Dig Deep

Thanks to Kat for starting this.

My layers
* Layer.one
Name: Melissa
Birthdate: 1/11/77
Birthplace: Edmonton, Alberta
Current location: Denver, CO
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Brown
Height: 5’5″ (but I like to think I’m 5’6″)
Righty or Lefty: Righty
Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

* Layer.two
Your heritage: dad’s side: Scottish & German; mom’s side: Ukrainian & Yugoslavian
Your weakness: Potato Chips, Chocolate
Your shoes you wore today: tevas, always my tevas
Your fears: too many to mention
Your perfect pizza: bacon & pepperoni
Goal you’d like to achieve: To be more like Christ

* Layer.three
Your thoughts first waking up: Must get the boy
Your best physical feature: my smile
Your bedtime: 9:30-10pm
Your most missed memory: I wish I remembered more about my dad

* Layer.four
Pepsi or Coke: Coke
McDonald’s or Burger King: meh. If hungry enough I’ll eat at either. But I’d otherwise choose neither.
Single or group dates: both
Adidas or Nike: who cares
Sketchers or Vans: again, who cares
Chocolate or vanilla: chocolate
Cappuccino or coffee: can I pick mochaccino?

* Layer.five
Smoke: never
Cuss: only when I’m worked up
Sing: all the time
Showers daily: every other day
Have a crush: on my husband
Think you’ve been in love: Oh yes!
Want to go college: don’t care either way
Want to get married: again? No, once is good on me. 🙂
Believe in yourself: sure
Get motion sickness: oh yes!
Think you’re attractive: oh sure, in my own way.
Think you’re a health freak: not particularly
Get along with your parents: at times
Like thunderstorms: sure
Play an instrument: does the kazoo count?

* Layer.six
– in the past months…
Gone to the mall: every week
Eaten an entire box of Oreos: no, but I could
Eaten sushi: oh no!
Gone skating: nope, couldn’t
Made homemade cookies: I’m gonna this week
Gone skinny dipping: no
Dyed your hair: not recently
Stolen anything: not since I was a kid

* Layer.seven
– ever…
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: yes, but I don’t do that anymore
Been called a tease: yep. some people are such jerks
Got beaten up: Not really, but I’ve been in a fight or two

* Layer.eight
Age you hoped to be married: been there, done that
Number and name of children: Currently 1 (Elijah James) but I hope to have 3.
Dream wedding: If we did it again, we’d elope
How do you want to die: Don’t want to, I’m hoping to be raptured. But if I gotta, I want to be with Geoff & Elijah to say goodbye.
Where do you want to attend college: California?
Dream job: hmm, so many to choose from.
Country you want to visit: New Zealand

* Layer.ten
Number of drugs taken illegally: none
Number of people I could trust with my life: 5 or 6
Number of CDs that I own: More than 100, less than 200
Number of piercings: just one set in my ears
Number of tattoos: none, I like to be different
Number of times my name’s been in the news: twice
Number of scars on my body: two
Number of things in my past that I regret: Hard to say. All the decisions I’ve made, good or bad, shaped me into this person. But I guess there are a few things, but nothing that I’d share.

Boulder


We went up to Boulder on Friday, and while I would never want to live there, there is a certain quaintness to the town. I love how green it is, parks everywhere, and you can get anywhere by bike or by foot. The shops on Pearl street were not quite what I thought they’d be, but we only touched so little of it. I did find a Christmas gift for someone in the family, so I’ll have to go back at some point.

The campus buildings are pretty cool. They aren’t labeled very well, so a map (or guide) is necessary. This is the Chemistry building, where Geoff will have his Boulder office. He’ll be there maybe a few times a month.

There was a neat fountain outside the building in a courtyard, which I could see was a popular place for people to eat their lunches. There were kids playing in them too. I think the building across from Chemistry was a food hub, and it also housed the bookstore.

That’s about all I have to say about that. To read Geoff’s take on it, visit his blog. I’m anxious for us to get up to Estes Park, it’s not too far off from Boulder. Since we’ll be in Colorado for many years, we’ve got plenty of time to explore the state.

Weekend

I’d been meaning to mention, we got new neighbors. A seemingly nice gay couple moved into the hooker-vacated apartment. I say seemingly because we’ve only ever said hello to each other. But one of them I see everyday, and I hope to ask him his name. They have a little wiener dog named Vienna (how cute is that?). The downstairs neighbors are FINALLY leaving. (insert crowd cheering here) I’ve grown so very tired of them constantly slamming their door every time they use it. Also, the parties where their friends are out yakking underneath our window. I laughed last Saturday when I was awake at 2am and heard the sprinklers go off on them. 🙂

Checked out the farmer’s market this morning, which had a ton more vegetables than they did the last time we were there. We didn’t buy any today though, but Geoff almost succumbed to the green beans. Naturally we went to Peet’s but there were no tables free, and I didn’t want to sit at the bar. I just felt too high and boxed in. We passed through the mall, I shopped for underwear at Victoria’s Secret (it was on sale) and then went to Safeway to get provisions for burgers tonight. Spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry and had a nap while the boys went for a run.

I think every Canadian I know is away this weekend, which is a little frustrating because I wanted to talk to some of them. I suppose I have to wait until Tuesday.

We watched The Village last night, and it was good. I thought it would be scarier, which is fine, scary would have prevented me from sleeping. It left me thinking about the movie, and the characters. I do like M. Night Shyamalan’s movies. Geoff said he enjoys the way they are filmed, and the stories they tell. I’d have to agree. I don’t want to divulge any of the story in case you haven’t seen it, but I think it’s worth renting.

Thank God July is almost over. I feel like I’m in a rush for the months to go by, and yet I know I should be savoring each day. I am just anxious to start looking at houses, and anyone can understand that.

I suppose I better go and give Elijah his bath. I’ll close with a quote from The Village.

Ivy Walker: How is it that you are so brave while the rest of us shake in our boots?
Lucius Hunt: I don’t think of what might happen, only what must be done.

Traveling Birds

Lisa leaves on vacation tomorrow, and I’m trying to help her stay in a positive frame of mind amidst her sister being selfish. Sigh, I will be praying for Lisa & Chad on this trip and hoping they can enjoy themselves.

Ryan (KUCI alumni and former co-host) is in Japan teaching English. He says it’s super hot & humid there. He does enjoy being there, which is cool. I enjoy learning about what he is doing by asking a lot of questions.

I don’t really care if I ever see Japan (sorry), but Geoff would like to go someday. I just worry I would never find anything to eat. Or worse that Geoff would be deprived of eating all he wants to eat. Can you do a cruise of Japan? So I could always retreat to the boat for food? Rod would know. I’ll ask him.

This last week was the one year anniversary of our Scotland trip. It’s been lovely to think back on the good stuff, look at the pretty pictures, and reread what we did. I’ve overlooked all the stupid travel problems. I really feel in my heart that there will come a time we’ll get to go again. Many many years down the road.

I’ll close now with a quote from Forget Paris.
Mickey: You just had one of those ‘I glued a bird to my head’ days.

Still Cool

The weather here is still cool, which I love! Yesterday was perfect for walking, and today is supposed to hold the same. I’ll definitely be walking up to Cherry Creek North today. And if Jen is at H&D, I’ll tell her I’m not coming back for the holidays. 🙁

So the family is heading out to Victoria this weekend. Ah, Victoria. I completely forgot there was a holiday this weekend. The name of it differs from province to province. Since they’ll be in B.C., it’s called British Columbia Day. Alberta calls it Heritage Day. (To see what it’s called elsewhere, click here.) No holiday for us Yanks. We’ll just have to wait for Labor Day to have our next day off.

Geoff has to go up to Boulder on Friday (I think) so we’ll try to join him. I’ve never been to Boulder, but I’d like to check out the shops on Pearl Street. Geoff says the campus (University of Colorado Boulder) is beautiful. Funny enough Jennifer Garner is in Boulder until Friday filming a movie. I doubt we’d see her, and I’d really much rather see her husband. I’ve never seen the show Alias, though everyone I know loves it.

I’ll be so happy once this month is over. It’s been painfully long, and financially strained. But hopefully we’ll get caught up next month. I would love to get a jump on my Christmas shopping, I may try to buy at least one gift. But I have gifts already needed for August.

Nothing else is going on, so I’ll close with a quote from Unbreakable.

Joseph Dunn: Do you think you could beat up Bruce Lee?
David Dunn: No, Joseph.
Joseph Dunn: Even if he wasn’t allowed to kick, and you were really mad at him?

As If!!!!!!!!

The rumors of my pregnancy have been GREATLY exaggerated!

Lisa called me to ask (jokingly) why I hadn’t told her about me being pregnant. I am? That was the story going around Edmonton. And I’m due next month! Lisa knew enough to know it couldn’t be right.

Ha Ha Ha Ha.

Who is pregnant and due next month? Misty (Dawn’s sister). Sounds like Missy doesn’t it?

Lordy, I would cry if I got pregnant now, I’m not ready for #2 yet.

Just had to set the record straight.

Because I Look Good In Orange?

HASH(0x8f367d8)
You are MARIO BATALI, host of “Molto
Mario”! You are casual, but very rooted
in tradition. You have a strong sense of your
cultural background and family history, and are
interested in preserving it. You tend to be a
little stuck in the past, but they did it
better back then anyway! You can be a little
pompous, but when even Martha Stewart invites
you on her show to show her how to make pasta,
you have a right to be.

Which Food Network Personality are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Cool Down

Finally, we’re seeing some cooler weather come our way. I miss walking to Cherry Creek, and welcome the opportunity to do so.

We went to Peet’s yesterday (mmm caramel freddo!), picked up Miss Congeniality 2 from the library, then headed into the mall. Eddie Bauer Home is closing, so everything is on sale. Man that was painful, to have no money and see such fantastic deals. I’m certain we’ll find great stuff for our new place when the time comes. The plan so far is aiming to move before the end of the year. Our friends here have offered to help, which would be nice. We haven’t had friends to help move since we moved into our first apartment in Edmonton. All other moves were thousands of miles away, where we knew no one. This will also be the first time we’ll be able to have a housewarming party.

For dinner last night I made chicken in a tarragon cream sauce, on a bed of rice. Not exactly like Rachael’s recipe (fussy eater and all), but damn it was tasty. It’s not a recipe I feel confident making without my sous-chef, the oil was all splattery.

Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous was cute. Did I like it as much as the first? Probably not, but it was entertaining. And I’ll close now with a quote from it.

Gracie Hart: Wake up and smell the iced vente decaf caramel macchiato!

Ugh

Sigh. So sleepy. Elijah is going through a phase where he doesn’t want to sleep through the night anymore. Or sleep more than a few hours at a time. It’s easy enough to coax him back to sleep, but it’s a pain to have to get up every few hours to do so. All the reading online has offered no help. I guess just keep on truckin’ and remember how it was once way worse than this.

We watched The Bourne Supremacy last night. I liked it, just as much as the first one. I’m funny about action movies, sometimes I’m really keen on seeing them, others I couldn’t be bothered with. A few weeks ago I saw Target had both the Bourne movies in a double pack for $20. I should see if they still have it. And I’ll be looking forward to The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).

The heat wave continues, the 3rd or 4th day in a row where we hit the triple digits. I will likely try to get out for a walk before 10am because I could use the exercise.

We donated blood on Tuesday, and they were giving away beach towels (or lake towels since there are no beaches here). The snacks were tasty. I was a little concerned I might not be able to donate since my blood pressure was insanely low on Monday (85/50). It was up at 100/62 on Tuesday. Speaking of my health, if I weren’t breastfeeding, I’d be concerned about my weight loss. I was shocked by my weight on Monday at the doctor, it’s as low as it’s been in 10 years. Thank you breastfeeding! In any case, I will mention it when I go see Dr. Dix next month. Just to be safe.

Before I sign off, I just wanted to say that I think the people responsible for Grand Theft Auto are sick individuals. And buying their crap, supporting their product, is just sad.

I’m going to close with a quote from Rounders.

Mike McDermott: Listen, here’s the thing. If you can’t spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker.