everyone know my new church. It came to me during halftime of the early football games. I am sure revelations come to people in many diffrent ways; mine came to me with the sound of a bell. Actually it was the sound of the doorbell. At first I thought it was just Mackenzie's friend Lucky coming over to play (this whole thing of strange woman bringing her ugly dog over to play with Mac is a bit wierd particurly because I don't know her name, and I hope she does not know mine I will now return to my revelation) it was actually two men dressed in suits. One in his late 60's and the other probably in his 40's. After I told them I did not want any insurance, and I feel comfortable that I will be able to meet my financial goals, they asked me if I read the Bible. I said, "just got home from church!" I now realize that I didn't really answer their question, but I don't think it would of changed anything. They handed me some little book that I recognized as not being the Bible, and told me that all life's questions could be answered by reading Bible. I agreed that the Bible gives guidance in most important questions (minus the occasional #1 vs#4 debate at Mc Donalds- they got a good laugh). I, already being amazed at my patience (it was halftime though), encouraged them to get to the point. That is when they informed me that only 144,ooo people are going to get in to heaven. I responded, "Shit!! Those are pretty long odds. Why am I even trying?" The younger man, who so far had not said a word, laughed and the older guy seemed a bit frustrated with me and not so happy with his mute partner. After a few more minutes I informed them the half was almost over and It was time for me to get back to the game they left me with their little non Bible book. I took it up to Jenna who looked through it and informed me that they were Jehovah Witnesses and that book should not be in our home. I once worked with a Jehovah who would not go to birthday parties at the office, but would eat the leftover cake! NO CAKE MAN! That's celebrating! Like I wanted to give up my 15 minute break to celebrate a co-worker's birthday. I didn't get to skip it and eat the cake- why should he?! Bull.
Later on in my evening the doorbell rang again. I've never been so happy to see a crack-head selling magazines in my life. I almost invited him in! Instead I told him that with us both working we did not have time to read magazines (Jenna yelled at me for telling him that we were not home during the day- ugh).

P.S. Their church doesn't have a Starbucks or even a window!

New church...

We found a new church to attend here in Colorado. Yay! It makes our church in Indy, Grace, look small! (If you can believe that!) They have a Starbucks (ok, it is called Blue Room or something but they serve all Starbucks coffee and drinks). They have a wonderful bookstore. The sanctuary was very pretty. I really enjoyed the minister's message today (Jackson thought he 'ummed' too much). They have classes for young married folks. They have small groups based on where you live, too. A very exciting find! They also have a homeless/needy ministry (a cause close to my heart) that we are hoping to be a part of in the near future. 

MacKenzie seems to be feeling better. This leads us to believe that she just did not want to go to Camp Bow Wow! ;) She actually got sick one more time the other night that we did not know about right away. She slept in the bathroom (tile floors are easier to clean!) and she actually climbed into the tub and threw up in there. What a kind and considerate puppy!! I did not even find it until later when I went to clean up the whole room. I was so proud of my little pink-bearded puppy (pepto beard). 

It is unseasonably cold here today (story of our stay here in CO) so we are unsure of what to do ourselves. I hate the cold! It is always nasty on weekends here. ARG! 

Jackson does not get the Colts game today since we get more west coast games. He was really upset. I was feeling particularly homesick this morning so as he came sulking into the bedroom I said to him, "Welcome to Colorado, bitch!" and he wanted me to share that line with you all. :) I'm such a nice wife!! ;) By the looks of things online, he is not missing much of a game! 

UPDATE: He is even more upset because he did miss a great comeback! GO COLTS! :) 

Put off by a weekend...

MacKenzie got really, really sick last night so we got our Vail reservation moved to next weekend. We just did not feel right about leaving her at Camp Bow Wow throwing up. Poor puppy. We don't know what it is, but we will be closely watching her.

Headed to Vail...

This is the hotel where we will be tomorrow evening in Vail. Pretty! We are looking forward to getting away. MacKenzie will be at Camp Bow Wow again (I wish we could find a dog-sitter here! Mac misses Carla!) so you can tune in and see her wild antics. We plan to hike, golf (Jackson) and go to the spa (Jenna...yay!). They are also having Octoberfest (early?!) so we will be checking that out. We're just checking it out to make sure it is a good time for our visitors! ;) They have condos you can rent up there, too. Doesn't that sound so fun? COME VISIT! (Someone, anyone...we're lonely)

And now on to a more serious matter that has been weighing on my mind...

I had an interesting conversation with a client today. As you are all aware, I think, I deal with extremely wealthy clients. My clients have an average worth of $124 million. Yep. Big money. And most are CEO's of large, publicly traded companies. This client is 68 (and therefore not old, right S. Petefish?!) and was in a really bad car accident 4 years ago. He is my 2nd client to experience a really nasty wreck. Anyway, he was on his way home from a wedding and had his wife of many years with him along with his grown son and his son's wife. I believe a semi crossed the median, but I got a little distracted digging for a tissue during that part of his story. Anyway, he quickly went from a corporate executive to a vegetable in a hospital bed. He said his whole life had been spent chasing the "American dream" but what he realized when he woke up from his 4 month coma was that he had achieved that dream many years ago when he met his lovely wife (who sat by his bedside every night and day for 4 months) and started his beautiful family. He told me that as he went through the recovery process that he was filled regret. He has spent too much time in board rooms and not enough on board games with his family. He has regained quite a bit of his functioning and is making the best of his "second chance" at life. I just cried. Sometimes I wonder why I help rich people manage their wealth instead of the poor with their issues. Today reminded me that they are people too. Sure, they have a lot of money, power and influence but they need a positive person just as much as anyone else. (This is not to say that I won't ever help the less fortunate with their IRS battles, but right now I think I am in the office that I need to be in. They needed a light.)

I thought this was a positive reminder to be thankful for everyday and not to lose sight of what is right in front of us: love.

Have a great weekend.

9/11

My life, like that of most Americans, can be broken into two very different pieces: life before 9/11 and life after. Sure, I didn't know anyone personally who was lost that day, but I certainly lost my feeling of safety in my own country. I was a senior in high school on September 11, 2001. I was sick that morning and my mom had called me in. (I miss those days...) I was in bed watching tv when the news cut in and said a plane hit a building in NYC. I remember thinking, "what an idiot pilot! How could you hit a building?!" little did I know what was really happening. Watching it unfold was so surreal. Another plane hitting the WTC, another down in a PA field and a last into the Pentagon. What was going on? How could this happen? I headed to school as I just could not sit at home alone while my country fell apart. What I never expected was that this tragedy would show such beauty. People were different. They were caring. Churches were filled. Families were close. People told each other that they loved one another. 

2 weeks after 9/11 my Mom and I went to Hawaii to watch my Uncle Derek retire from the U.S. Navy. I did NOT want to get on a plane. I'll never forget crying and begging my mom not to go. We did go. I sat next to a man who was of the same descent of the terrorist from 2 weeks prior. It was really a scary flight. I eyed him the whole time. Every single time that man moved, so did I. (What was I going to do is he tried something? I don't know...) We landed and I was so happy to be land again. Whew. The whole trip was odd. I was in all black (naturally) and had a laptop so I was always being searched by security. 

Life and especially traveling would never be the same. Suddenly we weren't the safest country. We were under attack. Things would never be the same again.

I miss life before 9/11 and I am certain I'm not the only one. 

Wednesday

There was not much going on today. We both worked, cooked dinner, grocery shopped and watched a new tv show set in Palm Beach. It makes me miss it there! 

I decided to drop my writing class as it was just getting to be too much. I was in class 4 nights a week and working 40+ hours a week. I missed Jackson! And MacKenzie. So now I am down to 2 nights a week. Much better. I think I will ease into this whole working and school thing.

Jackson and I are headed to Vail this weekend. We're really excited! :) 

I'm totally over this whole lipstick on a pig controversy. Silly.

Boring night. Sorry folks!

Tuesday

The class I am in tonight is so basic. I'm bored out of my mind. Let's talk about dependents. Whew. I can't hardly contain my excitement.

I got a kick out of Kylie thinking my thank you post was aimed at her. It was not aimed at anyone. I was just excited that I had gotten 4 thank you cards in the mail yesterday- Kathi, Grace, Susie and Mom had sent me little notes. It made me smile and think about the importance of thank you cards. I also noticed that my HR lady at work had my thank you card for my interview displayed in her office as did my new boss. Weird. They must have made an impact. Jackson got his job after I emailed thank you notes by hacking his gmail account. :) 

He is enjoying his new job so that's good. He is excited about the product and that matters in sales!

A big Happy Anniversary today to Aunt Jill and Uncle Charlie! And thank you for the Colts flag! Jackson will be so excited come game day! 

My hand is throbbing today. I only worked 7 hours because I had stuff to do here at school. I finally got my computer set up after a huge mess. I emailed IT here at school this morning with my issue. They tell me to come to library when I get to campus. Of course the library is across campus from where I am allowed to park. I hike over there in heels (I forgot my flip flops today), wait in line then get a kid who tells me I need to go back to the Law School and get help there. I started at the law school kid! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So I hobble back towards my building with my hand aching and knee throbbing. At that time my hand accidently calls my Mom so she gets an earful (sorry, Mom, bad timing!) about how I just want to go home! ARG! I then get to the law school and the IT dept. is closed! I was fuming. I finally found a number for a computer guy and had him come configure my computer. After 2 trips back to see him I finally got my computer going. 

Sometimes...things seem to be so difficult. Anyway, I am very fortunate to get to have such lame problems like internet access when some people are starving. I will not lose sight of that.

The power of "thank you"

I firmly believe in the power of the 2 simple words thank and you. When I was younger, I quickly learned that I could have anything I wanted as long as I was grateful (to a point...I never got that telescope I begged for- MOM) (She later got one for Jeffery and he didn't even ask! GRR) I will move on. Every single time Jackson and I interview for jobs we send thank you notes. We try to have them be hand-written on Hallmarks, but sometimes a simple e-mail is all you can get out. Whatever works really. You just need to show your gratitude for their time and consideration. I also think that thank you cards after receiving gifts is a MUST! A MUST! I hate when I take time to go get a gift for a bridal shower, wedding, baby shower, etc. and do not get a note in return. Am I made of money? Do I have endless time to shop for you? NO! So say thank you. Arg! I once got a thank you 8 months after a wedding. Why bother? The note should be out before the guests wonder if you got their gift. (Everyone is now going to be super paranoid about sending me thank you notes- haha)

In other news, Jackson started his new job today. YAY! He thinks he will really enjoy it. He has a nice schedule during training- not even 8 hour days. He was so bummed that the Colts were so bad last night. Hopefully he didn't get too razzed at work today. By the way, we're looking for a Colts garden flag without any luck here in Denver. If someone comes across one and wants to send it our way, we'll glad reimburse you. :) (I'll send a thank you note!)

I think that 2 of my knuckles are broken. I got tripped up on some construction materials last night while walking MacKenzie and slammed my hand into a wooden board. It is super painful and my right hand-of course! (I'm right-handed) I only worked a 1/2 day due to the pain. I have it wrapped now and have iced on and off. Typing is still a killer, but I am a dedicated blogger. ;) It was nice to have a long day at home today as the rest of my week is going to be very busy. Bah.

Happy Monday.

Still a fan...

MacKenzie has not lost her loyalty to the Colts. Go Blue!!! :)

Jackson's Art Project

He saw this on HGtv and did it himself...it looks pretty cool :)

Barker Days video

Barker Days...

The drowned rat is back by popular demand! ;)

She had a bit of trouble getting out of the pool!

Luckily this nice man helped her out...

Kylie's Wedding

My brother walking my sister down the aisle (excuse her weird face!)

MacBook...

Ok, ok so I said that I didn't want to buy a MacBook because they're too expensive, but they were having an awesome sale- $100 off the price, a free printer and a free iPod touch- for college students with valid i.d. I was really excited! I am going to sell the Ipod touch on Craigslist.com http://denver.craigslist.org/ele/831303661.html (unless one of my readers wants to buy it, I'd discount it for you ;)) so the computer will be even cheaper. I'm going to donate the printer to Goodwill so that's nice.

We took MacKenzie to Barker Days today and she LOVED it!! She swam in the pool with all of the big dogs. She even stole their balls from them! After we pulled her away from the pool we hit up the vendors. She was so excited to get a treat the she jumped on the table. I was mortified! They all thought it was so funny. :) She's quite the character. I'll post videos later as I am still setting up my new computer. Yay!

It's a small world after all...

Jackson was out throwing the ball to MacKenzie today when he met a guy wearing a Colts t-shirt. The guy, Bill, asked Jackson if he was from Indiana (Jackson was wearing IU gear- as always) and he said yeah. Bill, as it turns out, is from MARION, INDIANA!!!!!!! He graduated from MHS in '94 (so I clearly do not know him)--how crazy is that?! I sang the song-an obvious occassion for it. Jackson really liked the guy and plans to play golf with him soon (also to throw the football and watch football) it seems Jackson has made a new friend. :) Oh, and Bill's dog's name is Madison! WHAT?! Crazy!

Tomorrow we are taking MacKenzie to "Barker Days" (a clever play on our town's name:Parker) which is a big festival for dogs. They open the city pool for dogs only and have tons of dog related vendors. MacKenzie has a $50 spending limit...I hope she can keep within that. ;) We've been looking forward to letting her swim!

It is finally the weekend- yay! I had class tonight. One of those where the prof tells you how horried this class will be yadaydadayadada. It is supposed to only be on Fridays but they added Wednesday sessions. WHAT?! WHO SAID YOU COULD DO THAT, SIR?! NO! NO! NO! I was so mad! Now I'll never see my 2 loves! :(

I plan to live it up tomorrow and study all day Sunday. Why did I sign up for this again?! :/

My Mom and Guy were the "first responders" to an accident tonight where a motorcycle hit a deer. They stopped, called 911, slowed traffic around the scene and were just overall GREAT samarations. I was so proud of them! They are the kind of people we need in this world.

Boring

Well my killer schedule has begun. I have class Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7:40-9:40. Not much fun. The class is really easy, but the time stinks. Friday I have a 5:30 class. Big boo for canceling my hopes at a long weekend (there is always Monday...). My life is now basically housework, work, homework, school, bed- repeat! Throw in a walk with Mac and Jack and you've got me.

Jackson has been living up his "vacation" by either playing golf or practicing golf quite a bit. I hope for him to be back on top of his game.

I got an announcement from my college roommate that she FINALLY graduated! ;) Congrats Danielle. Thanks for all of the Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons! You're the best. Schedule that visit soon.

Guy did very well with his surgery. I hear that he is a little grumpy and sick of having to lay on his back. I would kill to lay down all day, Duckie! And to have little miss Madison for a nurse? I'm in! (I miss home...)

I got into work today and my boss had e-mailed me (so unpersonal) to do a type of return I had never done before. Just as I am working on the return the server crashes and I lose everything! UGH! The nerve! (The server did not ever come back up rendering today a bit stressful for our poor IT dept.) I ended up figuring it out minus a computer (do you know how hard that is?!) and getting the return handed in. Whew. What a pain! I finished a few other projects today and am really starting to feel comfortable in my job. It is about time! I miss life at Bill's office where we could talk politics without offending anyone!

Ok, enough of that for the evening. I hope everyone is doing well. :)

1st day of class...

I'm normally the most prepared person I know. Have a headache? I've got 3 types of pain relievers handy. Get something on your new shirt? I have a Tide stick. Are you hands sticky? I've got a Wet One. Today was not my best day. I roll into my first day of class without notebook paper (I forgot?!), without a book (they weren't ready yet-Grrr) and without a laptop. 3 strikes! I was the odd (wo)man out. I am never ill prepared. Hmm. I guess I had other stuff going on...say working 40 hours a week? I don't know. I let myself slide by tonight, but I'd better get my act together for Thursday. Despite having nothing with me, I enjoyed this evening's class. There are no assignments to turn in and the final makes up 100% of your final grade. LOVE IT! I'm an excellent test taker and I HATE busy work assignments. Score DU. Boo to DU for not having the books ready. You all didn't know classes began today? I pay $720 (yes, you read that correctly) a credit hour for what again? Grr.

In other news, I am upset with John McCain. Listen buddy, I was cool with your wife being robotic and addicted to drugs in the past. She was upfront about it. No hiding the truth- I liked that. However, this decision to have a mother of 5 be your vice-president pick is not a good one. She has 5 kids! One of which has Downs Syndrome and is under the age of 1. Shouldn't he be raised by his mother and father? Shouldn't the family be home in Alaska- not out campaigning across the States? Honestly. You have a 17-year-old daughter who is pregnant. Where were you? Washington? Did she need more supervision? I'm sure she did. Was she crying out for your attention? Yep. Has her life most likely been ruined by the onslaught of media talking about her teenage pregnancy? Yep. Way to be, Palin. You're being selfish and uncaring to your family. If you can't take care of your stuff at home, how are you going to help run the greatest country in the world? Ugh. I'm team elephant but come on! Give us something to work with here. I don't care how great your ideas are. You've got a full plate right now. Go home. Shame on you, John McCain for picking her just because she's a woman and not because she was the best for the job. End of rant.

What is up with the rise in teenage pregnancies? I am 24 years old hardly feel ready to be a mother myself. I surely didn't have that urg at 16. I'm ashamed of today's youth. Keep your pants on and go read a book! You'll be happy you did later.

Guy has surgery at 8:30 Central Time on his eyes. I would appreciate your positive thoughts and prayers for him. I love you, Duckie.

Have a great day!

In need of a "tablet"

I think a few readers of my blog can assist me with my search for the best "tiny notebook" computer for my money *cough* Mike Helmick *cough*
I am between an HP 2133 Mini-Note PC and an Acer Aspire 1 laptop with Intel Atom Processor currently. I just need to be able to type in class and get on the internet (if the prof get boring...) without lugging a massive laptop around in my already weighed down bag. I would love a Mac but I don't want to spend that much money...
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! :) :)

Wedding weekend...

Jackson and I had a VERY busy weekend. Friday night we spent packing for Indiana i.e. packing dog treats for everyone's 4-legged family members. Saturday morning we were up at 6 to get MacKenzie to Camp Bow Wow and ourselves to the airport. MacKenzie screamed when we left her at camp. :( The airport's parking was PACKED and we had to park in the $18 a day garage. $18 a day?! Are you kidding me?! Is this lower Manhattan?! Los Angeles?! Bah! I was not pleased. The airport ended up being kind of dead. The DNC people had made their way out of town by then I guess. Good! So we ended up waiting at our gate for an hour. We hate that. We much prefer to be running to plane-that way we know we have not wasted any of our time. It normally works well for us. :) Anyway, our plane was a bit delayed due to an extremely rude flight attendant having no idea how to run a full flight. Flying is no longer a service it is a pain in the butt. I am learning to hate it (I know however that they have me by the preverbale balls as there is no better way to get across the country). Anyway, we landed in St. Louis. Their airport is like a ghost town. It was the most empty airport I'd ever been to. We scurred from there to get our rental car. As luck would have it, Budget had over-booked their Ford Focus or equivalent cars and only had convertibles left. Cha-Ching! I love the wind in my hair and sun on my face. We were so pleased.

It was about 2:30 when we left St. Louis and the wedding was at 5:30 in Evansville- 180 miles away. We were sure we'd be fine and we were. We rolled into the hotel at 5:03 and just enough time to refresh (we'd be in a convertible on the interstate for hours) and change clothes. The ceremony was lovely. Kylie looked great in her dress. Nick wore a white tux. The bridesmaids were in brown. It was kind of odd that I didn't know a soul in the wedding party except my sister. And Grant, of course, who did a great job as the ring bearer. He's so cute. Kylie had a huge number of people there and it looked like everyone was enjoying themselves. My dad and step-mom made it to the ceremony- so that was nice. Everyone had a nice time catching up, I think. It was my grandparents last day in Indiana so I was happy to see them before they headed back to Southern Florida. We loved seeing all of the family. (Sorry Cort, I have no photos as I forgot my camera but she looked great!)

Jackson's sister, Kathi, lives in the greater Evansville area as well so we stayed at the lovely Coomes Inn and Suites. They have this lovely little hostess, CeCe, whom I adored. ;) They also have world famous sweet tea that keeps me coming back each time I'm in town! ;) Jackson's mom came into town to hang out with us too. We stayed up far too late catching up and didn't get much sleep. The next day we went to Cracker Barrel (something CO does NOT offer-grr) for breakfast. It was so good. Yum! Then we went to Justice to do some shopping for little CeCe. She goes to Catholic school so she only needs weekend outfits- can you imagine?! If school wasn't so expensive Kathi would be getting off cheap! After that we said our good-byes and headed to a luncheon at Aunt Jara's. We were so not hungry, but excited for the company. I got to hold the newest addition to the family, Claire Coe, she is just precious. She is only the 2nd baby I have ever held- the first being one Miss Kate Coe...her older sister! How funny. Kelly is too trusting. ;) Claire was a great baby. I want one. I will wait though, start breathing again Jackson. We then had to head back to St. Louis to catch our evening flight. I cried. My baby steps plan made it even harder to be here in Colorado. Boo.

We drove with the topdown all the way to St. Louis in an effort to get some final summer rays. We were successful! I'm a little red in the face as is Jackson. We loved having the convertible. Bless you, Budget, and your poor planning skills! :) We caught our plane and got to Denver early even! We headed to Qdoba for a quick dinner then headed home-finally. It was a lot of traveling, but we had a nice time.

Today, Labor Day, was anything but. We picked up MacKenzie first thing then came back to bed. Besides doing some laundry, dishes, closet cleaning and vaccuuming we didn't do much. We ran a few errands and finished Jackson's art project. (photos to come) We tried a Carabou Coffee while we were out and I hate it. Starbucks only, please. Gossip Girl returned to TV tonight so that was nice and The Hills was on. We loved it. We took Mac for one last walk and now we're preparing for bed.

Tomorrow is my first day of grad school- ahh. Jackson has been less than helpful on what to wear. Typical. I'll keep you all posted on how all of my fellow tax nerds are doing once I get home tomorrow. ;)
I hope you all had a nice weekend. :)

At the creek

As you're about to see, MacKenzie LOVES to play ball in the creek behind our condo!

Ouch...

We have a lot of fun with this sign each time we go to the Denver Airport: 3 daily non-stop flights to Jackson Hole. Each time we pass it, I giggle and Jackson acts pained. I decided to document this for the rest of the world. Very gross but really funny, too. :)

MacKenzie's reaction to Camp Bow Wow...

She came home and beat up on her father!!!!!! :) She was really happy to see us at 7:03 this morning (Camp opened at 7) and even had an excited pee when she saw momma. A little token for the counselors to remember her by ;) She has officially slept all day- just like her parents. She is getting ready to take a trip to the creek to play ball in the water. Fun! All in all Camp seemed to be ok. She didn't get much rest there, but she was safe and that's all that matters!