Kids love snow!

A picture of the snow really coming down in Tulsa! Lola and Macy are enjoying the big flakes!

To be a kid again! Kids love the snow, they see it as a real treat, a time to get out there and enjoy life. Macy has on Lyndsey's old snowsuit and is making an angel in the yard. She is an angel, isn't she??

This is Maggie, my niece's little girl, so beautiful, isn't she?

A change of plans....

So, this is the weekend of my birthday. The plan was I would fly to Tulsa to see the grandbabies and Lynn, and have a group of friends for a cookout. Then, the blizzard of '09 blew through Denver, wreaking havoc at the airport. And this blizzard headed directly for the Texas-Oklahoma panhandle, and then moved on to Tulsa, causing more flight delays. Lynn and I decided it would be better if I waited until next weekend, and so I spent my birthday with Clint, the masseuse, instead. I had a nice day, but I missed my family terribly.

Today, Sunday, was beautiful. Too beautiful to stay inside, but I couldn't seem to find the energy to go skiing or snowshoeing. So, instead, I drove up to Lookout Mountain, and I looked out. Beautiful scenery all around, downtown Denver on one side, and this beautiful view on the other. I took a short hike up the trail (there is something strange about hiking in calf deep snow and a short sleeve shirt), visited Buffalo Bill Cody's grave and museum, and had lunch at the elegant Cody restaurant, where the waitress decorated the to-go box with "happy birthday!" and added a terrific apple crisp to my brunch.

I love you, all of my friends who remembered my birthday. Apparently, my phone went dead about 5 PM yesterday, and I didn't notice it until noon today--when I got my phone out to take these pictures and realized it was dead, dead, dead. I had 7 voicemails and 3 text messages--so thanks for remembering and I will call you all soon!

Finally--a winter wonderland!

Denver received almost a FOOT of snow yesterday. When I walked home, I could hardly see anything, the wind was fierce and the visibility was nearly nothing. I couldn't even see the road, sidewalk, anything--and this was at 1 in the afternoon! It was so beautiful! The view from my deck of the pool--you can't really see because of the light, but the hot tub was full of people while the snow came down around them!

The sun is shining today, though!

A busy week

The last week was really busy. First it was match week, which is a BIG DEAL to my medical students, as they find out where they will be spending the next few years of their training. I am glad to say that most of MY students were pretty happy...mostly tears of happiness by the parents. I think the parents are happy because their son/daughter finally has a job!

Then, it was off to San Antonio for a meeting, and a visit with my wonderful son and his beautiful wife. A great weekend--I have missed them all. And, GREAT NEWS! I am going to be a grandmother again!! In october, I cannot WAIT! Ben and Brooke are going to be great parents, and we already know that I am a GREAT Mimi!!!

And, today, a blizzard! I have waited all winter for this blizzard, so after a couple of weeks of record highs, today we are expecting a FOOT of snow in the Denver area. It is so beautiful, too, big, wet flakes coming down everywhere. It is even better, in my opinion, because we are going to close the office early, and I just have to walk home!

Anyway, I didn't want to go too long without a picture, so here is today's special pic of a sleepy boy (and a sleeping dog in the background!):

Happy Birthday to my son!

Here is a picture of my two favorite boys, doing one of their favorite things! Notice how little ER is holding on to his Uncle Ben.

Sunday is Ben's birthday--he will be 31 years old! I thought I was young when I was 31, but when your kids start turning 31--well you start to figure out how old YOU really are.

Happy Birthday, dear Ben. You are such a special man, and your mom is really proud of you! But no matter how old you get, you will always be my sweet boy--In my mind, you are still the baby like the one sleeping next to you as well as the man you are today...

Happy St. Paddy's Day from the Green Queen!

And here is one who is really excited about St. Paddy's Day, asleep, foot in hand!

ER's work! Jumping, jumping, yeah!

Sunday--a day for skiing in the mountains!

Sunday found my friend, Carol, and I skiing at Copper Mountain. It was a beautiful day, sunny, fairly warm (about 39 degrees for a high). The snow was getting a little crusty, but not bad. The last time we went to Copper, I didn't get to appreciate the views--it was snowing really hard then so I didn't even SEE the views. This time, once I was flung off the Excelerator lift, I was spellbound with the beautiful views of the peaks on all sides of us.
I would have rather been in Tulsa with the kids, but it was a great day anyway!

It's a Mouthful--but I am sure it will fit!

Dedicated to his other grandpa!

Here is a photo from Grandpa--Mr. Lynn.

I wasn't kidding!

So, this is Bazilla, trying out one of the coffins for the coffin race. Unfortunately, you have to know someone who only weighs 75 lbs, so she was out as the body!

This is the icehole for the Polar Plunge. As you can see, you walk down the green carpet and plunge in, thus taking a chance on becoming the next frozen dead guy or gal!

This is Terri, with some local "FrozenHeads". Darn! I wish I would have known about the costumes. I mean, people were in everything!

The Frozen Dead Guy Festival

My friend, Bazilla (as she is called by the Marvelous Macy) and I have had a lot of adventures, from the Wild Woman Weekend to the backroom of the Poteau Men's Club, but one of our most unique traditions is our love of festivals.
First, Bazilla had to go to Antlers for a Christmas party (in October, no less). Since she didn't want to go alone, she invited me to come along. She made it sound really enticing, too; said we were staying the Rebel Hill Guest Ranch. Let me tell you, mister, if you haven't stayed at the Rebel Hill Guest Ranch, ya need to git on down thur! (Our stay there is more than a blog, it is an entire novel, so you will have to wait for my book to get the whole story.) But anyway, we did get really lucky, because not only was it Christmas in October, but it was also the weekend of the annual Deer Festival. I got my fabulous marshmallow launcher there--which I passed on eventually to my son, Ben--but in the meantime, I kept myself occupied for a good two hours, just launching marshmallows at unsuspecting festival goers. That thing would launch marshmallows clear across the fairgrounds!
The next year, Bazilla had to go to Eureka Springs for a conference. Again, since she didn't want to go alone (lucky for me she doesn't have any other friends to invite, or maybe her other friends are just smarter) she invited me. We stayed at a terrific B&B, and it turns out, it was also the weekend of the Little Feet Festival. Neither one of us had any idea what Little Feet was, but I was fascinated by the big float in the shape of a high heel, blaring out Cher music. We followed that float, and next thing we knew, we were walking beside the high heel, complete with its Diva (who was also the owner of our B&B, our limo driver, and the local DJ) waving at people gathered for the Little Feet parade. Apparently, Little Feet is a band that is famous for its "chicken song". I still haven't heard the song, but I have celebrated with the best of their fans!
So, this weekend finds Bazilla flying to Denver, so that the two of us can head up to Nederland on Saturday for the Frozen Dead Guy Festival. I guess once upon a time, a guy had his grandfather cryogenically frozen and stored him in a shed behind his mothers house. Unfortunately, the guy and his mother both got deported, leaving Grandpa behind in the shed. The town council, irritated at becoming responsible for taking care of Grandpa and his dry ice habit, quickly passed a law that you can't store dead people in your backyard, in a shed or anything else. However, they were stuck with Grandpa, and have been taking care of him ever since. Like any small town worth its salt, they have an annual festival in his honor. So Saturday will find Bazilla and Terri heading up Boulder Canyon, to watch the 2009 Coffin Races andwe might even participate in the frozen T-shirt contest!!
Who knows what next year will bring!

Making Tamales

Last night, I went to cooking class. Even though my dad said I was already a good cook, why did I need to go to class? Well, the answer is that I thought it would be fun. I wanted to do Mexican cooking, but it was full, so last night, I went to Tamale making.
There were 20 of us, and I am pretty sure I was the only newbie to cooking class--the others were talking about the chef for the sushi class, the tequila tasting class ( I would have liked a tequila tasting, I am sure it makes your food taste better!) the "teambuilding" cooking experience--you name it, they have a class for it. I went to the Seasoned Chef, and was given a name tag and an apron. Charlotte was our teacher, a seasoned chef, having cooked for 5 children! We made tamales almost from scratch. We made our own masa, which was kind of like playing in the mud only it tasted better. We soaked and dried the corn husk (we even got tips on the best kind to buy and where to buy them), smeared them with masa, filled them with a variety of fillings, that we also made from scratch: green chicken chili filling, red chili pork, black bean and corn, and, of course, mexican chocolate!
I was on the red chili team, and we were warned to use the towels NOT our aprons to wipe our hands, you could see why almost immediately; the red chili filing dyed everything it touched in a matter of seconds. Charlotte likes to use a certain kind of chili that turns bright red when it is ready. Anyway, we smeared and we filled and then we rolled. On our team was one bossy lady named Tabby, who was from Mexico and was already an expert in Tamale making (I still can't figure out why she would pay 60 bucks to take a class that she was already an expert in, but some people...) and she kept criticizing my technique. After about 15 minutes of that, I decided to move over to the black bean team, but they thought my rolling technique was "messy". So I got myself a tasting spoon and I decided to take seriously the job of quality control, tasting all of the fillings.
The only downside to this whole affairs was this: It was a take-home tamale class, and somehow I did not process the "take-home" part. So, while I was expecting to eat tamales and drink sangria at the end of the class, instead, we got iced tea and peanuts, and baggies to take home our food--and it still has to be steamed for an hour and a half before we can eat it.
All-in-all, a great evening, but I went home hungry.

Can this be comfortable? Well, if it isn't just move on outta there...and find something to put in your mouth!

Macy and her friend Alexa had a big day on Saturday. Like all women, some of the play revolved around the newest in fashion trends, makeup, and hair, and culminated in a makeover. Notice the newest style, which appears to be blue blush. You might be able to get the same effect if you go without oxygen for several minutes, but it is so much more fun to actually apply the stuff to each other.

Little ER is now giving orders at work. He likes for things to be organized and harmonious. Isn't he just the cutest?

Weekends are hard on people!

Luckily, Sunday afternoon seems a good day for a nap!