You all know by now that I'm a huge fan of Lost. And this season they're not playing any reruns - if you miss it, you better have Tivo or you're screwed until the DVD collection comes out!

So Wednesday night I get all settled in to watch Lost and - what the hell? There was a tornado in Holly, CO which is waaaaay out east, not near us at all but Channel 13 was covering it by way of StormTracker and the dumb-ass weather guy was yammering on & on and it was 9pm! It was time for Lost and they were still talking about a tornado!! The worst part was that they didn't have any shots of damage or funnel clouds or anything, it was just the map of Colorado, which solidified just how far away this tornado was, and the big red, yellow and orange splotches indicating the severeness of the storm.

5 minutes turned into 10 and we were getting mad! Yeah, a tornado was bad news but it was in Holly which is closer to Kansas than us so why not just show Lost and give us the info on a scroller bar at the bottom of the screen? So I called the TV station, something I have never done before.

Girl: KRDO Channel 13 (Sounding harried)

Me: Are you gonna show Lost?

Girl: As soon as the storm warning expires,

Me: When will that be?

Girl: I don't know. I have to go, the phones are ringing off the hook.

So I hung up. I'm willing to bet they were getting more calls about Lost, a show that won't be rerunning this season and - AND! - someone was slated to DIE!!!, than a tornado on the other side of the state. Finally, 15 minutes into the show they start up Lost with a scroller bar on the bottom. Brilliant idea! Wish I had thought of that!

5 minutes later they cut in again because they had some eye witness to the tornado on the phone. So I missed the first 30 minutes of Lost for something that does not concern me. Collin & Justin went downstairs when it started back up because they didn't want to come in on the middle. They're going to watch the episode on iTunes tonight.

I'm sorry about the tornado and that people died in it. But it wasn't in our town, it wasn't close to our town and no other local news station was covering the storm. There was no reason to do what they did. Anoying!

Labels: lost, television

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There's a new post on The Sweet Escape! You know you wanna read it! I'll bet Kathleen will since she seems to be our only reader - or at least commenter. So a big YAYAYAYAY to Kathleen!

Labels: shameless plugs

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I wanted to do a picture post but Flickr is being a pain in the behind so...I'll talk about Freak Train instead!!

Last night was my first time at Freak Train - it's hard for me to go since it's always on a Monday night and I work every Monday night! Plus the kids usually have school...but last night we could go! The kids are on Spring Break so they stayed with their mom and I took the night off and up we went! We had to leave the second Collin got home from work with Trevor in tow so we didn't eat. By the time we found the Bug Theatre we were starving!!!

Derek suggested we go to the restaurant across the street to eat. He said their prices were reasonable but only order the chicken parmisagne and don't use the restroom! Hunger overtook us so we went. It took about 5-10 minutes to get seated and another 5 for the waiter to come take our drink order. This is the conversation:

Waiter: We'll start with the drink order

Collin: We're ready to order now if that's okay.

Waiter: I can't take the food order now. We'll just start with drinks.

???? Ummm.....What? Usually waiters/waitresses are happy to get it done in one fell swoop. But not this weirdo. It seemed that there was a pattern at Patsy's Italian Restaurant that we weren't familiar with. Drinks first, food second. Don't upset the pattern!!! Trevor said the whole trip up there was worth it just for that! We tried to come up with reasons why he couldn't do the food order right then - maybe he was a trainee and not allowed to seemed the best one. But no, 5 minutes later he was back for the food order. The mystery may never be solved!

The food was good - I had the homemade spaghetti and the cheese ravioli combo - but they were slow and we made it to Freak Train as the lights went down. That meant we couldn't see where Mom, Dad, Derek & Heather sat, saving us seats! We sat in the very back row for the first act; during intermission we found them and moved to the fourth row.

Collin was the 3rd performer of the 2nd act, after Pat Angello and before Derek. Pat's set made me laugh harder than I have in a while. He dressed as Kelly Clarkson and sang "Walk Away" with a puppet doing background vocals. Hilarious and very well done!! Collin was next, the only Freak Train Virgin of the night, not counting the 13th Freak. He shook while he was up there and when he shifted his hand to hold the bumper sticker he was talking about he was flipping the audience the bird unknowingly but he rocked!! He did SO good!! Everyone laughed and thought he was great!! Derek did good, of course. He's no stranger to the FT stage! He even included bodily injury to his gig which is always fun!

The hosts threw out bracelets from The Onion to the audience, one of which bounced off the lady in front of us and right into Collin's arms. I took it. It has my family motto on it: Cheat To Win. All in all it was a very fun night - I definitely want to go again as long as I don't have to be the 13th Freak!!!

I realized that some of you may not know what Freak Train is: it's a deal that takes place at the Bug Theatre in Denver the last Monday of every month. You go and sign up - there are 12 slots for performing - and you can do anything you want onstage for 5 minutes. Last night there was rapping, belly dancing, comedy (skit & stand-up) and general weirdness (Dueling banjos performed with noselights.). The month before a # is chosen and the next month, whoever is that number of person through the door is labeled the 13th Freak and HAS to perform. The hosts give you things to incorporate into your act. Last night's 13th Freak did good...Heather had to do it once and I heard she was fabulous. I just don't ever want to do it!

Labels: collin, food, freak train

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Last week I posted on The Sweet Escape about how a word that Christina & I use extensively came into being. I thought it was a cute story, so for those of you who haven't yet made it over to the other blog, here it is:

"Gunh" - pronounced just like it looks - is a word that came into existance about 9 years ago. Christina & I had gone to the Sheraton Hotel to watch Colorado Avalanche players, in town for training camp, walk to and fro. Our plan was not to talk to any of them or bother them at all; we just wanted to look. And we saw some beauties! Valeri Kamensky and Sandis Ozolinsh walked right by the bench we were sitting on talking to each other in Russian, Peter Forsberg sauntered by and Yuri Babenko wandered off into the night.

We had decided that maybe we were being too obvious and we should go inside the club and sit. Surely some Avs players would go in there, right? So we went to the front lobby and asked the clerk if you had to be hotel guests to go in. He said no, go right ahead so we turned to go and BOOM! Christina ran smack into Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote's massive chest. She looked up at him and all that game out when she saw who it was, was "Gunh!" He just laughed and said, "It's okay." The worst part was Joe Sakic, Christina's all time favorite man, was with him. But by the time she was able to see past Foote's chest, Joe was gone.

That moment provided us with a word to use whenever we saw a beautiful man that words just couldn't describe.

If you'd like to see some examples of men who fit the category of "gunh", head on over to The Sweet Escape and scroll down. But don't forget to read about Christina & her Captain! :-) Have a great Monday everyone!

Labels: Avs, gunh, shameless plugs

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At least my dining out life.

Mimi's Restaurant here in town served the most wonderful Chinese Chicken Salad I've ever tasted. It was so good I would dream about it. I was convinced that I could live on it.

Today Shanon & I went to Mimi's and I started looking through the menu and my heart stopped. "My salad's not on here."

Shanon: What???

Me: My salad...it's GONE!!

Waiter: Are you ready to order?

Me: You don't have the Chinese Chicken Salad anymore?

Waiter: No, we replaced it with the Asian Chop-Chop Salad.

Me: Is it as good?

Waiter: No. There's no mandarin oranges and they put peppers and cabbage in it. But the dressing is the same.

So! There you go! I have to boycott Mimi's now. I had the French Dip for lunch but it didn't make me cry with joy when I bit into it. Stupid Mimi's.

BTW, there's a new post over at that other blog I contribute to!!

Labels: food, life-ending happening, shameless plugs

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Jordyn was in her first play tonight at school. She played the father of Russian astronautics, whose name I'm not going to attempt to spell. I could look it up but I'm too lazy. It's Russian and long. Anyway, Collin made her little black frames that sat on her nose and a gray beard and moustache...she looked SO cute!

When it was her turn for her lines, she was doing great and I was thinking she was the best one so far when she said, "Wait. Oh, I messed that up." Then she picked up from where she left off and was fine. She didn't seem bothered by the fact that she flubbed. I would have been destroyed if that had been me in 1st grade!!

The play was about space...it was called Spaced Out...and there were the 9 kids dressed as planets; they still call Pluto a planet in the play. It's not all up-to-date like science claims to be. Their song was way too fun!

So congrats to Jordyn! Collin videoed the whole thing so maybe we'll get some footage of her up one of these days!

Labels: Jordyn

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My Mom was sick last week with a sinus infection and a horrid cough. The doctor gave her prescription cough medicine that she took with her to work and every 4 hours she would "take a swig" of it. One night she called Dad from work:

Mom: I think I know what's wrong with me.

Dad: Yeah, you're sick!

Mom: No! Why my brain isn't working right! This cough medicine is 20% alcohol. I think I'm drunk!!!

Labels: Funny, Mom

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My first night as official acting secretary for the HOA board has came & went and I HAD SO MUCH FUN!!! I was so nervous that people were going to be mean and they weren't - they were all very nice & cool. It helped that Dad was there, of course.

Dad & I got there early for the pre-meeting where they go over what they're going to go over. It's like a dress rehearsal. There was one almost-confrontation between the acting president & a former prez but it didn't amount to much. One of the board members came in 15 minutes late and Dad, ever the joker, was staring at his invisible watch as the johnny-come-lately walked by. Then, suddenly, I felt like I was back in high school! The guy walked behind Dad, took his pen and started drawing a watch on Dad's hands. The president had to stop her spiel and ask what was going on. Dad said, "He's drawing a watch on me and he's still 15 minutes late!"

The actual meeting started at 7 - Collin & Jordyn showed up - I was happy to see them! There were 7 homeowners at the meeting, including Collin. We have 133 units here and 7 people showed up! Yikes! But they made me introduce myself and tell a little about me. Then the president had everyone in the room introduce themselves to me.

The vice president is the husband of my 6th grade teacher. He seemed very nice - I had heard so much about him when I was in 6th grade and then after my dad became a board member...I felt like I knew him already! One of the other board members reminds me of Walter Matthau - he's so cute!! And about 80.

So now I have to cull through my notes, taken at warp speed, and listen to the tape of the meeting to get the minutes together. So far, I'm not sorry I accepted the position. This could actually be fun!

Labels: secretary

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No...I didn't actually get a new job. It's more like a side project like Arcadia was to Duran Duran. I am now the new secretary for the Homeowner's Association where I live!

My dad, who is on the Homeowner's Board, called me up a couple weeks ago at work and asked if I'd like to be the new secretary. "All you have to do is show up, record the meeting, take notes and type up the minutes. Plus you get paid $50." OKAY! It sounded like everything I like to do with the exception of meeting new people so I said yes.

Last week I went over to the HOA president's house to go over my duties as secretary. There's actually a LOT more to it than what Dad told me!

-Attend the meeting & pre-meeting.
-Record the meeting.
-Take notes.
-Type up the minutes.
-Make 170 copies of the minutes.
-Distribute minutes to EVERY HOUSE in the complex.
-Type up & distribute the agenda before the meeting.
-Work on ballots for elections in Nov.

That's just a taste. Luckily, the meetings are only once a month and I get keys to the office and filing cabinet. The best part? They upped the pay to $75/month! Whoo! I'm nervous but excited.

And, don't forget to check out The Sweet Escape. Christina posted her first ever blog post last night! Feedback is always appreciated! Have a great Monday!

Labels: secretary, shameless plugs, work

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I am in the process of recovering from the Zit From Hell. I'm talking Pustulio-type zit here.

Except that it was on lower lip, dead center. It looked like 3 zits on top of each other and it HURT!!! It was awful - it looked like a cold sore.
I was in the car with Jordyn a few days ago waiting for her brother to get out of school and I started examining the growth on my lip in the visor mirror. I'm just thinking about how easily I could take over the world with my hypnotic zit, just like Zim tried to,

when Jordyn asked what that thing was.

"It's a zit. You've got about 6 more years before you have to worry about getting these things."

"Really? I better live a good six years then."

Labels: Jordyn, zim

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My friend Christina & I started up a new blog that will be exclusively about music & men. Check it out if you get the time: The Sweet Escape.

It's gonna be cheesy. Mega-cheesy!

You've been warned.

Labels: shameless plugs

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On the year anniversary of my Grandpa Widegren's death, I wanted to post something in memorial to him but I don't want it to be sad. Yes, I miss him terribly...his dry humor, his hugs...but I like Derek's idea of posting something that will bring a smile instead of tears.

About 11 years ago, my ex & I went to Grand Junction to visit my grandparents. They live in what is considered the country and have a drainage ditch running the length of their front yard. On the afternoon that we arrived we were sitting in the kitchen talking and Grandma looked out the window and noticed they had a multitude of weeds growing up from the ditch. She mentioned that they needed to be cut down.

Grandpa, in a fiesty mood and probably not up to cutting the weeds down, looked out the window and said, "Well...they're green. What's the matter, Marjorie? Doncha like green?" It was said with such a straight face that she merely gave him The Look while I laughed. That has become my standard answer now for anything pertaining to weeds.

I miss you, Grandpa.

Labels: family

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February is over and God forbid, I only read one book!!!! I've never read only one book in a month but I got caught up in other projects at work & home so my one book, which by default gets to be the Book Of The Month is

6. Avalon - Anya Seton

But! I did make up for it by watching a butt-load of movies. Here they are:

12. Night At The Museum - highly recommended just for the Owen Wilson Factor.
13. The Big Lebowski - Funny! Love John Goodman!
14. War Games - I still enjoyed it, even after so many years.
15. Ella Enchanted - see below Highly recommended for cheesey movie lovers.
16. The Magnificent Seven - OMG! Yul Brynner & Steve McQueen were YUMMY! And this was a GREAT movie!
17. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead - Ooo! You can never go wrong with Gary Oldman.
18. Me And You And Everyone You Know - Depressed the ever living poop out of me. That's why we had to watch...
19. Little Miss Sunshine - see below! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
20. Candleshoe - I remember loving this movie as a kid. I still liked it and David Niven is wonderful but I don't think I'll watch it again soon.
21. Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - I liked it better the 2nd time around.
22. Beerfest - Didn't finish it - was waaaay too tired but it was hilarious what I saw.
23. Date Movie - Weird...silly...funny in spots.
24. Night Breed - Enh. It didn't scare me.
25. Serenity - *sigh* I love this movie. I love Jayne and Cap'n Mal and Zoe and Walsh and....
26. Titanic - "A real man makes his own luck, Archie." I can never get enough of this movie.

The movie of the month is supposed to go to a movie I've watched for the first time or Titanic would win hands down. I only watched that because I was sick and it's a great way to pass three and half hours! And since I've seen Serenity many, many times (all right...4 times) that can't be it so! It's a tie between Ella Enchanted (because I'm a sucker for cheesy updated fairy tales) and Little Miss Sunshine (because it made me laugh til I cried).

Labels: Books, movies

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Here we are at Thursday already and what better way to celebrate than with funny faces?


This is Justin hamming it up for the camera at Jordyn's birthday party while Christina hides her face.


Scared? Mad? Worried? Whatever it is, Mom's making a great face.


Collin's nephews, Gavin & Reed. They were just as excited at Jordyn's presents as she was!


Missing tooth, helmet on her head...this is a great one! Jordyn's actually showing off her SpongeBob cards that she got for her birthday and the bike helmet was a gift as well.


Talk about looking mad...Dad hated having his picture taken!


This is pretty much Derek's look all the time!

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!

Labels: family, Pictures

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