Two blog posts in three days. To the few of you out there who have complained that I don't post enough...eat your hearts out.
On a day when I'm not in a rush, my morning routine includes turning on the laptop and checking in with a few websites. Email....obviously. Then Facebook. Sometimes Craigslist to see what weird stuff my fellow Los Alamosans are trying to sell. But one place I always check on before signing off and finishing my getting-ready-process is the CNN website.
Today's headlines seemed like nothing new at first....kidnappings, threats of war, consumer warnings, etc. That is, until I read the following headline: "Comedian Running for President"
Oh please let it be for real and let it be someone hysterical!
I clicked on the link and, to my great surprise, found that the one and only, Roseanne Barr, a Green Party member, is running for president. See it for yourself here.
Oh my gosh!
She looks so much better than I remember her looking in the 90s
I couldn't believe it. I quickly zipped over to the Wikipedia page on the candidates for the 2012 Presidential Election to double check.
That's right. I confirmed what I read on CNN by double checking with Wikipedia.
We all know that, the way our country is politically shaped, no one who runs for the Green Party is going to become president. Maybe someday in the future....but not any time soon. But people who run for these smaller parties do so in an effort to get the word out and have some national publicity for their platform. And good for them.
Man...I hope her campaign lasts a REALLY long time. The comedic relief for me personally, even if she is completely serious as a "candidate", would be priceless in the midst of all the junk that comes with election season.
Now before you get too excited, settle down. Nothing gets too darn serious until the Green Party Convention this summer. As of current, there are a handful of other candidates also vying for the Green Party nomination. But how could they put forth anyone else? She's SO patriotic!!
So stay glued to whatever device through which you gather your political news, folks. It's sure to be an entertaining ride, however long it lasts!
Yesterday, Leni and I returned from a week in Aspen with great friends that we knew from our Texas days when he was still in school. We'd been looking forward to this trip since it's planning stages in the Fall and it was well worth the wait!
One house. Six rooms. Four bathrooms. Thirteen people.
Leni and I, having the shortest distance to travel (7 hour drive), were the first to arrive and, after opening up the house that we had rented and greeting the second arriving couple, the next order of business was to zip down to the Aspen airport and pick up our good friends, Josh and Kalyn. Next, was a trip to the grocery store to tackle a serious list of food to buy. It took 6 of us a little over an hour to accomplish this. Almost $450 later, we walked out with (almost) all the ingredients we used to feed that many people for the week. The price sounds like a lot but when you divide it out on a per person-per day basis, it's incredibly darn reasonable!
Check out took so long!
After the return from the grocery store, more people started arriving and the excitement started mounting as people talked about looking forward to getting on the slopes the next day.
I should probably mention that this was the 4th of several ski trips for which this group has gathered since 2008. Not being able to ski these days, it was more of a chance to see good friends and hang out for me. I spent a lot less time by myself than I had prepared for, which was a welcome change to my expectations. One recent addition to the group (just married in this past Fall) only skied for a day and a half due to a pre-existing knee issue...so I got spend some time getting to know her. Another guy had an unfortunate fall on his 3rd day and ended up with a messed up shoulder and not being able to go back out. There was a day in the middle of the trip where several people, including Leni, took a rest day as well.
During the days, I often drive to the ski resort to meet the gang for lunch. During the first day that I was checking out the ski hill where the group spent most of their time (Snowmass), I found this funny sign outside a restaurant in the village:
Did you spot the grammatical error?
On two days, we drove into the city of Aspen to wander around the ritzy but beautiful downtown area. As far as skiing goes, the Aspen area is actually comprised of 4 separate mountains and one of them had runs and lifts that came right into the downtown area:
Aspen Mountain as seen from downtown
During the week we were in Aspen, another of those 4 mountains, Buttermilk, was host to the 2012 Winter X Games.
Saw some sweet runs through this half pipe super pipe
Of course, the finals of the best events were in the evenings of the last two nights but what we found was that parking was far too much of a hassle (lots were filling up in the early to mid afternoon!) to try to attend in person. It was such a relief when the decision was made to just stay in our warm house and watch it on TV - no doubt providing better views and replays anyway than had we been standing there with a 1000 other people. Because the dirty little secret about the X Games is that, for most of the events, unless you have a VIP pass, you end up watching it on an on-site big screen anyway because so much of the competition course is not visible from the bottom of the runs where the crowds are gathered or there are too many people blocking your view.
One set of events that I ended up enjoying that I didn't think I would was the snowmobile stuff. I often think of snowmobilers as being reckless, loud and inconsiderate jerks - and that may still be the case! But seeing them whip up in the air and move those heavy machines with their bodies was pretty darn incredible. We got to see the first ever attempt at a double back flip in competition (unfortunately, he failed...broken arm...ouch!) followed by the first ever successful competition completion of a FRONT flip. Think about it for a second. A back flip is totally intuitive considering how the vehicle leaves the jump but a front flip is a completely different story. Watch the video of it:
Absolutely insane. Amazing moment for the rider as well as the sport in general. Another record made on that same night was Shaun White's snowboard performance in the super pipe. Athletes get 3 attempts in achieving the highest score and, like in the 2010 Olympics, he had secured a first place win after only the second round. For his final run, he nailed all his tricks and received a first-time-ever-in-the-x-games perfect score of 100 from the judges.
The excitement for these records and events was palpable around both the local area as well as our house with our friends and I'm so pleased that we got to experience Aspen during this special event.
So we're back. Tired, but pleased to have spent quality time with people we don't often see. I'll admit that the 7 hour drive each way was uncomfortable at times for my back and it was a blessing to have Leni doing all the driving.
It's an exciting time around here....there are so many things to look forward to!
16 days until....the (somewhat) annual ski trip with these folks:
We'll be coming from as far as Pennsylvania and Tennessee and as close as....New Mexico :) The destination this time? Aspen....where the beer flows like wine! If you don't get that reference, we can't be friends. I keep losing count but I think there are going to be 13 of us in attendance this year and we've rented a pretty awesome lodge for the week. I won't be skiing (sad face) this year but look forward to watching ESPN's Winter X Games live in action at Aspen!
100 days until...the projected arrival of Mini Moore!
Again, forgive the bad photo. It's a picture of a picture.
The photo above was taken at 20 weeks....which was 6 weeks ago. Word on the street is that yes, we've got a name selected and no, you won't hear what it is until he arrives. Stay tuned!
166 days until....my best friend's wedding!
Janelle and Thomas will get married in June in Charlottesville, VA and I couldn't be more excited to be out there for the weekend. Should be a pretty rockin' time....even if we'll be learning on the job how to travel with a 9-week-old :)
199 days until...the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Is there still some lingering bitterness that Chicago was not selected for the host city for 2012? Sure...but I think we can all move on and enjoy the wonder that is the Olympics. Favorite summer events? Swimming races, diving, and gymnastics!
So life is good :) Hope there are things on your life's horizon that are getting you as excited.
Keep It Real!
P.S. Los Alamos Trails Goal Update: 25.6 of 29.5 miles completed, 2.9 miles to go. No progress since the last post but with icy trails, I don't like to go hiking by myself these days. I'll get there though!
Merry Christmas! Today, Leni and I are chilling at home and enjoying the time together. Late this evening, his parents will arrive from TX and spend most of the week celebrating with us.
In keeping with the tradition of a Christmas video every year on this blog, please enjoy this fun little diddy I found a couple weeks ago.
Hope everyone is doing well! Merry Christmas! For unto us a child is born!
Those of you who know my family, know that, in a lot of ways, my brother and I married people who are wonderful, yet INCREDIBLY different from each other. (understatement)
Meet Leni and Claire:
First pic ever taken of them, at our wedding
Hanging around the two of them is usually particularly hysterical. Their differences can be basically boiled down to the following: Claire is a student of the arts, and Leni is a student of science. This is the basis for any interaction that ends in disagreement of any degree.
I remember back in March listening to a discussion where Claire thought it was ridiculous that Leni didn't know the color wheel. Leni, probably having heard the words color and wheel in the same sentence (and not in relation to cars) for the very first time that day, shot back something about Claire needing to learn the Periodic Table of Elements. As with most discussions of this nature between these two, it ended quickly before elbows and fists were thrown.
Back in early July, a new version of this came to life. Standing by a crappy piece of art that we got at a yard sale for pennies, Leni started talking about what he would do to it if he had the talent. Claire jumped into action and before I could take another breath, there was an easel set up complete with the necessary paints - and Leni standing around watching like a lost puppy.
The original
Considering the plethora of options
Learning some basics from Claire
It became a collaborative effort
As it stands now. There is talk of more work later perhaps.
The fun doesn't stop there, folks! Over Thanksgiving, Claire was up at our house and, in holding up her end of the bargain, spent some time assisting Leni in his craft: car stuff in the garage.
Here's Claire cutting a long piece of metal for some fabrication work:
And here she is doing some actual welding:
In the art project and the garage project, the apprentices were both good sports and very patient and it was quite entertaining for me to be an observer. Many props go out to both Leni and Claire for being open to new things!
Keep It Real!
P.S. Los Alamos Trails Goal Update: 25.6 of 29.5 miles completed.....3.9 miles to go!
If you have ever read much of what I say on Facebook leading up to the holidays, you know that I strongly DETEST when Christmas is celebrated before Thanksgiving. It's just not right.
But that's not what my current pet peeve is about. This peeve exists on a year-round basis but operates at threat level red during the days leading up to Thanksgiving. It's this...
...a crowded grocery store. More specifically (although not blatantly pictured above), I loathe those unaware shoppers who block entire aisles.
You've seen it; the patron who leaves their cart on one side of the aisle while blocking the rest of the aisle with their body while looking at a shelf of goods. This happens 365 days a year and it is not okay. But it is most ESPECIALLY wrong on high capacity shopping days such as...oh I don't know...the days leading up to Thanksgiving!
It creates a lot of problems but most importantly, it aggravates Yours Truly and causes her to think unholy thoughts about people around her who are, presumably, otherwise nice people. I literally prayed for forgiveness after exiting the store today due to the awful things I'd thought in my head about my fellow shoppers.
So please...I'm beggin' you...if you visit a grocery store in the next few days, PLEASE be a conscientious shopper. If you need to linger in a particular spot, be sure that your cart and your body are on the same side of the aisle so that others can pass.
I miss the days when my biggest complaint about the grocery store involved waiting for people at the register to scribble out a check for their groceries. When's the last time you saw that?
Keep It Real!
P.S. Los Alamos Trails Goal Update: 24.4 of 29.5 miles completed....5.1 miles to go!
This week in the Moore house hold came complete with many victories probably, but two stand out and are worth mentioning.
First, I finished our Christmas shopping. Done and done. Some gifts will be delivered in person when we see various family at Thanksgiving. Others will need to be shipped to two locations and I will do that sometime in December when it is closer to the actual holiday. Others will be given in person at Christmas itself. But that's the easy part. Being able to check off the To Do List that the gift selections and purchasing have been completed, is an enormous relief every year and being able to get it done in early November only adds to that enormity.
Secondly, after a drought in working toward my trail completion goal, I made some real progress yesterday. I had completed 18.8 miles of my 29.5 mile target and had 10.7 miles to go, which involved 7 trails. This weekend, we hiked the longest of these 7 trails and knocked off 4.9 miles, bringing the number of miles completed to 23.7 and the miles needed to only 5.8 and 6 trails. Given that the average length of these trails is only 1.18 miles, it felt great to cross off 4.9 of the remaining needed miles in one trip.
Here's hoping that your Veterans Day Weekend was productive. A special thanks to all the Veteran readers for the sacrifices they have made. Only they and their families truly know the reality of those sacrifices and, whatever they are for each individual, I am thankful for them.
Keep It Real!
P.S. Los Alamos Trails Goal Update: 23.7 of 29.5 miles completed...getting there!
