Really?

Sunny in Fort Collins

Back in New England, we had our sunny days. They were nice. We also had our overcast rainy/snowy days. Plenty of them. Since moving to Colorado, I didn't experience any overcast days - pretty much bright, cloudless sunny days with highs in the 50's and 60's. They're the kind of days where it is impossible to be in a bad mood, and everyone is running around all cheerful.

That just ain't right.

While living in Vermont, I always took the overcast days for granted. It wasn't until I moved to Colorado and they were gone that I started to miss them. Really, really miss them. I'm not sure why, but I found the overcast days comforting. They were low-energy days. Days of low ambition. Days where I could be in my own little world. Days where it was O.K. to be grumpy. With it sunny all the time in Colorado, people don't use the weather as an excuse to be introverted. It's go-go-go, happy-happy-happy all the time. Makes me wanna smack someone. *smile*.

Until Thursday, when I woke up to this:

Snowing in Fort Collins

Sure, it wasn't the heavy snow that we got in Vermont, and it melted by noon. But, it was overcast, and it was snowing big, heavy flakes. It put me in a good mood. A genuinely, happy, peaceful good mood. When I got to work, everyone was pretty quiet and introspective, and I was really giddy. No one asked why, but that didn't stop me from thinking about the reason - with the overcast, snowy weather, it made me feel at home.

Deb takes a beating from the Beaver

Friday was an official holiday, so I went snowboarding. Thanks to a friend who is a ski instructor and gave me a couple of discount passes, I was able to enjoy a day at Beaver Creek for $40 (better than the regular price of $92 - ouch!). Boy, was this place ritzy - they weren't kidding when they advertise themselves as, "Not Exactly Roughing It". All of the buildings were super-fancy, the lift ticket purchase center confused me at first because I thought it was a coffee shop with all the interior dec work, and even the bathrooms were posh with the granite, nice lighting, and all the amenities one would find in the bathroom of a nice restaurant plus ski-specific amenities such as sunscreen. Of course, I didn't spend much time in the ticket lobby, dining establishments, or bathrooms - it was getting beat up on the slopes.

They had lots of really nice terrain, and it seemed well designed and laid-out. They had lots of beginner and intermediate runs, which was good because up until Friday I had only done beginner runs on a snowboard. My first intermediate run went really well, up until I got to the steep section with huge moguls that were solid ice on the back sides. That didn't go well, and I've got the bruises to show for it. But, I did make it down without any permanent damage. The next run I went on was another intermediate run, but I checked the grooming report first to make sure there would be no moguls. That run went well, but was exhausting. Speed control on stuff that is steeper than I am used to takes a lot of energy, and requires that I pull of to the side and rest regularly. There were so many nice/concerned skiers there, and they would regularly ski by to ask if I was ok. For a while I tried to tell them I was ok before they got to me by using the whitewater motion of patting the top of my helmet, but that just confused them. In the end, even though I had to rest a lot, it feels really damn good to be able to start riding intermediate slopes.

As for the rest of this weekend, I probably won't do much. My muscles are sore and it hurts to walk. I might take a drive to Denver to drop off some home cooking with a friend who just had a baby on Thursday. So exciting!!!

Isaac climbs the Black Dike

Isaac had a fantastic weekend, too. Ever since I moved to Colorado, he has been ice climbing up a storm. He's been climbing, well, like someone who won't be living in Vermont next season and needs to experience as much as he can before he moves out West. This weekend, Isaac climbed the Black Dike with his climbing partner, Chuck. The Black Dike is a classic New England ice climb, and Isaac had a blast. He told me that it was the best climb he has done, and was extremely giddy for days afterwords. I am so happy he got to climb it before he moves!

Isaac leading the third pitch

Chuck leading the Runnel (2nd pitch?). I guess the ice was so fat that there was no scary rock traverse needed.

A day at the slopes? office?

Friday was the day that my employer arranged to send our group (everyone working in the Northern Front Range, anyway) skiing for the day at Copper Mountain. We loaded the bus at the various offices (Fort Collins, Longmont, Boulder) and headed for the mountains. We spent the day skiing/riding, having fun, getting to know each other, and eating. It was a blast, and I really appreciated getting to know many of the people in the office who I don't work with directly. The snow was perfect, as they got 6" of powder the night before. Tired and satisfied, we took the bus back home. Looking back, I just realized something ... no one (at least no one I spoke with) talked about work the entire day. Lots of joking around, talk about families, talk about skiing ... but no shop talk! How nice!

I spent the rest of the weekend trying to recover from all the activity on Friday. I went to the Yoga studio, which was good. I also got a little more settled in my new home, and searched for some food that I was craving. I wanted to find a good Gyro shop in Fort Collins. I found Yum Yum, which won the local newspaper's award for best Ethnic food in Fort Collins. It was delicious, but not as good as Cafe Mediterrano in Essex, VT, and no where near as good as Ali Baba Grill in Golden, CO. Next, I wanted to find Bubble Tea. After searching online, I found that an Asian restaurant in town has some, so I gave it a try. The fruit tea part was ok, but they were really stingy with the tapioca pearls, and they put so much ice in the glass that it was hard to fish for the few pearls that were in there. Joyce made a mean Bubble Tea back in Vermont, and that will he hard to beat.

While unpacking boxes on Saturday, I finally found my cross country ski boots. I was really excited, because that meant I could go cross country skiing, finally, in Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday. Or so I thought ... on Sunday morning, I woke up and realized ... all my kick wax was still lurking in a box somewhere that had not yet been unpacked. Dang.

No sesame chicken????

One of our two regular dining establishments in Vermont was Men at Wok. It was only 1/2 mile from home, so whenever we were too tired to cook or figure out what to do for dinner, we would get carry-out. The food was good, and the prices were cheap. We probably averaged 1.5 trips a week, so they came to know us over the years. We usually ordered the same thing: Isaac would have Sesame Chicken combination dinner with pork-fried rice and an egg roll, and I would have the General Tsao's Tofu combo with white rice and a spring roll. We always put the order under the name "Isaac", and it got the the point where after placing the order over the phone, the person would ask, "Isaac?" before we got the chance to say our name.

So Isaac called me the other day and told me a funny story. He called Men at Wok and placed an order for Beef with Broccoli under his name of Isaac. The woman on the phone responded, "Isaac? No Sesame Chicken? No general Tsao Tofu? She not live there anymore?"

Damn, I miss that place. I've been been afraid to look for a new Chinese restaurant in Fort Collins. I think Men at Wok will be really difficult to replace.

So, what else have I been up to?

The next few weeks (2/11 - 2/22) were a total blur. They were filled with all that comes with starting a new job and exploring a new home.

The hunt for a good grocery
In Vermont, we had it easy. We lived about 1 mile from two really good grocery stores. Great produce, decent meat, large selection of dry goods. Nothing spectacular, but more than adequate, and it definitely met our needs. I guess it never dawned on me that this would not be the case everywhere. The first grocery store I walked into was a shock. Not much for produce, and what they did have wasn't exactly appealing. Dito for the meat. As for dry goods, the selection was far from what I was used to. Sure, I wouldn't starve, but I wasn't exactly inspired by it's bounty (or lack of ...). The next grocery I went into was even worse.

A colleague told me about Whole Foods, but warned me to pay attention because it is referred to by some as "Whole Paycheck". Sure enough, it was an amazing store. Lots of fresh produce, fabulous meats, and a good variety of organic dry goods. The prices were high, but for quality organic food, no problem. Then I looked into baking basics such as refined sugar, flour, baking powder, etc - wow, super pricey. I now understand what she meant when she says that she doesn't do all of her groceries from one store (produce & meats from one store, dry goods from another)

Boxes
The moving van arrived on Thursday Feb 14th, and filled my new home with boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. To date, I've only unpacked 10% of them. Shame on me.

An introduction to a great fabric store
One of my colleagues from work is really into sewing - even more than I am. On one of the Saturday afternoons she took me to Elfriede's Fine Fabrics, which was having a sale. They currently share the shop with a Bernina Studio that has lots of great classes, so that's pretty cool as well. Of course, I went there just to look, and came back with fabric for three blouses. They were georgous, and they were on sale. Who knows when I'll have time to actually make the blouses.

Skiing
I got out skiing at Keystone on one of the Sundays. My friend from college, Jana, lives in Denver has a condo in Silverthorne. She invited me out, and I got to ski with a friend of hers. I would have loved to ski with Jana, but she was 8 months pregnant. It was really great to see her and also to make a new friend.

Volleyball
I went to the community Women's Volleyball league. I got to play a little, but for the most part, none of the teams are looking for players mid-season. Someone did tell me about some of the pick-up nights. I haven't gone yet, but intend to go. It will be a great way to start meeting new people.

Altitude
I can't believe how strange it is adjusting to the altitude. I spent a few weeks really tired, and found myself getting winded after going up a flight of stairs. This will take some getting used to.

A trip back to Vermont (2/22 - 2/25)
I've made one trip back to Vermont to visit Isaac already. The original plan was to do a back country ski at Avalanche Pass in the Adirondacs, but they didn't have any fresh snow and Isaac thought it would be too icy. Instead, we had one last hair appointment with Piero, got the house ready for the open house, and ran a bunch of errands (Lake Champlain Chocolates, etc). I feel a little bad that I didn't contact anyone to make plans while I was in town, but I was there for only a short time and wanted to maximize my time with Isaac. It's been a little rough having him so far away, but hopefully the house will sell soon so he can join me in Colorado.