10 Things to Love

1. A "Halloween" batch of gorp! It really is so much better with the candy corn added to the mix and it makes a great gift!

2. The Restoration Hardware Clearance Center, where I scored the large prismatic pendant for the kitchen at 70% off!

3. A big batch of white bean chili on the stove. This will keep me warm tonight. (Jeremy actually complained of the heat and humidity this morning when he called after the first session... unreal!)

4. These amazing products from Aveda: Pure Abundance Hair Potion and Volumizing Tonic. They really do make a difference in my flat, straight, fine hair. I'm hooked for life!

5. The best moisturizer for the dry Colorado fall and winter. Dermalogica's Intensive Moisture Balance is the best I've used.

6. Warm pumpkin bread on a cold day.

7. These boots at Target are a fraction of the cost of the Frye's boots.

8. The start of basketball season. I can't wait for the Nuggets season opener!

9. The use of pumpkins for your October/November decor. Love these images from Sunset.

10. "Winterizing" the house with decor changes. Now if only I can figure out the window covering for the dining room bay window.

-I love the simple sentiment on these pillows-

The Strong Life Test for Women

After reading an article that referenced Mark Buckingham's Find Your Strongest Life - What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently I was very, very critical of the big headline. I'm sure you've all seen it, as women grow older they become less happy. My cynical self had to read this book. I was actually quite surprised with its content, while I don't agree with everything in here he does have some good information.

I've been doing a lot of soul searching lately coming into my 10th year in the consulting world so this book has been pretty helpful. I am fairly surprised by how accurate the StrongLifeTest is at describing my strengths. This book and the role analysis has been fairly good at reinforcing what my gut is telling me. Hopefully (fingers crossed) there are some life changes coming but nothing that is considered earth shattering on my end. If all goes as planned (I'm a huge planner) I can get all of the details ironed out in the next month to be able to share more soon!

A Mixed Bag

It seems there are never enough hours in the day or too few miles between friends.

The house will be quiet this week since the hubby is in FL for the Club Test. Wishing him safe travels, good weather and enough time to catch up with Tykus. I so wish I was boarding the plane with him this morning but contrary to popular belief, he really is busy all day long when he's there. It is all work;)

-Notice the bag? Yep, he's an official Club Tester-

A huge hug and Happy Birthday to Maria! She's a big 3 years old and is going to have a great birthday party thrown by her Mommy today! An extra big hug to Julia too. Love my girls!!

I'm about done with my latest nesting phase. I go through spurts that follow the seasons to change up the house. The fall weather and delivery of my goods from Nell Hills have made it a real joy to pretty up the house. Here's a shot of the goodies I bought a few weeks ago. I like the slight transformation and feeling around the house. Bring on the cold weather, I'm ready now.

-Next trip, we're driving so there's no limit on the shopping!-

I have a lot going on with work: deadlines are looming next week, business planning is in full swing, and a very, very shocking development on an old project yesterday.


DISCLAIMER - BIG ENGINEERING NERD TALK TO FOLLOW!


So, what's the shocking development? I had a project three years ago that about did me in, the Site was tough, the Owner was tough and the Contractor magnified these difficulties. To say that this project was not a success is putting it mildly. I purposely put that project out of my mind and will physically avoid the area because the feelings of failure are too high for me. I got a call yesterday from a gal Urban Drainage asking if I was the engineer responsible for this "bad" project. (This is not a call you want to get on a project you haven't heard about in two years.)


The lady, with one of the local governing agencies, went on and on asking if I knew that photos of my water quality pond were all over the Internet and in professional publications. (Engineers are merciless when it comes to evaluating good and bad design.) I told her that no I was not aware that the industry was talking about the project and could she tell me what the problem is with the Site? No problem she says, the water quality pond I designed has been published as the good example and would I be able to talk to her about the design? She had already contacted the City who directed her to me. Apparently my project is the featured example in the pending Volume 3 Criteria Manual update, is the project photo for the month of June in an upcoming engineering calendar and is a stop on an engineering groups field trip. One more thing, she asked, can I speak at the field trip and help her publish more information on this design?

To say that this is flattering is an understatement, but honestly I still think this is some sick practical joke they are playing on me. I'll know all of the details on Thursday when I have a conference call with her, stay tuned...

Pilates x2

I finally found a way to make up for last week's mess of an evening. Instead of going to one reformer class tonight, I thought it would be a good idea to do my make-up session immediately following my standard class. I was happy then but may be re-thinking my actions tomorrow!

Baking Lady - Shortbread

-Photo from My Recipes-

Goodness it was a cold weekend. Not much good came from the cold temperatures other than forcing me inside. I had a craving for shortbread after having the best I've tasted at Katy's wedding. So I compared all of my recipes and decided on the one in my latest Southern Living issue. The shortbread turned out amazing - a definite keeper. Here's the recipe:


Simple Scotch Shortbread
Bake at 350 degrees, 30-35 min.
2 C butter or margarine, softened
1 C sugar
4 C all-purpose flour
2 T sugar, optional

Cream butter and gradually add the sugar. Cream well. Add the flour and blend until you get a nice ball. Press into a 14x10 jelly pan. Prick the shortbread as necessary and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle the shortbread with 2 T. sugar as desired. Immediately cut into bars and store in an air tight container.

Baby It's Cold Outside!!!!!!!!

Read for yourself, a record low and a record high low. This is the earliest I've ever had to pull out the Uggs to keep the feet warm. Good thing we didn't plan on going the the CSU-Utah game or the Rockies playoff game!

9NEWS.com Colorado's Online News Leader Record cold for third day in a row

GRR

It was one of those days. First day back into the office after a quick trip to Atchison to visit Jeremy's family.

I went in early to get a jump start on the "to-do" list and had a busy morning. I also had a marathon day of meetings that started at 11. My meetings went so long that I missed my pilates class...GRR that didn't make me happy and there was nothing I could do to get there.

Nothing is more frustrating than to sit in a meeting and watch the clock quickly tick well past the allotted time to meet. I sat patiently waiting for us to wrap up but it didn't happen, instead more things were added to the agenda. After a quick joke about how long we talked, they said they'd wrap up in a half hour. Then a half-hour slipped and we quickly were approaching that point of no return.

The point where if that man stops talking right now I can make it in time. Then it gets to the point where you'll only get there if you excuse yourself from the group, really speed and blessed with no traffic. By the time I looked at the clock, it was too late. Class is at 5:30, the clock showed 5:25 and we're still talking...and I'm in eastern Aurora...with my class in western Lakewood...and horrible traffic across Hampden.

There you have it, no class tonight. First class I've missed in six months. I love nothing more than my reformer class. I love it so much I'm researching the certification process, I love it that much. Now I'll be trying to fit in a make-up class all week so I can feel better than I do now. GRR, a horrible way to end the day.

Weekend recap

We're back after a quick trip to Atchison and St. Joe to visit family last weekend. It also was Oktoberfest in Atchison where we spent Saturday with J selling her quilts. I have to say my favorite part of the trip was surprising Mim on Friday morning; we were able to take her to the doctor appointment and to the grocery store. I know we won't get many chances to spend time like that with Mim so I snapped up as many photos as she'd let me.

-I loved this milk display so much I had to snap a photo-

We also took Robert to lunch on Friday and then for a round of putt-putt where I ended up owing Jeremy $4.75 from our little wager of a quarter a stroke. Jeremy is such a sweet great-grandson and son, these probably don't do him justice.

Saturday started out cold and windy, thank goodness Bec loaned me her coat, Jeremy used a quilt since he didn't take a coat. The quilts were gorgeous as usual with her booth on the Mall, just down from Nell Hills. Jeremy was a great salesman and manned the booth most of the day. I took a brief hiatus to get all sorts of lovelies from Nell Hills.

Sunday Jeremy and I both took a break from the family and did something we both loved for a few hours. He golfed at a course in St. Joe while J and I went to Nell Hills in Briarcliff. I told you I love that place and am so glad we made it to both locations. While they both might be NH, there is a difference in lovelies at each location. More lovelies came back with both of us and now I have more loot waiting for transport. Good thing we had one car to load our goods in, they wouldn't have lasted on the plane. Jessica introduced me to Mary Carol and she was very gracious. Jeremy and I made it back to Atchison for a final family BBQ with the Ross clan and had a great time visiting with all of them. I really enjoyed visiting with Frank and Irma to learn more about their time in Germany when they met. (On a big side note, Jeremy and I are trying to make our way to Germany to meet Irma's sister and nephew. It would be a great trip.) A quick stop at the ice cream shop and we were on our way back to St. Joe to see Mim one more time. A very quick trip but we were able to visit with lots of family. Very priceless!