La Conner, WA

I have had the pleasure of meeting many of Liza’s relatives. If I were to sum up this brood in one word it would be creative. Her father was a beat poet, her sister a talented painter, and Liza herself is a talented writer. So when she said she wanted to drive up to La Conner to visit her uncle, I was game. Liza’s uncle is Fred Owens, author of the Frog Hospital blog (soon to be a book by the same name) and a contributor to the La Conner Weekly News. La Conner is located about an hour north of Seattle in the Skagit Valley. The Skagit Valley is most famously know for the tulip festival in the spring (it might be known for something other than the festival, but I don’t know what that would be). We met Fred at a tiny little café called Le Crema Coffee (which has the best Chai in the world…no really…the best). It had been 10 years since the last time Liza had seen her uncle so they had a lot of catching up to do. So we sat back, drank our coffee, and they did just that. We then went on a walking tour of the village of La Conner with Fred pointing out the sights, giving us a brief history lesson, and telling us funny stories. We stopped for lunch at a little deli over looking the Swinomish Channel. Fred then took us on a driving tour of some of the local farms located along the Skagit river. We saw cows, sheep, daffodils, and cabbage. The cabbage farms up there produce seeds, not large heads of cabbage. Fred had just written an article about the farming of cabbage seeds. We learned so much about the process of farming cabbage seeds that I am confident that Liza and I now had enough knowledge that we could start our own farm. La Conner has a lot of cute little shops and boutiques, so after we said our goodbyes to Fred we did a little window shopping and then stopped at the La Conner Brewing Company for a beer. We had a really fun day and I really enjoyed meeting Fred. He was quite the character, which I had come to expect from a member of Liza’s family. It is good to know that if I am ever up that way that I have someone to have a cup of coffee with.

a day out

My oldest friend Liza has come to visit. Yesterday was her birthday so we went down town to do touristy things. I snapped a few photos while we were out.

Elena

This sassy cowgirl is my friend Elena. I met her online as we share a mutual love for poking fun at Jenn...the same way she and Jenn love poking fun at me. It is a vicious circle really. It took a triple dog dare; but I finally got to meet her face to face last time I was in Denver. She is an amazing woman and an amazing writer. She has started a new blog. She also happens to be hilarious so if you are in the mood for something clever I think you should check her out.

more than yellow

I was reading my friend Rachel’s blog this morning and she mentions in one of her posts that autumn is one of her favorite seasons. She now lives in Colorado where fall looks mostly like this. In Colorado it is not so much fall colors as fall color. Yellow…and a whole lot of it. Now don’t get me wrong…I love the falls in Colorado. Seeing a grove of aspen trees turn gold against a backdrop of evergreens is a beautiful sight. Rachel was born and raised in Seattle and is used to a few more autumnal colors and after spending my first fall season in the Pacific Northwest I can understand why she longs for a little more. The colors up here are breath taking. You have your yellow but there are also reds, oranges, purples, and pink (yes pink). So I grabbed my camera and took a little walk around the neighborhood and snapped a few photos of the changing leaves. Rachel I know it is not the same as being here to see them yourself but I hope you enjoy the colors!

Today is Fiance's Birthday

Today Fiance turned the big Three Five. We went bowling at the Garage with our friends Pete, Tasha, Deepa and Gabe (yes we finally have some friends) helping us celebrate. I made a black forest cake that was so sweet it sent us all into a sugar coma but did not stop us from polishing off three quarters of the cake. Although he had some stiff competition from Pete; Fiance ended up being the best bowler of the night with a high score of 219. It is possible that Pete let him win...being his birthday and all.

So I am sure that you have picked up on the fact that I am now referring to Boyfriend as Fiance. More on that to come...

Another horse person

I have know Liz since I was thirteen. Liz also had horses and we quickly formed a tight bond. I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun I had with her. During the summer I would get up early and ride DP over to her house and we would take the horses swimming or race each other along the hogback. There is now a high school where her house once stood and highway now runs through the land we used for a racetrack. I always knew that no matter what Liz did in life it would involve horses.

We lost touch over the years and reconnected recently on Facebook. It turns out I was right. Liz is currently the number one Arabian race horse trainer in the country. She spends her summers racing in Denver and I was able to come out and see her horses while I was in town. What she does take an unbelievable amount of time and hard work and her success speaks volumes about her character. I really admire her.

Liz and I have been talking about me comng down and working with her for a few weeks this summer. I am seriously considering it. Liz is wanting to move more into throughbred racing which means she would be able to give up her nomadic way of life and put down some roots. She is thinking about settling in Dallas...which is a pleasant coincidence because so are we.

Girlfriends

One this last trip to Denver I was able to catch up with some old friends. It had been at least 15 years since the last time I saw Brett and Marybeth. I grew up spending every weekend with these girls riding horses, talking about boys, having sleepovers, and all the things girls do. As soon as I walked into Brett's kitchen all those years apart melted away and we were right back to were we left off. Marybeth made the comment that it is funny how easy we fell back into friendship. I said it was because we are horse people. I don't know what it is there is just something different about horse people...they're a whole 'nother breed. (ha ha get it...whole 'nother breed...I crack me up)

Portrait

This is a picture my friend Jenn's youngest daughter Gabe drew of me. If this is what I look like to children it is no wonder babies cry when I hold them.

Ojo Caliente

Over Presidents weekend last year I went down to the Ojo Caliente Springs in New Mexico with my girlfriends Robin and Andrea. On the last day we were there Andrea and I woke up early to take some photos of a Hispanic graveyard we had seen up the road. I was going through some old photo files on my computer and had forgotten about those photos. Here are a few of my favorites.

McRib is BACK!

4 (yes 4) text conversations I have had about the McRib (yes really) in the last 12 hours...

With Jenn...
Jenn: all I’ve been thinking of lately is the mcrib from mcdonalds so I won’t be much help trying to find something good.

Me: Is the mcrib back?

Jenn: Yes. Yes it is. Bain of my existence. I love them with their fake rib shaped meat and sauce. What is wrong with me?

Me: nothing…I thought is did not come back until stock show

Jenn: They brought is back early

Me: WooHoo!


With Mike...
Me: mcrib is back

Mike: Oh Hell Yeah! I know what I’m having for lunch tomorrow

Me: LOL…Jenn is all excited about it too

Mike: Love the f’ing mcrib!!!


With Dan...
dan: oh boy you poor thing

me: yes...feel sorry for me

dan: did you remember to bring your flask?

me: NO

me: but McRib is back...so I have that to be happy about

dan: at Mc Donalds?

me: yes

dan: That is pretty much the coolest thing ever


And Mike Again...
Me: I had a McRib for lunch

Mike: damn it! i forgot and have been on calls all day

Me: well there is always dinner

Mike: well i had yucky tuna fish for lunch...not a yummy mcrib

Me: well there is plenty of time for you to enjoy the porky, saucy, oniony, pickley goodness that is the McRib

Mike:mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

an IM conversation with my X while hopped up on cold medicine

Mike: how's the sinus infection? Melinda: I am thinking that I may have the flu instead, I am have symptoms not associated with a sinus infection Mike: lol you don't know what you have unless the TV tells you...hypochondriac! Melinda: lol…yeah Melinda: I have been really nauseaous Melinda: UI have no appetite... Mike: ooo, that'll be fun for Boyfriend Melinda: so I don't know if I am nauspous from not eating or if I am just nauseous Mike: gotcha Melinda: or maybe i a nauseous from my bad typing skills Mike: well that is why i am not feeling so hot Melinda: beacuse of my bad typing skills Mike: yeah Melinda: nice

During a conversation with Liza

Liza: So are you still dating Boyfriend? Me: Yes Liza: He's what again ... Latino ... ummmmm ... Hispan ... uhhhhhh ...Mexi ...? Me: He is Mexican. It's okay, you can say it, it's not a bad word.

Awe...but he is such a cute puppy

My friend Jenn recently rescued a great dane puppy. I got a text from her recently that make me think that things are not going so smoothly. Jenn: Zues ate my red asian satin mules Me: That sux! Those were cool shoes. Jenn: I know. In their honor we will eat asian style...dog for dinner.

Wasting away again...

This past January me, Boyfriend and my friend Tracy started meeting at Red Rocks on Saturday mornings to run the stairs. Back in January there would about 10 of us out there dragging out frozen asses up and down the ice covered stairs in subzero temps and blowing snow. As the weather warmed the number of people increased. Now on an average Saturday you are working out with over 100 people. Through out all types of weather Tracy and I rely on Boyfriend to push us beyond our limits. As he says..."Pain is just weakness leaving the body". Due to certain obligations Boyfriend is not always there to yell at us to do more push ups, crunches, lunges and squats after running the equivalent of 200 flights of stairs. On these weekends Tracy and I will sometimes stop at the Morrison Inn for margaritas, thus negating all the hard work we just put in on the stairs. This past Saturday as we stroll out on to the patio, still a bit sweaty from our work out, we notice that there are about 10 other stair regulars there as well. We take our seats and order our margaritas. We opt for the 12 oz rather than the 32 oz that the others are drinking. We all sit and look at each other guiltily over the salt covered rims of our glasses...but hey...one must reward ones self for a job well done.

Jenny Lee 1

So yesterday I asked my friend Jenn to send me a link to her blog so I could link to it from my blog. Of course she asked me what direction I had wanted to take my blog in. I said I had no idea and that I would probrably just tell stories about her. I have a lot of stories...funny stories. I have been friends with Jenn for going on 13 years. Needless to say we have been through a lot together...having a Kid (her), divorce (her), marriage (me), having another kid (her), marriage (her), divorce (me),etc, etc, etc. And through all the craziness(mostly her)we have remained close friends. A year or so back Jenn lost her mother to cancer. I remember getting a call from her that morning and being at her house witin what seemed like seconds with donuts and flowers and all the other stuff you want when you feel like shit. I spent the next few hours making her laugh because that is how I deal with loss and they say it is the best medicine. At her most recent gallary show she had me sit down and read the photo essay she published about the journey her mother took while battling her cancer. At the end of the book she thanked those closest to her and I was one of them. That meant a lot to me. Well Jenn I don't have a big fancy book to thank you in, but maybe this is the next best thing. I want to thank you for always being there for me. You were the only person that I was able to turn to when my marriage ended. Thank you for actually listening to me when I was a sobbing mess, even though I know it freaked you out because I am not the cryer. Thank you actully being what you said you were going to be when you grew up because you have inspired me. But mostly thank you for being my friend. Okay enough with being mushy...next time I am telling one of your stories.