The long ride...

Jesse singing away @ Karaoke.

Ashley W and I getting ready to sell corks. This year's Theme was Madeline
(meet me in Paris).

Yesterday was the museums 36th annual Birthday Bash Celebration, our biggest fundraiser of the year. Some of you might remember that it was at this celebration 2yrs ago that a certain wild thing spotted me and began his pursuit. That was my 1st bash celebration (the theme that year was Where the Wild Things Are) and I had an amazing time. Last year (the theme was Dr. Seuss, Cat in the Hat) Jesse and I went back to volunteer, but circumstances were different and we got stuck with a lame job... thus it was a less than pleasant experience. We ended up leaving early and decided since we were all dressed up we should hit up a nice restaurant for dinner, so we could feel as fancy as we looked. Unfortunately things only got worse from there. The restaurant we chose was adorable, but the food was seriously lacking and way to expensive. We were now completely disappointed, so we decided to stop by the grocery store for some ice cream and head home to veg out in front of our TV. I was hoping to talk him into volunteering again this year and making a better memory of the bash for him, but he had to work late. This year I had a pretty fun job. Miss Ashley W (there are 3 Ashleys @ my work) and I walked around selling wine corks. It was a game of chance. Everyone was a winner, but you had a chance to win more than your money's worth. All the corks sold for $20 and the bottles of wine you turned them in for were worth up to $70. I purchased 1 to give as a gift for a friend. I picked cork #83 (a good year) and ended up with a red wine bottle worth $22, not bad. After our shift was over Ashley gave me a ride home. At home I found Jesse moping around the living room complaining about how terrible the Nuggets were playing. Since the game was pretty much over we decided to get ourselves packed up a ready for the bike ride to... The Music Bar (Jesse's favorite neighborhood Karaoke bar). One our friends was having a graduation celebration there. Silly me for suggesting we ride our bikes. It's all up hill and exactly 3 miles away from our house. I haven't rode my bike in a year, plus my bike is really heavy and honestly too big for me. I thought I was going to pass out. It was a tough ride. By 29th street & Tennyson (roughly 1.7 miles) I had to stop, luckily there was a red light. We ended up getting water @ the convenient store on the corner and resting for a few minutes. Eventually we made it there all hot and sweaty. It was a pretty fun time and the ride home was totally cake. I coasted down hill at amazing speeds. The wind in my face felt fabulous. It was a long day, but a pretty good one at that.

P.S. a friend of ours posted some Ideal Fathers music their blog. Click on the link to hear it.

Special Thanks to Grandma Rita for this...

For those of you who didn't know or don't keep up to date on your Stuart Herald, my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on May 19th. I had no idea what to do for them. They don't want or need anything and I'm to far away to take them out to dinner. I started to make them a card, but decided a bigger recognition was needed. I called up my wonderful grandmother who helped me get this into the local paper running the Thursday before their big day. I think it was a nice surprise for them both. And yes Dave did know about it before it went in the paper. I made sure to call him discuss it with him. We both agreed on what it should say yet I some how knew I couldn't count on him turning it in on time, so I had grandma do the leg work. Dave forgot to bring me a copy of the paper when he came to visit last week, but thankfully grandma helped me out again and mailed me this copy. Thanks Grandma you're the best!

Visiting with Moe & Ben...

Last night we went to Double Daughters for a few drinks with Moe & Ben since they are in town for the weekend. Everyone seemed to be bored there, so we moved on to The Church (no it's not a real church). The Church is a dance club/bar that is made from a refurbished old church. Honestly it still seems a little weird and some how wrong that people are drinking and grinding on each other in a place where people used to worship, but who am I to judge. We didn't really do much dancing more people watching and picture taking.

*Note- Ben was being camera shy or he was really mesmerized by the drag queen wearing glow in the dark clothes dancing it up on the dance floor.

Never Never Day...

On Saturday the International Youth Ballet came to the Museum and helped us celebrate the 1st annual Never Never Day in honor of their upcoming show Peter Pan. It was a huge hit! Kids came dressed in costumes, they ballet dancers put on free shows in the theater, the pirates put on story times, we had shadow decorating on the plaza, dance lessons with the Indian maidens, dress up in Lost boy costumes, blowing bubbles with mermaids, building Wendy's house, and of course fairy making. They even raffled off free tickets to their show in 2 weeks. Luckily the museum staff got free tickets with out the raffle. They are a very talented bunch of kids. It seems like they might be planning to come back in December for a Nutcracker themed day.

What a week...

Rhea, Ryan & Kiersten setting on our couch. No Ryan the couch doesn't recline. Sorry!

Rhea & I on my awesome chair. She was obviously quite taken with it as most people are myself included. :)

The lovely ducky cake @ Shana's shower. He was quite tasty. Yum!

Scott & Shana opening gifts.

Jesse's show on Saturday.

Recovering from Jesse's show on Sunday.

The boys (Dave & Chad) left on Monday. Jesse took the day off and we just lounged after they left.

Tuesday was my parent's 30th Wedding Anniversary & Jesse's Grandpa Orlin's birthday. We sent a card to Grandpa and we took an add out in the Stuart Herald congratulating my parents with a picture from their wedding. I actually have yet to see the add as Dave forgot to bring me a copy & my grandma was my co-conspirator in setting this up. Thanks Grandma! There were several other people celebrating things on Tuesday like my 2 uncle's birthdays. May 19th is a busy day. I happened to forget that I had signed myself up to work late for a rental @ the museum, so I ended up working from 8-8 that night.

Wednesday I went to Thorton with Bonnie (the museum's office manager). Her son in the star football player & the star of the choir. He's 16 and he got the lead in the school musical. The did Les Miserable. Cold did a fabulous job & so did the rest of the cast. Several other co-workers came too and I hitched a ride home with them, so Jesse didn't have to come get me. He's been too obsessed with basketball to leave the house much lately.

Thursday was Miss Shana's babyshower. I left the bulk of the planning on this one up to another co-worker. It was nice to take a break from the stressing and decicion making. I prefer enjoying the party rather than planning... although planning can be fun.

Friday Rhea & her crew came down from the mountains to see us. Unfortunately they couldn't stay long and the timing was off for Jesse, so they really only saw me. Although they did buy us both dinner. Jesse thanks you guys! I gave them the quick tour of the museum and talked them out of Casa Bonita for dinner. It's a cool place, but the food is not so cool. We ended up heading to a great diner for dinner. The weather was beautiful, so we ate outside and just as we were leaving a storm blew in. Crazy winds, rain and the temperature dropped all with in minutes of us leaving the restaurant. We finished in the nick of time. We came back to my place for a photo op and then they headed out for the long drive home.

Tomorrow (Saturday) is Never Never day @ the museum. The Colorado ballet are bringing performers and volunteers to help us run an entire day of Peter Pan themed activities. It should be a blast. I'll try to remeber to take pictures and post them tomorrow. Moe should be in town tomorrow too, so hopefully we will get to see her and Ben.

Sunday & Monday... We are finally going to get 2 days in a row off together. We're planning on doing a whole lot of nothing. Except our friend is having a bbq on Monday that we will probably attend.

Have a nice Memorial Day Weekend Everyone!

Our short hair...

I promised a picture of Jesse with his new hair cut, plus I dyed mine again... so I figured I would get a picture of us both up here. I also didn't want the only picture of the two of us that I've put up in a long time to be the sweaty one from the night of the show. This picture was taken by David on Monday morning when we went out to a fabulous breakfast before sending the boys back to Iowa. We're a little squinty from the sun, but I still like it.

After the show...

Jesse and I after the show. Notice how it looks like I'm hugging him tight, but I'm actually avoiding the sweatiness.

Dave and I in front of the merchandise table.

My friends Amanda & Tana were both able to come down with their husbands and check out the show.

The show was a pretty big success. Lots of new fans came to support the Fathers and unfortunately some of the old ones couldn't make it, but all and all it was the biggest crowd @ an Ideal Father's show that I've ever seen. Jesse had his sappy moment between songs where he thanked everyone for coming. He did his best to make the rounds before and after the show talking to each person. The other bands all put on good performances and Accordion Crimes gave out free EP's at the table with the Ideal Father's merchandise. I mainly stuck to running the table. A few of my co-workers old and new stopped by which was a nice surprise. The 2 original members of Ideal Father's that had to quit for various reasons both showed up and they really seemed to enjoy themselves. It was a long day & night for us all. The drummer Mike P said he was having an after party at his house to celebrate, but by the time we got out of the bar it was after 2am and we were all exhausted. We stopped at a drive through to feed the hungry Iowa boys and headed home to get some rest. Jesse was too excited to wait, so we counted up the cash and figured out they made $300. Not 1/2 bad considering a regular gig usually only pays around $30. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves at the show. I know Jesse sure did... it's was pretty evident in the grin on his face while he was singing. I took a couple short videos with my camera, sorry no sound, and I hope to be posting them soon. Thanks to all of you for your support... buying EP's , sending your congratulations, voting for them on Westword, and becoming their friends on Facebook or Myspace. It really means alot to all the guys, especially Jesse.

*Special Thanks to Dave & Chad for putting up with the chaos on their vacation. They were a huge help with set up for the show. We couldn't have done it with out them.

We call this the Ideal Father's work out or the progression of Jesse's sweat...

Larimer Lounge...

Local Comedian Chuck Roy (a friend of the bands) announced the guys & promoted their EP before they went on stage.

EP release poster that won flier of the week. Totally sweet!

Dave & Jesse enjoying a drink before the show started.

Chad & Dave hanging out by the bar.

The lovely display trunk that the boys and I worked diligently on for 2 days. Honestly I did most of the work. You can't really tell in this picture, but there are light all around the display lid and t-shirts inside the trunk.

*don't forget to click on the Chuck Roy link at the top of this blog.

What's going on...

The boys enjoying their free drinks on the brew tour.

Ideal Fathers are taking over our living room walls.

My new new hair do. :)

Monday I went in for a trim on my new do and ended up coming out with much shorter hair and some crazy color. I think I like it though.

Thursday Dave & Chad arrived in the late afternoon. I made my classic homemade spaghetti and we settled in for the night. Until... Jesse got a call from one of the local music critics wanting to do a little Q&A interview with him about the band. The article was posted online today in promotion of their big show tomorrow. I recommend checking it out.

Today was a long day for both Jesse and I. We woke up early and I drove him to work, so the boys and I could have the car. I took the boys to Golden for the Coors Brew Tour (their only requested stop while here) and then we did a little shopping. We bought somethings to help the band create a nice display for their merchandise. I've been working diligently to make it looks nice. I'll take photos as soon as I'm done.

Tomorrow Jesse has work again, a hair appointment, practice, and then the BIG show. The boys and I will most likely sleep in, then we thought we'd hit up the indoor glow-in-the dark mini-golf before we have to head to Jesse's show.

Hot off the presses...

Or maybe I should say web page. The latest Ideal Father's review is in and it's a good one. Jesse and the guys are thrilled. The reviewer is a very well known local writer and music critic. To win him over means you must be doing something right. Follow the link to read the review. This EP release is going to be an amazing show. I wouldn't miss it for the world.


P.S. I am doing much better now, but work is super stressful for both of us. We're both ready for a break. I can't wait for Dave to come visit.