I HATE the USPS!!

For those of you who don't know, I hate the US Postal Service. I have really tried not to jump onto my soapbox too much or too often but they have really ticked me off.

My story of hating the Postal Service starts backs a few years ago. We had just moved from our first apartment into Grandma Lue's basement. I turned in 2 forward mail requests and spoke with 3 different managers but to no avail, the mail carrier wouldn't quit delivering our mail to the apartment address. Their excuse was our route didn't have a regular mail carrier, meaning they were too stupid to pay attention and do their job correctly whether it was their route or not.

Shortly after that, I drove to the Holladay Post Office on Arbor Lane to mail our taxes with the money we owed to the IRS and state government. (P.S. I will never ever use that post office again.) Because these were such important documents, I paid extra for delivery confirmation and signature request. It cost about $14 to send both envelopes. A few days later I checked on the delivery confirmation and it said both letters were still at the Arbor Lane post office. Both were supposed to have been delivered by this time. So I called to find out what happened. I was told that the system only updates when the carrier enters in the information so she had no control but that the letters weren't there. She assured me they were most likely still in route and in another day or two I should be able to check again and request the signatures for the delivery.  Again a few days later I checked the tracking and nothing had changed. I sent in the signature request and received a response of no signatures on file. When I called again, I was told that there wasn't anything they could do but if I wanted to make sure the letters arrived to call the IRS and state tax commission to verify. They wouldn't even give me a refund for the services I paid for and didn't receive. After spending close to 1 1/2 hours on the phone, I learned my taxes did make it in.

Then we moved to Sandy and again, they couldn't manage to forward our mail.

Our first rent check mailed from our house through the postal service never made it to our landlord. Luckily banks have procedures in place to return funds in certain instances. It did take 90 days before the rent money was returned.

This last time, they lost my birthday present. So I spent time calling the Holladay post office (where the package was sent from), the Denver post office (where the box was received without contents and delivered to our place) and some place called Loose in the Mail (a processing place that the post office uses). Denver  couldn't do anything but direct me to Loose in the Mail because they received the package without the contents. I have left 2 messages with Loose in the Mail but haven't received a phone call back. When I called Holladay, they filled out a search request for lost contents. The lady I spoke with said that 9 times out of 10 the stuff is found and returned but it takes time. She said that she follows up once a week on each request. I called back today to follow up because I hadn't heard anything yet. A different lady answered the phone but told me that they send the search requests to a central location and that I would have to call there to speak with a customer claims inquiry department. I called there and the lady who answered the phone said there was no way to follow up because once the paperwork was mailed off they didn't hear anything back.  A search will be conducted for 90 days and if something is found in that time, it will just be mailed out to me. No phone calls, no nothing.

I find it a little ridiculous that I had to call all these places. That one person couldn't just explain everything the first time I called. Not only that but if your job is to deliver, why are you losing the stuff your supposed to deliver? If it wasn't you, why aren't you holding the company your work with accountable? GGGRRRR!!!! Best business practices people.

That's my story. In the near future I may just completely boycott the post office; stop as much junk mail as I can, not every send anything (currently I only mail birthday cards), and anything else I can come up with to boycott.

Craziness

I am not sure why, but lately I have had an almost obsession with food storage, preparedness, saving, etc. Jake says it is because I recently finished reading a book series by Chris Stewart called "The Great and the Terrible." They are LDS fiction novels dealing with what might lead up to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The story really makes you think about what you would do if there were no way to get to a store, banks weren't open, credit and debit cards didn't work, and so forth. I would highly recommend them, but remember they are fiction.

This past weekend, we didn't go out for an adventure. We bought seeds and a mini greenhouse with starter peat moss pellets. In 6 weeks or so, we will have starter plants to move to outside planters so that we can enjoy sugar snap peas, sweet 100 cherry tomatoes, salsa tomatoes, sandwich tomatoes, and bell peppers. We have seeds for lettuce but you don't need starters for that and we couldn't find Serrano pepper seeds. We'll just have to buy those as starts in a few weeks.

I am so excited for a garden. I think more this year than in years past. Hopefully I will find my green thumb.

Besides my craziness, the weather has been a little out of control.  Denver hasn't received much moisture in the past few weeks except for the random snow fall 2 nights over the weekend. (By snowfall, I mean there was a dusting of snow outside.) The wind is super chilly but the air temp without the wind keeps things around 60 degrees. Because of this ever changing weather, Sunday we were able to go out for a picnic for a few hours before having to come home because of a 10 degree temp drop. It was nice until that point.

I hope the weather stays nice and warm but Denver really needs so moisture because they are fighting wild fires like what Utah has at the end of summer. Weather never makes everyone happy.

Little League Baseball players

Yesterday Ellie and I walked to the school behind our place to play on the playground. While there, a little league team shows up to practice on the ball diamond. The boys appear to be possibly 10-12 years old. From the playground I overhear the coaches part of a conversation between him and one of the boys.

Coach: Well, is it on the inside or outside of your underwear? That's good. Are you wearing boxers or briefs? Well if you want you can just take it out and put it in your pocket this week and we'll figure something out for next week.

Ha ha ha. I just chuckled to myself. I love the little things in life that make you smile.

Saying Prayers

Jake and I must say the greatest prayers ever. Why? Whenever we say prayers with Ellie, usually at meals or before going to bed, at the end of the prayer when we say Amen, she claps and says "Yea." Kinda boosts your self esteem a little.

I like to think of it that way rather than she is just excited we have finally finished praying.

Also, I work in the Nursery (18 months to 3 year old) in church. Before starting lesson time, we help the kids say a prayer. What usually happens is one child volunteers or we ask one child, and as we are helping them know what to say the rest of the kids say the words also. We end up with 5 kids praying at once. It really makes me laugh because it is so cute.

Super Cheeser!

If you can't tell by some of these posts, Ellie is hilarious.  She is so fun to watch grow and although I miss working sometimes I am so glad that I can have these experiences with her to share.

She has just started the super cheeser phase of life.  This always seems to make me giggle, even if I really wanted a picture or video of what she was doing.



Ellie and daddy being cheesers.

One day I had on some music while fixing dinner. Ellie was just playing with her toys. All the sudden I noticed her dancing with her stuffed dog.  This video took 4 attempts before I got this much. Every time she saw the camera, she would stop and say "cheese."

While at dinner for my birthday, Jake was eating a salad, no dressing, (yes he really was eating a salad) and Ellie decided she wanted to share daddy's salad. If you watch closely, she is eating the tomatoes off his salad. 

I love this little girl. She brightens my day, even on the days when she is the cause for me being in a bad mood. 

Happy 30 years to me!

Yes, a few days ago it was my 30th birthday.  I know many people don't talk about their age but I have looked relatively the same since I was a junior in high school and I don't feel that much older. I remember thinking at one point in my life that 30 was like going over the hill. Now it doesn't seem like that much of a big deal.

The day before we walked around an outlet mall, which I was not impressed with at all but ended up buying some kitchen stuff for my birthday. I am now the proud owner of a pancake puff pan (for making ebelskivers) and a cast iron flat pan (for making roll up pancakes, aka crepes). I know, I'm weird. That night we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. It was delicious. I love a great tasting steak. Although I am starting to realize what a rip off kids meals are.

Sunday, Jake took care of dinner. He made biscuits (from a can) with homemade gravy, homemade hash browns, and I assisted with crepes. After he made some wonderful red velvet cupcakes to enjoy with cream cheese frosting.  It was so nice to not have to work on every part of the meal. Funny how sometimes simple is better. Thanks babe for making turning 30 not a huge deal and for making it a great day.

On Monday my sister Annie asked if I has picked up my mail and then commented that the post office had told her the gift should have arrived on Monday. So on Tuesday I walk outside to grab our mail, and there is a cute box by the door. I was impressed that the USPS hadn't been too far off on the delivery time frame. (In case you don't know, I have an enormous amount of disdain for the USPS. If there were any other way to send regular mail at the same price, I would use that.) I pick it up so that I can open it and see what's inside. The package seems abnormally light and was wondering if my sister would really spend the money on sending a gift card in such a package.  As I am looking at it, I notice a smudged stamp on the front. I lean in for a closer look and read "Received without contents". 



My poor birthday present

Are you serious? The box was empty. Just to make sure this wasn't some bad joke and unjustly beast out the USPS (because the past 3 times have been justified), I called my sister. She told me there were things in there. My gifts from both her and another sister. After finding out what was in the box, I spent the next 30 minutes calling the Denver post office that delivers our mail, the processing plant they receive mail from, and the Holladay post office where the package was shipped from. They have started a search request but it could take weeks, as they only follow up on stuff once a week, before I receive the stuff (assuming I'm not the 1 in 10 whose stuff isn't found). 

I guess my birthday had been going so well that something had to balance life out. Here's to hoping the USPS can do something right and return my 30th birthday present.

St. Patrick's Day

For St. Patrick's Day, I made green pancakes. I tried to make them in the shape of shamrocks but they looked just retarded. My mom has been making green food on St. Patty's day for years. She made pretty good looking shamrocks too. One of my favorites was the green bread, which usually grossed a lot of people out.

Jake didn't have school because of Spring Break so we went shopping at the Castle Rock Outlets.  The day started out very nice. I went for my walk and it was so warm and not windy, that I put on capri's and a short sleeve shirt for the day. I also pulled out Ellie's capri's and short sleeve shirt for her to wear. Before leaving, I grabbed jackets just in case. Good thing because it was windy and cloudy by the time we made it to the outlets. We had to make do to try and keep warm. 

P.S. Let me explain the socks with sandals thing. I wouldn't normally dress my child this way but we bought her sandals recently but she would scream bloody murder any time I tried to put them on. I tried socks and sandals and she still cried. For some reason when Jake put socks and sandals on her, she left them on. I hope it helps her become used to the new sandals.

Ellie's cute outfit, although too big helped keep her legs warm.

Although it was a little chilly (this seems to happen whenever we drive down there), we had a good time.  We did a lot of window shopping. Ellie used some of her birthday gift card from Justin and Lisa to buy some balls and a sand playing kit. Jake bought some shirts and I received some kitchen stuff that I am really excited about.  I love cooking breakfast, snacks, and desserts but don't really enjoy making dinner.

Going Green?!?!

I am trying to be good and clean up a few areas in the house that really need it. In this process I worked on shredding 6 months worth of credit card offers. So I don't have to shred as much, I pull out the general public information stuff and just recycle that and only shred the actual application/offer page. Even after doing all this I ended up with a paper bag squished full of shredded paper (the paper bag is so I can put it in our recycle bin). That's a lot of paper in my mind.

As I was sitting and shredding (not by hand, but an actual shredder machine), I noticed that several of the offers remind you to go green and sign up for paperless statements. Now I think I shredded at least 10 applications for a credit card that I already have and have paperless statements on. After receiving at least 6 applications weekly in the mail, and usually 2 per month for Jake and then 2 for me of the same applications, they want me to go paperless? Does anyone else see the irony in this?

If Discover, Chase, Citibank, and AMEX ever try to tell you they are going green, think about how many mailers you receive from them before agreeing with them.

Videos

Here are some videos from random times. This first video is courtesy of the mother's curse "I hope you have a child just like you one day."  Notice how Ellie doesn't even chew the ravioli she is eating.

Ellie is a big dancer. She has started that phase where she would rather see what the camera/mommy sees rather than be in front of the camera.

Here is Ellie enjoying the farm animals we found at Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield. If you listen very carefully, you can hear Ellie say bawk bawk.

Coupons and food storage

I love having a small amount of food storage around my house.  For one thing, it nice not having to run to the store every time you need one small thing. And for two, it helps me save money and use coupons. Because of the storage, I can cut coupons of things I need and then wait until I see them on sale to get the sale price and then use a coupon as well. It's great. A couple of weeks ago, we paid less than $1.50 for 20 oz boxes of cereal. I don't think we have really paid full price for anything in the past month or so.  I'm really hoping this helps lower spending.

Exercising

With the weather turning nice out here and with Ellie and I both wanting to be out of the house more, I have started walking.  On warmer days, we head out and walk around one of Denver's many wonderful parks with paths for walking, biking, jogging, etc. You name it. I love having all the paths. Ellie sits in the stroller and "woof-woofs" at all the dogs we pass, which is a surprisingly large amount. After we come home and I do some yoga that I record off the Discovery Fit and Health channel.

I have learned that if you are trying to exercise with a small child at home, do it while they are sleeping or otherwise incapacitated like sitting in the high chair eating.  Ellie crawls underneath me while doing downward dog, climbs on my back folded in child's pose, sits on my legs while performing cat rolling, and sits on my face during the relaxation portion. Once or twice she has stood next to me and tried to mimic what I was doing. It is quite hilarious but very hard to complete the yoga sequence.

So far we have been quite diligent for the 2 1/2 weeks we have been working at this. On days that are a little too cold, I just try to do 2 bouts of yoga. Hopefully we can keep this up and add to it so I don't feel old once we manage to do physically active activities.

One day I might look at changing my diet so it is slightly healthier but right now I'm not too worried as I am pretty sure I eat more fruits and vegetables than most non-vegan/vegetarian Americans. I don't think my diet is too bad but I know it could use some tweaking.

Dispensaries

So, in case you didn't know, Colorado allows the use of marijuana for medicinal use. All over town there are dispensaries where you pick up your "prescription." Since we moved here, a new dispensary opened up just down the street so they hired a sign spinner to advertise their location. I think they picked an ideal candidate. (The other guy that's on the corner sometimes is just as crazy but just not crazy looking.)

Let me know what you think. Sorry about the sideways video.

Technology

I kind of feel that technology is getting out of hand. Maybe it's because I don't understand a lot of it which makes it frustrating at times. My old phone couldn't take videos that transferred to the computer. The phone I have now (I took back the Vibrant but since Ellie lost the other I picked up a Nokia 5230 Nuron) can take HD videos but the desktop computer we have is so old, there is no way it will be able to play the videos. I did try to move them off the phone and on to the computer but I can't find a program to play them. They are mp4 files.

I also copied some of the videos my parents took while we were in California but again these are HD and our computer didn't have a program for them. They are MTS files. Well Stef brought out the disk that came with my parents video camera and I downloaded the programs but because the computer is so old, it has a hard time playing these videos. The picture is super jumpy. It is just annoying me.

Can't play the phone videos using the new programs either. Why does every company have to make everything exclusively theirs? I know; more money, job security if the public has to have a different program for each device they have because they don't play on any others.

If anyone has any help or suggestions that don't include buying or upgrading the computers, I would really appreciate it. I am not tech savy so it probably should be simple.

Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield and DAM

Denver has this great program in which museums have agreed to participate and they offer "free days."  Two of the places recently had theirs right in a row. Last Friday was a free day for Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield.  This is a break off of the larger gardens in Denver so we headed out to see what it was like.

First we drove to Chatfield, which is fairly close to the mountains. Upon arrival, it was quite windy and chilly.  Luckily we brought our jackets. Unfortunately because it is still winter, all plant life is still dead.  We walked around for a bit, saw the old farm houses, and found the farm animals. Ellie was so excited because she has been working on her animal sounds.  We saw sheep, chicken, rooters, goats, ducks and geese.  She loved watching them and making the noises.  Because it was so chilly, we didn't stay long.


Look! Some bawk bawks, a quack quack, and a doodle-doo.



Come eat some hay bla-bla.

The following day was a free day for the Denver Art Museum or DAM. We had wanted to visit the museum earlier as they had King Tut as a temporary exhibit. Obviously we didn't make it during that time. The museum is amazing. It is downtown and looks like you would imagine an art museum to look like.


The North Building has 7 floors of exhibits.

The Hamilton Building has 4 floors of exhibits.

Jake went to study in the morning and Ellie's nap time made it so we weren't able to make it down there until about 3:30 and it closes at 5. We made it through almost 4 floors of the North Building: level 7, Western American Art and Photography (photography not all that impressive);

Jake wants a throne like this.

Level 6, European and American Art, Textile Art, and Design before 1900.


I loved this classic Chippendale table.

Level 5, Asian Art; here they had exhibits from different Asian nations; Japan, China, Korea, India, etc.

A wall divider painted on gold.

A wood door from Damascus



Hand carved details from the above door.

 

I can't remember what this was, but it was cool looking.



Level 4; Pre-Columbian & Spanish Art.  We weren't able to spend a lot of time here. They have a huge room of artifacts from Central and South America, in addition to the other pieces of art. 



A gold woven wall hanging thing.

Levels 2 & 3; American Indian and Northwest Coast Art. We spent less time here, as they were already starting to kick people out of the building.  



Chief Mommy with her papoose.

Jake and Ellie leaving the building. The nice guard let us hurry and take this picture.

We decided we really want to go back, especially when we aren't so rushed for time and maybe with a stroller or leash for Ellie. Most of the stuff was covered or high enough she couldn't touch. Smart people. But I'll bet the cleaning crew had an awesome time wiping down her fingerprints off everything, cause I'm pretty sure she did touch everything. 

Stef's Visit (part 4)

 Monday we went sight seeing downtown. It was such a gorgeous day, most of our walking was done without our jackets but in short sleeve shirts. In downtown Denver, they have what is called Civic Center, a plaza surrounded by art and architecture with buildings such as the State Capitol, the City and County building, the library, Denver Art Museum and more. Unfortunately there is a huge update and improvement project going on so we were limited on where we could walk and what we could see.



An old stage/amphitheater in Civic Center.

Standing from where the above picture was taken, the Capitol is to the left and the City and County building to the right. Behind it through the opening is the DAM (Denver Art Museum).

One of Denver's many random sculptures around the city.

I always love finding some of the random sculptures in Denver. This tall piece sits right in front of the library. Stef is standing underneath to show how tall it is.

Colorado's State Capitol

While at the State Capitol, there was a rally going on about the Health Care debates. We didn't stay long and because it was starting about the time we walked up, we didn't stay to find the step 5,280 feet (one mile) above sea level and have our picture taken. Maybe some day.  

Darth Vader is concerned about Health Care and showed up for the rally.

All of this is about 3 blocks away from the famous 16th Street Mall. This mall I believe is a genius idea and think that Salt Lake could benefit by creating something similar. It is a mile long stretch of street that has been closed off to traffic and is an open pedestrian mall. Free shuttles that run the length of the mall are the only motor vehicle allowed. There are shops, stores and restaurants on 16th street as well as a few that are on side streets. Down the middle of the street are food vendors and small shops. There are benches, trees, and even chess tables throughout the mall.

Denver's travel magazine touts the 16th street mall has "Denver's best people watching" but it just isn't about the people watching. This is some of what we saw:

• A man wearing a tight shirt... But he had placed his drink in the front, using the neck as a cup holder.
• Although we were sitting in just short sleeve shirts, a lady walked by wearing a full fur coat and a beanie.
• There was this guy with an awesome braided, beaded fu manchu mustache that was about 4-5 inches long.
• Outside the Juice Kitchen, the sign holder/spinner guy was wearing a giant green foam hat.
• Ling & Lou's restaurant has a food item called "Evil Jungle Princess Beef".
• At the gentleman's club on one of the side street was headlining "Bridget the Midget."
• There were also some gangstas and plenty of downtown office people.

Two blocks off the mall is Denver's Convention Center. If you're not there for a convention, you only visit the convention center for one reason ... The Big Blue Bear. 

This bear statue stares into the convention center.

From the inside looking back at the bear. See how small Stef and Ellie are in comparison.

After this, we drove to Park Meadow mall to show Stef the dog store. I didn't get any video of how funny Ellie was but she would walk from window to window giggling at all the dogs. Stef held a Brittany Spaniel and really wanted to buy it. I saw some cute puggles (pug/beagles). Park Meadows also has an American Girls doll store with just about anything American Girls you could want, except I didn't see the American girl I had; Samantha.

After heading home for nap and dinner, it was time to take Stef to the airport. It seemed as though things were going ok but then about 10 minutes after we dropped her off, my cell phone rang. She couldn't find her drivers license. She wanted to know if she could use her state ID. I'm sure she would have been fine but then she found her license in the wrong spot in her wallet. From what I've heard she made it home OK.

Thanks Stef for coming to visit. We had a blast.

Stef's Visit (part 3)

Sundays are normally very relaxing for us but with Stef here, we took advantage of the time.  It was so nice to have Stefanie here to help us get ready for church. Since Jake has meetings in the morning, I usually end up showering, dressing, and feeding both myself and Ellie and after doing my hair, packing the bags and all that.

After church we all decided that we were a little tired so naps for everyone, which was probably good for all. Once the naps were over (and too short I think), I hurry and made roll dough and then we were off.  We took a leisurely drive across Hampden west towards the Mountains and then drove up to Red Rock Amphitheater. Now Ellie and I had seen it before when the grandma's came but this was Jake and Stef's first time. Stefanie's phone has this awesome panorama feature so you can have a better view of the setting.

Looking from the top of the seating down. Denver is in the background. The white square is the top of the stage.

While we were there, a Spanish speaking gentleman was singing from about halfway down the rows of seats but there was no problem hearing him. He had a pretty good voice too. It was fun to hear how the acoustics worked.

Ellie in her cute outfit. Obviously she pulled out her hair thing on the drive.

We then drove over to the Boettcher Mansion and Buffalo Bills grave. Since it was Sunday, all we could do was wander around the Mansion and imagine what it would look like come spring and summer and guess what the inside was like. Ellie was starving because it was almost 6:00 so we drove over to Buffalo Bills to see if any festivities were still going on. It was his birthday celebration that day. As we pulled up, the sign said the gates close at 6 and since it was 6:15 but the gates were still open, we drove in quickly just to show Stef.  There were still about 8-10 cars in the lot.  We drove to one end of the parking lot to show her a view to the Continental Divide and as I'm backing up to drive to the museum at the grave, this crazy person pulls up right behind the car and just sits there. So I maneuver around and drive to the overlook. Since it was past time, we were just glancing but this lady in the same car drives up and doesn't even roll down her window but frantically flailing her hairs tries to signal that the gates close at 6. As she drives off, we notice Oregon plates. We pointed out were you can overlook the entire valley (and most of the plains) then left.

Ellie wasn't too happy that dinner was so late but she did OK as we tried to feed her random snacks in the car. She did eat a good amount for dinner though.

Stef's Visit (part 2)

Saturday was a gorgeous day. After breakfast and getting ready, us girls headed off to Cherry Creek to look at the little shops there. Jake went to campus to work on some homework without having us women folk around to distract him.  We started in Cherry Creek North, which I thought was just a few outside shops on the street but turns out to be 8-9 streets with 2-3 blocks of shops each. We didn't take the time to walk down each street and look at all the places (since Cherry Creek typically has high end/high priced stuff). We did stop at the Wizard's Chest, a store filled with gaming supplies, toys, gag gifts and costumes. We found some excellent stuff there. Ellie was fascinated with the balls, which also happens to be her new favorite word to say.

After swooning over stuff in stores like Crate and Barrel, we crossed the street and walked through the mall. Now Ellie and I have been to this mall quite a bit as it has the kids play area inside, but it was still fun to window shop with Stefanie there. Again dreaming of what we would buy if we had all the money in the world. We didn't stop to play as the play area was packed. I was a little surprised because outside was quite nice. We ate some lunch and finished walking the mall and came home.  It was time for Ellie's nap.

Since Jake was home, we left him with the easy task of watching her while she sleeps and we went for mani/pedi's. Note: unless you're having fake nails done, don't pay for a manicure. It was nice but not worth the price in my book. Pedicures on the other hand; massage chair for your back, warm baths and massages for your feet and legs, smooth legs and toe nails. Yes, I love pedicures. This place even gives quick shoulder rubs while your nails dry.

Since there are always errands, Stef came with me and we did a little grocery shopping and other miscellaneous errands before heading home to take on Ellie again.

After relaxing a bit and then getting freshened up, Jake and I went to pick up a baby sitter for Ellie.  We were heading out to Hooters to watch the UFC fights.  I was a little nervous as this was Ellie's first time having someone other than family watch her. This was also the first time while living in Denver that Jake and I have gone out without having Ellie with us. Needless to say, I should have known better.  Ellie was such an angel and gave the babysitter no problems.

Hooters wasn't exactly what I expected.  The food wasn't that good, the waitresses weren't extremely attractive, and their outfits, although tight and slightly revealing, were awful to look at unless you were critiquing them.  Girls as skinny as Stef and I looked like they had spare tires and muffin tops because their tank tops were 2 sizes too small. Yuck. 

Stef and I people watching and not so much watching the fights.

We meet up with a girl from law school and her boyfriend, but they only stayed a short time. The others who were supposed to come ditched so it ended up being just the 3 of us.  We still had a good time. The fights were OK but then again, I'm not huge into UFC fights.

Stef's visit (part 1)

Last Thursday, my sister Stefanie came out for a weekend visit. Boy did we have fun. She flew in Thursday night so we made the long 40 minute drive to boonieville (aka Denver International Airport/DIA) to pick her up. Stef had the same problems most people do when arriving; do I really have to ride a train to pick up my luggage, once  I have my luggage where do I go? All in all, things went fairly well. Ellie was so excited when Stef jumped into the car and although Ellie was tired and trying to go to sleep, she would rather play with Stef.  They giggled most of the way home. Since it was so late (meaning Ellie was off to bed), we just hung out at home to talk, watch TV, and just relax.

Friday we had big plans which I sort of messed up. I wanted to exchange phones and that was the last day but we lazily got ready in the morning. Instead of exchanging the phones after our plans, I did it before and the slow worker at Car Toys took almost 1 1/2 hours to return one phone, purchase the new one, call T-mobile to change the plan, and prepare all the paperwork.

Once that was all done, we headed off to the Museum of Nature and Science.  

This is what you see as you enter the building.

Ellie saw this "tiger" near the entrance and wanted to see it.  This is to help the museum with donations. As you can see, she was OK with it until the end. 

There are 3 levels to the Museum. At the bottom are the Space exhibit and Gems and Minerals exhibit. We started in Space.  There are displays, activities, diagrams, and several 3D globes showing wind currents, seismic activity, flight patterns, etc.


Thermal imaging of Ellie and I.

The thermal imaging was fun to watch. Jake was the warmest of all, while Stef's fingers almost didn't register any warmth at all.   

Ellie struggled understanding how to use a telescope.

The telescopes were used to look at distant images and learn to focus the telescopes as well as change the distance and size of the image.  There were mock ups of the Moon's and Mars' surface, a box to show how craters were made, as well as using sound waves to find objects hidden under the ground.  Jake and Stef also attempted to maneuver a space shuttle.
 

Ellie and Jake watching a video about space launches. She climbed on the bench all by herself.

Next we entered into the Gems and Minerals. As you enter, it looks like you are walking into old mining caves.  Inside are thousands of gems, stones, rocks, and minerals.  All of them are labeled, some are cut and some are in natural states.  There are real and replicas of some of the most noteworthy gems.  It was really amazing. My new favorite gem is rhodochrosite/rhodonite. It is a beautiful red/rose color. There was also quite sizable displays of gold and silver.

After that, we went on a Prehistoric journey. This journey starts at the beginning of time and walks you through all the eras and displays possibilities of happened to life, with theories of evolution. The neatest part were the displays of creatures and bones from the time periods.

 

Ellie and Stef looking at some dinosaur bones.

Ellie was so excited and amazed at the dinosaur bones.  It almost made me wonder if she likes bones or animals more.

Ellie "wow"ing at one of the displays.



Ellie and Jake looking at the Mammoth skeleton.

After, we walked through the Egyptian Mummy exhibit and started through the Wildlife Exhibits but were cut short as the museum closes at 5. Ellie did seem to enjoy to life sized taxidermy animals; mule and white tail deer, elk, bears (grizzly, polar, brown, and black), walrus, seals and sea lions. I never realized how big a walrus really was until seeing this.  Even with all we did, that was only about half of what was available to see. We missed more than half of the Wildlife Exhibits, Indians, Discovery Zone, and Expedition Health. We definitely need to go back and plan on spending the entire day there.

Jake and Ellie looking at one of the bear set ups.

What Ellie would look like with Mule Deer ears.



Ellie trying to catch the sea lions.

Since it was close to dinner time and Ellie doesn't understand waiting for dinner to cook, we picked up pizza on the way home and again enjoyed a nice night at home.

Drying Clothes

You know those times in life when you all of the sudden become extremely grateful for the nice things in life, like dryers? I had one of those this past week.  I think it was Monday or Tuesday when Jake informed me that the clothes dryer had given up the ghost. We ended up hanging socks that had just been washed. (FYI, if that's not something you're used to, socks hung to dry feel really weird.) I called our landlord's agent and informed her about our problem and she started working out the details to get us a dryer. She was told and in turn she told us, Home Depot would be delivering a new dryer on Friday.  At first I was a little worried as Stef would be here and I didn't want the delivery interfering with any plans but there wasn't much we could do.

Thursday morning, I had just taken off Ellie's diaper so we could hop in the shower. We walked into the bathroom when Ellie stopped on the rug and peed. Really? The diaper hadn't been off more than 10 seconds. So we jump in the shower.  After we were done and out, I set Ellie on the bed all wrapped in her towel and walked into her room to grab a diaper.  When I enter my room again, she has wiggled out of the towel and is sitting on the bed. As I pull her over to put the diaper on, I notice a wet spot on the bed. She has peed again. It only went through the blanket and bed spread and not the sheets, so I only have to change out that stuff. Then I realize I have used the blankets on our bed that Stef was to use while sleeping here. Luckily there is almost never a shortage of blankets in Gledhill households.

Friday morning I receive a call from our landlord agent and she tells me Home Depot messed something up and somehow the order wasn't placed so the dryer wouldn't arrive until Tuesday. Over the weekend, we used almost all the blankets we had in the house between our bed and Stef's bed. Ellie finished off all her clothes, and Jake and I needed some wash done. The dryer arrived yesterday morning at about 10, the earliest they deliver, and I started the 5-6 loads of laundry to be washed; sheets, blankets, comforter, clothes, towels, etc. I really feel that's all I have been doing and it made me very grateful to have clothes dryers and to have one in our place. It would be miserable trying to find places to hang all that stuff and wait for it to dry.

Yummy Food.

Before I write about the fun adventures we had with Stefanie on her visit, I wanted to write about the yummy food we ate while she was here.  Thursday night was some delicious Moose Stroganoff (made with ground moose that Grandma Connie shot). Friday lunch was one of the best lunches I have had. We made grilled cheese and tomato soup. Now what is so special about that you may ask? This was no ordinary grilled cheese. I had picked up some Dill Rye bread from the Orowheat outlet. We used that bread, spread some olive oil and then some balsamic vinegar on the bread.   Mozzarella was the cheese of choice (mostly because I was out of muenster). Then grilled. Can I just say delicious? So good I made them again today but this time with both muenster and mozzarella. It's a fun twist on an old classic.

Friday and Saturday we ate out. Pizza on Friday because we were out and about late and Saturday we went to Hooters to watch the UFC fights. My first time ever going to Hooters and not all that impressed. I thought the outfits the girls wear are so ugly and way too tight that it makes them less flattering. I didn't try the wings but I certainly wasn't impressed with their Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. No flavor to the meat, like they expected the onions and peppers to carry the sandwich.

Sunday, we ate crock pot BBQ ribs and homemade rolls. They were fall off the bone good. Ellie enjoyed eating them as well.  Monday night may have been another favorite meal. We chose to cook Salmon. This is fresh salmon that Jake brought back from Alaska. We prepared it 2 different ways. Part was covered in Ranch with dill and parsley and baked. The other part was basted with a Dijon mustard and brown sugar sauce and broiled. As sides, we had fresh asparagus cooked with butter, garlic salt and lemon pepper and butter and herb flavored rice. I can't believe how well it turned out. I would have thought we were eating in a restaurant, except that Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was on in the background.

This really made me excited to try new meals.  It was also fun to plan meals with someone and have their take on what we should eat, how it should be fixed, and what to make with it. Thanks Stef.