Recovering from 54

Jeremy and I made a quick trip to Trinidad for a golf weekend. We played Friday at the Muni course that was in immaculate condition. The greens were incredible, so much nicer than at Foothills. We had a great dinner in town that night at Rino's Italian Restaurant & Steakhouse where Jeremy had prime rib straight from the ranch. This place was great - the waiters sang all night long. If you're every in Trinidad, I highly recommend stopping in for some dinner, you have to catch them between 5 and 9, Wednesday through Sunday. I guess when you're that in demand you can set the hours as you please!

We played at Cougar Canyon Saturday morning in very windy conditions. The wind never let up and that was very exhausting. I had a few holes of greatness and a few real stinkers. All in all a good round and fun to see how that community is changing. Give it a few years and this will become a great destination. The main street has some great little shops and restaurants, stop by Danielson Dry Goods for some great stuff in their shop. Its a good thing we had a 1:30 tee time otherwise I likely was going to buy up some good stuff. (The camera battery was dead so I have no photos from our early Friday.)

1 of Jeremy's tee-shots (Notice how comfortable he is in a golf shirt & sweater?)

1 of my tee shots (I have no fewer than 5 layers including 2 pairs of pants!)

After playing and eating lunch at Bella Luna Pizzeria, we hit the road to make it back in time for a dinner. Thank goodness I had Sunday to rest before we played again this morning at Homestead at Fox Hollow. Not a great round, I'm pretty sure its not in my DNA to play 54 holes in three days.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

As much as I'm enjoying a green lawn, I'd also like to be in summer clothes! Here it is May 25th and I'm wearing sweats. On a positive note, all of the plantings I did yesterday will happily drink up the rain. Bring on the warmer weather - I'm ready to enjoy our patio!

Whirlwind Weekend

Wow - where did the week and weekend go? After throwing out my back two weekends ago I spent all last week resting, icing and massaging. I've never had any real pains but WOW, I have so much sympathy for anyone with back problems, including my Aunt and Grandma.

I felt good enough to golf on Saturday at the latest WWGL and it was a much better round than the first time. I shot a 38, not great but so much better than the first round. After I finished I ate some lunch at the club house while I waited for Jeremy and Justin to finish their first round in the Invitational. It was pretty fun to watch his walk up 18, even if they didn't play as well as they had hoped.

I spent Sunday in the backyard planting a few more perennials for the back plant bed. I told Jeremy the other day that now that the plants are looking good, of course the grass looks terrible. I'm hoping that next year the yard will finally come together. After three years the front yard finally is looking good. The grass is green, grasses are growing, the Maple is growing and we added some more lilac bushes. I really enjoy working in the yard, its just unfortunate I have a HUGE BLACK THUMB! It doesn't matter if I continue to kill each item I plant, I still really enjoy playing in the dirt.

Sunday evening I had the pleasure of meeting Bec and Nolan at Belmar for some ice cream. Bec babysat him on Sunday and she promised him to some ice cream. He is the cutest kid and says the funniest things. But I have to say I was so impressed with Bec, she is so good with him. There's a reason Steve and Beth's kids love Bec!

Bec also came over on Friday night where we tried to have some pizza on the patio but the weather didn't cooperate all that well. Bec brought Arnold over since it was his 8th birthday and would you believe that he has a new collar? The collar isn't the standard - its a Coach collar! Who knew Coach made dog collars? He sure is cute!

$30 Mashed Potatoes Cont'd.

As shocking as it was on Jeremy’s birthday to receive the bill and see our Mashed Potatoes with Lobster Tail cost $30, it wasn’t the first time we’ve been taken at Ruth’s Chris. (Before I get ahead of myself - the lobster in the potatoes was not a large amount. Just enough to give you a taste.) A year ago for Jeremy’s birthday I made the mistake of order the Crab Bisque. Seemed like a reasonable soup order – wrong again! The bill for one Crab Bisque? You guessed it - $30!!! Moral of the story: If you go to Ruth’s Chris and they offer any special that includes seafood, DON’T ORDER IT! The dish will likely cost you $30!

The sad news is that Ruth’s Chris closed the LoDo location this week. So next year we’ll go have a delicious steak at Sullivan’s and hopefully avoid any side dish that costs more than the actual steak.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to Mom and J. We had a great lunch at Mark & Isabella followed by some window shopping at Belmar. Another wish of Happy Mother's Day to Grandma and Grandma Josie!

P.S. If you ever go to Ruth's Chris for dinner and the waiter suggests the Mashed Potatoes with Lobster Tail - be ready for the $30 price tag that goes with such a rich (pun intended) side dish!

Happy Birthday Jeremy!

In honor of Jeremy's 32nd Birthday, here are 32 things to know and love about him!
He’s the best Husband
He’s an adoring Son
He’s a loyal Brother
He’s a fun Uncle
He’s the “brother” Brother-in-Law
He’s an adored Son-in-Law
He’s one of many Great-Grandchildren
He’s a lifelong Friend
He’s a very smart Engineer
He’s a passionate Golfer
He’s a really good Cook
He’s a Housekeeper
He’s my Golf Coach
He’s a proud CSU Alum
He’s a huge KU Fan
He’s Genuine
He's my Partner
His smiling eyes
His laugh
His generosity
His sense of humor
His love of golf
His appreciation for the Italian heritage
His coffee (The man makes a great pot and he doesn't drink the stuff)
His willingness to try new restaurants
His respect for others
His garage
His dedication to maintaining a healthy lifestyle
His work/life balance
His love of travel
His laid back demeanor
His extensive collection of golf bags and shoes

Love you!

The House Survived

More importantly, I survived the weekend and having four extra men. It sounds like a good time was had by all and that enough golf was played to satisfy Jeremy through next week. (Amazing as it sounds, he's not playing this weekend.)

This weekend made me realize how much I need order here at the house to keep me sane. My mom said I'm compulsive after I admitted to starting laundry as soon as the first group of guys left. The joke was on me since I ended up making all of the beds again only to have the same men sleep in their original beds. (Huge UGH!) The chaos is over and Jeremy had a wonderful time. He was sweet enough to put on a fresh pot of coffee and have biscotti from Vinnola's for me each morning. I love that he doesn't drink coffee but makes a better pot than I.

My morning breakfast!

POSITIVITY!

Courtesy of this great company my cousin owns, the whole Lang family is keeping a positive outlook during this down time. I've shard this little bracelet with my fellow manager's at the office and some girlfriends. The response from everyone has been amazing. Such a little message on such a great piece of jewelry. The fact that dear Jeremy wears his and I can wear mine at the gym says a whole lot! It really does help pull you out of a funk. We all have our shoulda-woulda-coulda moments but the truth is we all have so many blessings to count. Beth has the biggest heart and she has the best taste, I love all of her pieces. I'm so impressed with how she's built her company over the last 10+ years. Stop by and take a look - I know you'll be impressed!
Cute

A Small Baby Shower

We had a small baby shower for Warren's wife Robyn today. Its their first baby together and they don't know the sex so I had to get a little creative with the gift. I wasn't interested in buying green and yellow so I set out to find the cutest khaki, blue and red outfits. I had great success and strung them up on their clothes line with clothespins. It is the cutest thing to see the newborn outfits on this long line. (I've done this a few times before but when you have a gift that is somewhat creative you have to go with what works!)

Jessica made the baby the cutest quilt, perfect for the nursery.
Good luck Robyn and Warren, here's to the newest Baby Smith!

Fore!

WWGL
Today was my first tourney in the Working Women's Golf League and boy was it a rough start. Aside from the forty degree temps and constant drizzle I didn't play well at all! It is never a good sign when you start off your round by hitting a great 4-iron into the green that takes a bad bounce only to have it go long into the hazard. The 4-putt didn't help matters. Always nice to start the round with a double par! (Huge groan!!) Once I warmed up (mentally, never happened physically) I was able to at least get one birdie followed a long string of bogeys. Better luck next time and here's hoping next time we get some sunshine and warmer temps!

CCC '09
The Texas gentlemen have made there way to Denver and were treated to pretty miserable conditions yesterday and today. We had a great dinner last night and I was so very thankful I had my mom and Jeremy's mom at the house to help me out. If you've never seen the site of 10 grown men coming into a house lookng for dinner after playing 36-holes it is quite a sight!

John, the trophy and some random autographed shoes from Chucky Atkins.

Jeremy's in the lead so hopefully he can hold on tomorrow and keep the trophy that he absolutely loves!

Where was I?

I made it to Dallas last Friday and had a great time with Katy and her beau Eddie. We enjoyed a great lunch at Neiman's followed by a low-key dinner. Then Saturday it was off on a 5-hour drive to Fredricksburg for some Wine and Wildflowers. I met some great new gals, Thais, BJ, Kelly Ann, and Josie. The Texas wine country is lovely, a very different landscape from Colorado's west slope but still pretty. The best part was the wildflowers on Sunday, if only my brown thumb could nurture those flowers! Then it was a long travel day on Sunday first in the car then at the airport then on the plane. Eventually I made it home sweet home. A few photos from the weekend.

Eddie & Katy