NYE

Me: Is my hair too much?

Karley: No.  But put on some more blush.

What are sisters for?

The Itch

I suddenly got the urge to be fantastically biz after we got home.  So I decided to follow the Art of Manliness' Maintenance Checklist.  And, because I have zero shame, I would like to show you what the coils of a fridge that has not seen a vacuum in almost five years look like:

After a very good vacuum and one lost (and after 30 minutes retrieved) Swiffer duster, Quivas' efficiency just went to Level: Epic.

Be glad I didn't show you the range filters.

Headed Home

It's a weird thing to say, leaving Texas, coming back to Denver.  But after almost eight years it kind of is...

 Random dragon.

 Clayton, NM.

HPB Inspiration

Why they don't have one of these in Denver, I'll never understand.

It's not the day that counts

The Firethorn Christmas.

Systems: Normal

Now Smile!

Du

Just wants to be a part of it, too.

Big Boy

Happy Birthday, Meke!

My crafty parents made each of us a place holder at the table for while we were home for Christmas! :)

 For his birthday, Mike wanted to have a Movie Day at Studio Move Grill.  We enjoyed Catching Fire, Anchorman 2 ("enjoyed" might be a stretch on that one) and finally (our fav) The Desolation of Smaug.

The evening we ventured forth to Mexican Inn with the 'rents, and then received some epic cheese plate paraphernalia for Mike's birthday as well!

 

Yay!

Ice, Ice Baby

We had planned to leave at 3am for our trek to Texas in a day.  We made it out by 3:30, which was impressive considering we had two people, two dogs, a stuffed automobile, and I was sick as a dog.  We made it to a rest stop just outside of Trinidad where I spent the previous 30 minutes willing myself not to throw up.  After almost losing Keebler to a trucker (he got out of his leash and I'm pretty sure if I hadn't felt nausiated before I would have then), spending some quality time in the bathroom trying to talk myself back IN to throwing up just so I'd feel better), and getting back on the road again the whole family felt...well...fairly good (I didn't puke, but Kona managed to just as we turned into the rest stop...on the seat...as Mike tried to get him out).

We determined that the way to go is indeed down I25 turning southwest at Raton and going through Dumas and Amarillo.  Yay!

Unfortunately, once we hit Dumas so did the massive ice/snow storm.

It took us an extra two hours using the usually speedy two lane country roads.  We also witness what was probably the scariest accident coming up a hill on one of these said roads.  I maintain that Texas drivers are complete idiots in snow.

Niwot Inn

We stayed here for Mike's St Vrain Christmas soire.  We will be coming back for Valentine's Day.  It is just lovely!

A Very Quivas Christmas 2013

This is our new Clayton Christmas tradition started last year.  We get gussied, head to Via Toscana, and then head home to open presents by the light of the Christmas tree!

This year we added a very nice bottle of mead thanks to Meadery of the Rockies.  It was insanely tasty.  We'd been saving the best (and last) bottle from our 2013 Palisade trip for a special occasion.  This seemed appropo.

Comfort

Tommy and Leslie on the road to recovery.  I'm going to get this framed for them when he's completely through.

Denver Holiday Party

Lucky Strike Style.

Prepared

This was how the box my parents sent me for my birthday was wrapped:

And this is part of what was in it!

BD W&C

Since Black Hawk didn't happen, Wine & Cheese did.  That place is always so special.

Wake Up Call

I woke up the day after my birthday (the day we were all headed to Black Hawk for a big birthday celebration) to a 3:30am phone message from Leslie.  I can write about it now (that I'm super late on updating the blog) without getting emotional, but at the time our worlds were rocked.

Tommy came out of the bathroom after brushing his teeth, and just fell over.  He was unresponsive, couldn't speak, couldn't move.  The ambulance took him to the nearest hospital, which quickly determined he had suffered a massive stroke.  They loaded him onto a helicopter to be taken for surgery at Swedish Medical, the premier stroke hospital in the state.  And they told Leslie to say goodbye then, because no one knew if he would make it there, much less into and out of surgery.

I ran to her house to pack her a bag and pick up her pup, and as people began descending upon the hospital, we were one of the many who showed up to show love to this incredible couple.  With hindsight, Tommy is doing just incredible.   He's regained his speech and mobility, he's slowly and surely recovering to his self again.  It's been inspiring to watch.  But it was a terrbile day as friends, helpless in almost every way.

We canceled the trip and remained in shock for most of the weekend.  The Groesbecks came over to spend the Friday evening, and that was when I cried.  I just couldn't believe this had happened: to someone we knew and loved, to someone so young.  It resulted in a group hug which Mike made less awkward with some sort of funny comment I don't remember now.  But I was, and am, so thankful for the life I have, and the friends I have in it.

Kona milked the evening for all it was worth; Max was just confused.