Sometimes we make mistakes

I am getting my tattoo removed.

A laser is zapping the ink out of my skin because, after 17 years, I decided I'm ready to wear sleeveless tops to the office.

It didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would.  I'm such a baby, psyching myself out about things like that.

I got off the bus a stop early and walked over to the B-cycle bikes at the library.  Hopped on a bike and rode it to the station closest to the tattoo removal place (called What Were You Inking?  Cute, huh?).  Found a delish little breakfast place and got a bite to eat before my 9:00 appointment.

The folks at the Ink place were super faboo and the process did not hurt a bit.  It looked kind of gross while the blisters were healing but after one session, I can see a huge difference.

Exciting!

Habitat

Volunteered for Habitat for Humanity yesterday with a bunch of people from work.  It was HOT but fun, as always.

I love to hang out with work people outside of work, because we get to know different things about people, other than they're lawyers.

Here are my friends Brandon and Dean.

They're good people.

Here is proof I actually worked that day.

 I am nailing floorboards to the joists.  Basically, all I did that day was correct the mistakes made by the people the day before.  Seriously!  They made their joists too long, so Hubert and I had to sit on the joists and cut them shorter, and then the house would stand forever tall and all would be well.

The house made of love, and volunteers.

Greek fest and remembering

Went to the Greek fest with Judy and co. yesterday.  Her oldest son, Anthony, was home on leave from the military for a week.  It was the one year anniversary of the loss of David.

It's hard to believe it's been a year since David passed away.  Sometimes I'll think about something the four of us should do and I'll go to email Judy and then suddenly stop because I remember.

Sometimes it seems like this has been the longest year too, and I've spent many nights bawling my eyes out with Judy about how much we miss him.

I'm glad she made it through this year, even though it's the hardest thing she's ever done. 

Colorado Children's Chorale at Vail

What do you say about the amazing kids who perform beautifully against the most gorgeous mountainous backdrop in the middle of summer?

Wow.

There was a performance in Vail Village before noon.  

We got to eat lunch in a serene setting with the birds chirping and the breeze keeping us cool.

Then it was off to the Amphitheater to watch the real performance, complete with additional singers and alums who came back for one last song.

I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.  It was beautiful.



Georgetown Loop

We went to Georgetown to ride the train with the Myers today.  That was fun, even if you're not a kid!

The 3 foot narrow gauge railroad is nestled in Clear Creek canyon where you can check out all the mining that took place in Georgetown and Silver Plume.  The train goes in a corkscrew fashion and climbs 600 feet in one direction. 

First we rode the steam engine.  We stopped along the route at the Lebanon Silver Mine where Paul was a volunteer miner with our guide, Faith.  She was fantastic, but Paulie didn't come home with silver in his pockets.  We got to go 500 feet into the mine where we saw all the offshoots to the different parts of the mine.  Much of the lower sections were filled in with water (cold water, the mine stays at a constant 44 degrees so the water was chilly!).

The ride to complete the loop from the mine was on a diesel engine, which blew out lots of debris.  It was icky, and I picked that crap out of my hair for a week afterward.  The history and gorgeous views of this place make it worthwhile to visit.

Afterward, we stopped at Tommyknockers Brewery and had lunch and sampled their beers.  It was delicious and a great way to spend the day!

Tough

We visited with Brett and the kids yesterday.  They are so sweet, and thankfully still in shock.

Paul got his ass kicked by Austin, the 3 year old, on the video game - Black Ops.  It was humbling, I'm sure.

Brett's pissed off, and I can't blame him a bit.  It's hard to see the hurt in that family right now.

We polished off a bottle of Jack and Paul drove home as I burst into tears.  Sucks.