The Last Night

I am so sad tonight.  I am so sad to have to leave Colorado tomorrow morning.  It is the first time I've cried all week.

I love it here.  Now I remember why I felt so homesick for Denver.  It is awesome here.  It is beautiful.   There is so much to see and do.  There is the city and there is the mountains.  The weather is literally perfect.  All the time.  I love my friends and their families.  I love the diverse food selection.  I love the green chili. 

I am so sad to have to return to my life back East.  I am sad to return to my rut.  To the stresses of my family and work.  To the go-nowhere job.  To my loneliness. 

I need to change something when I get back.  This is not the normal "Oh, man, it sucks that my vacation is ending."  It is more like "Fuck, please don't make me go back."  I've been so relaxed all week and now I am just crazy upset.

Something needs to change when I get back, but what?

Reasons Why Denver Rocks

Free Bridal Shower Games!

I threw a bridal shower for my sister this past weekend and the games were a hit!  I took ideas from different places, but made them my own.  I thought I'd share them with you.

This is Flower Fill-in-the-Blanks.  They are fairly famous-ish quotes that contain the names of flowers, which I have cleverly omitted.

Click this link to download the game and this link to download the answers.  Once you download the file you can edit it however you like.

I gave the prize to the first person to get all the questions correct.

My next game was Power Purse.  This game is pretty flexible.  I read out the item and the points and if they had the item in their purse, they got the points.  You can change any of the items to suit your own needs.  This game was very competitive!


Power Purse  

 The prize went to the person with the most points, which happened to be the bride in my case.  She is a girl who is always prepared ;)

The next game we played was all about floral arrangement.  I bought small Glad food containers, floral foam and fake flowers.  The guests were split into groups of five or so and had to use the materials to create a bouquet of flowers.  The bride then chose the best and that team got the prize.  These were surprisingly really nice.  (As of yet, I do not have a picture.)

And finally, I cut out simple flower shapes from card stock.  I had the guests write a piece of marital advice on each flower and tape a pencil to the back (for the stem) and put them all in a vase filled with rocks.  This was awesome.  The guests could write something funny, something serious, write their name, or not.  I really enjoyed reading what everyone wrote.  It was something nice that the bride can take home.  And she will be set for number 2 pencils for several years.

All the games were a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed them.  Let me know if you use them and what, if any, changes you make.

Occupations

No, not like military occupations.  Like jobs.  I know you are always thinking war, aren't you?

I am starting a list of possible occupations I could do, if/when I ever decide to leave my glorious tech job.

• Lawyer - I love to argue.  I think I am fairly good at it too.  And I will argue about anything.  A big source of conflict in my marriage was what would happen if aliens landed.  Serious arguing there.  The biggest flaw in this plan is the 6-ish years of school I would have to attend.  Errr....
• Pilot - I've always wanted to learn how to fly.  I don't think I would want to do it commercially though.
• Lobbyist - This really interests me, because I'd love to make a difference.  I'd love to help pass laws that helped the people of our nation.  But, there would be a bit of schooling and a whole lot of unpaid internships.  That will make rent difficult to come by.
• Non-profit organization - I don't know what kind of non-profit and I'm not really sure what I would do, but this goes back to wanting to make a difference.  I would love to do something that changed opinions of the lower class.
• Alpaca farmer - Well, not just alpacas.  I'd have goats too.  I love goats.  And alpacas.  What a relaxing life that would be.  I'd probably have to move out of the city, though.
• Scientist - haha.. just kidding!
• Zookeeper - So, I know I've done this already, but maybe an AZA zoo would be better.  I'd love to do more behavioral research and less landscaping.
• Concert Violinist - I'd have to learn the violin.  I'd probably need to buy a violin.  And I'd probably need some natural talent.  But, once I've got all that, I'd love to play for the Boston Pops or something.
• Animal Chiropractor - I considered this before, but again with the schooling.  I need an occupation that I don't need to go back to school for.
• Humanities Professor - I minored in humanities which is a useless degree unless you plan on teaching humanities.  Maybe I could do that.
• Daycare Provider - How awesome would that be?!  I adore kids and to be able to spend more time with my own would be a dream come true.  If I had a house, or something, I'd definitely consider this one.
• Blogger - Hey, how cool would it be to be paid for blogging?  Oh, but I don't want to do any giveaways or reviews or anything like that.  So, yeah.  You think I could get someone to pay me to blog about possible job opportunities?

Quotes

A Simple Gift

Sometimes what matters, what makes a difference, is a simple gesture.  A simple sentence said with love.  A simple gift.  Something small, something that most people would overlook.  Sometimes it is this small thing that makes you appreciate all that you have.

This is what happened today, a very simple "If you need to talk, you can talk to me.  I love you and Ryder." 

I am loved and Ryder is loved.  I have people I can talk to.

So often I feel alone.  So often I feel like it is Ryder and me against the world, but sometimes someone or a series of persons remind me that it is not so.  There are people who understand.  Even if no one person understands everything, I have a whole support system of people.

I am very blessed.

At the end of my time in Denver, a friend made me a load of signs.  Signs that said "People love me," "I will survive," "I am beautiful" and the like.  I hung them all over my house.  On the fridge, on the mirror, on the stairs, on doorways, on everywhere.  And they helped.

I have one on my mirror now, sent by a friend, that I look at and read everyday.  I think I will make more to remind myself that I do have people who care.  I may not have a "person" but I have people.  And they are everywhere:  work, home, daycare, Maine, New Hampshire, Colorado, Canada, everywhere.  And they love me.

What phrases help you?

I Didn't Start the Fire

When I was young, I was TERRIFIED that I was going to spontaneously combust.  I don't know where I heard about it, but I was sure that it was going to happen to me.  I had no idea when or how this would happen, which made it all the scarier.  I would be sitting watching TV or something and think, "Shit.  This might be it.  I might spontaneously combust right here, right now and no one will know what had happened."

I was truly afraid of this.

I must have forgotten about it sometime during my studies.  Or perhaps I learned enough biology to not believe in it any more.  Anyways, I came across this article yesterday and it kinda upset me.  I can't really explain it.  It's just a really disturbing thought, someone just catching on fire for no reason.

God, I truly worry about the stupidest things.