The Crowd

I was finally there, three people deep from the stage, in room packed to capacity. Two thousand of us stood waiting expectantly turned towards the stage. Sweat was pouring off me in sheets. A feeling formed in the my stomach; dehydration mixed with caution.

A fight broke out three people over from me. More shoving from hightened male testosterone than actual punching. Security quickly stepped in and dragged a slightly ineberiated male away from the cause of his ire.

I turned to Tim, my concert friend. "Should we go towards the back? I'm dying from the heat." Tim and I immediately headed toward the back of the hall. I stopped at place with room to move and visability of the stage. Tim continued on to bar to order us water.

Band members appeared almost as soon as we stopped. The show of my beloved Social Distortion started. Elation soared through me. I began to move to songs I love.

Tim appeared with the water. I gulped greedily. Tim yelled in my ear, "I am glad we moved back." as he nodded to the mosh pit forming in the center of the hall. I smiled back.

Social D and the audience continued, in tune with each other. Excitement, movement, and full fledged release pulsed through the room echoing from band to crowd and back again until the culmination of the show broke an hour later. Overhead lights came on and calm happiness settled over the crowd.

Some people left with marks from the experience. Tim and I saw two bloody nose hurry past at different points during the show. My bruised leg? The bruises came earlier in the day from hopping from one boat to another and missing the later.

Seven Continued... the Book addition

This post has taken way too long, as you shall see, mainly because I have can't remember the names of the books I am reading or have read.

Memorial Day weekend was absolutely relaxing. Mom and I headed up the coast to Camden, Maine. Everyone should see Camden. The town is situated on a beautiful inlet. Three tall ships call Camden home during the summer. Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend.

Book edition:

Seven books I am "into". Books I am "into" is a little more tricky for me than music. There is no current list vs all time list. For consistency sake, I am going to list books I like I have recently read.

1) "The Meaning of Night": Michael Cox. The story is a confession of obsession leading to murder. The setting is Victorian England enriched in shadows and aristocracy. The novel is written from the murderer's perspective; interesting in fact because the murderer is also the protagonist.

2) "The Stranger": Albert Camus. Translation by Matthew Ward. Drenched in layers, the story follows the nondescript life of a man who life takes extraordinary turns. The character's interaction or lack thereof with those around him have significant consequences and is thought provoking.

3) "Wide Sargasso Sea": Jeanne Rhys. A disturbing story about a woman who loses her identity to others around her, well written and engaging.

4) I am reserving this spot for a book of poems I received recently. I love the poems but I can't remember the name of the book or the poet. Sad I know.

5) "The Dante Club" : Matthew Pearl. I have just started the novel and am engaged.

6) "The Ailenist": Caleb Carr. I have recently reread The Ailenist. I love books which are not only pychological but have a historical context. I could only wish more books were as engaging.

7) "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows": I am estatic with anticipation of the lastest and the last in the Potter series. I reread all JK Rowling's Potter novels three times; once when the book comes out, again when the movie comes out, and again before the next book in the series is published. I am sad The Deathly Hollows will be the only novel I will only read twice. How many books are you happy, or willing, to reread?

I am stealing, again, with a twist. Seven Songs and Seven Books.

The name of the game is name 7 songs I am "into" and why. (I stole this from the lovely Tiff.) I am giving you a list of the songs I like currently and not an all time song list. I have decided to add books. We'll see if I take the books back at the end.

1) Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip: "Thou Shall Always Kill". Even you don't like electronica or the monobeat of this song, the lyrics will have you laughing or nodding in recognition. Along the lines of Lazyboy "Underwear Goes Inside the Pants" with less serious social implications, the song lays out a larger view of some of mankind's silliness. My latest love.

2) David Bowie/Freddie Mercury: "Under Pressure". There was a time, a Vanilla Ice time, when I could not bear to hear this song without shuddering. I am glad I have the song back in my repertoire. I truly am in love with it. "Under Pressure" is a release for me.

3) Jeff Buckley: "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. I saw the biographical movie of Leonard Cohen's life. "Hallelujah" was one of the only songs I recognized. The man however is amazing. Everyone and their dog has done a version of this song. Jeff Buckley does one of my favorite renditions however. One of my favorite verses:

Well baby I've been here before
I’ve seen this room and I've walked this floor
(You Know)I used to live alone before I knew ya
And I've seen your flag on the marble arch
And Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

The whole song is a set of strong eloquent but simple verses. I am moved every time I hear it.

4) Elvis Costello: "Oliver's Army", "Accidents Will Happen", "Tear off Your Own Head" and so many more. Elvis Costello has an array of songs which never become stale. I play the song which suits my current mood. The man is a genius.

5) Magnapop: "Lay it Down". For me "Lay it Down" is a song to be played when I am overwhelmed or frustrated. When I play this song I want to make changes, realize the futility of things in the world I can't change, and recognize the consequences of my own actions.

6) Social Distortion: "Highway 101". A song to step on the pedal and drive faster. I remember driving in Southern Cal when I heard this song. I reaffirm something in me when I play the CD.

7) Sam Cooke: "Twisting the Night Away". Do I really need to say anything about this song? The best 'just dance and forget everything' song.

I am going for eight because I realized I left out another favorite.

8) Jack Johnson: "Banana Pancakes" or "Bubble Toes". Both are songs I relax to; I let everything go and smile.

Books will be part two.

The Kids are Alright

I am a bit on the poky side after being in Atlanta.

The best part about being Atlanta is my friends and my godchildren; S and A.

Friday night was probably the most thrilling. A... was the relief pitcher in his little league game. He kept the only two hits to the infield which resulted in outs and struck out a batter. The night could not have been happier. Sunday A... moved up to a yellow belt in karate and broke a board at the belt ceremony. Sunday, S... also opened her birthday presents from me. She was happy with them which made me happy.

Saturday I spent with friends. Saw Invisible Saturday night. I like the movie but think the previews are misleading.

Do you remember dittos? Wierd how the school language slips back to me. Not copies. Copies are what I bring to a meeting. Dittos are what a teacher hands you for homework. A... recieves a lot of dittos. Monday I helped him with his homework. Math believe it or not. He's working on multiplication and division.

A... and I were working on a division problem. I instructed A... to put a decimal down, and he said his class what not working on decimals yet. I asked if A... if he wanted to impress his teacher and do decimals instead of putting the remainder. "Nah", was my answer.

I revel in moments like these. Overall being with my friends give me a sense of peace making leaving difficult.

We all, my friends and I, have changed; the fundamental part of ourselves remains the same.

Friday - blessed weekend

I got my new bike yesterday. Yeah I was supposed to get the bike last weekend, but I could not break away from a prior commitment to get to the bike shop before it closed. The bike shop is also closed on Sundays - weird, eh.

Now I have beautiful Cannondale Adventure 400 bike with odometer computer and water bottle connected. I have a blue and white helmet and pretty blue bike backpack. My backpack is a Camelback so I can drink and ride without having to use the water bottle. I am kinda wigged out by it. I am not planning any three to four hour rides yet. I planning on not crashing into people, children, cars, or trees and enjoying the freedom of riding.

I am in luv with my bicycle.

This week has not been a great week for commuting. Too many accidents and bad ones at that.

I am looking forward to the glory and unbashed joy of the weekend. I am going to sleep late, take my climbers test and weather permitting -ride till my legs give out. I may make Banana Pancakes, ala the Jack Johnson, my current fav, song. I want the joy of life this weekend.

Climbing up that Hill

On Sunday, I took intro to Rock Climbing at the Boston Rock Gym. Loved it. I was the only one who signed up for Sunday. I ended up with a private lesson from 9:00 - 12:00. In fact, I had the gym to myself until about 10:30 when a group of kids arrived. Yes, there are kids who climb better than I, but hey they're kids.

(the picture is a wall at the Boston Rock Gym)

I climbed four walls and my muscles were dead tired at the end of it. I lost grip on the fifth and sixth climb. My instructor told me to take a break, get lunch, and come back. OK -a tendon in my right arm was not working. I was done.

I am still feeling it today. Next step is a test to prove compentence to climb. Testing includes belaying, proving you can hold a climber who is falling or resting and equipment safety. I am going back for my test this weekend.

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On my way to work today, I saw a kid on my street jumping on a pogo stick. Remember pogo sticks? What struck me, is I could see myself as a child on my pogo stick. I don't often see myself when kids are playing, but today I did.

Pogos haven't changed much since I had one when I was seven. Scary to think how technology could change a pogo stick. Can you imagine? Turbo charged, jet propelled? Propell Your Child to the Moon with the TURBO JET pogo stick.

Mainly I thought about the toys I needed at seven; my bike and my rollerskates. Combine those toys with a big neighborhood to play in and some good friends, what else does a kid need? A pogo stick- maybe.

I keep thinking the world has changed for children; then I see pogo stick kid on my street and think maybe the world hasn't changed too much.

New things

Over the last few weeks my head has been buried in work at the expense of all other things. Last night my head emerged from the sand through the excellent stress release of music.

I was at the Guster show last night. Excellent show. I have not been a huge Guster fan, but am a bigger one today. The band has an excellent sense of humor. I can't remember the last I heard really bad, or any, haiku at a rock show.

The Format opened up for Guster. I will be adding these boys to my music library.

The show was sponsored by Stonyfield Farms, my favorite yogurt. A lot of booths were set up spreading environmental awareness. I think I signed everything available including volunteering for other like shows. I am not sure how I'll be able to volunteer, but maybe I can find away. Anyway...

Another song I am in love with has been played rentlessly on Indie 101.3. If you haven't heard Dan Le Sac, you should. Despite the name, :Thou Shalt Always Kill", the song is an irreverent look at music and anything in which you may have heard the word should being used. I love irreverence.

I am well on my way to revamping my social and actvity life. I will be buying a hybrid bicycle this weekend. No hybrid on bicycle does not mean electric. Hybrid is trail and road.

Woo hoo.....

From there to here

No wonder I have have a cold. (Picture on the left from vacation. The one on the right today.)

Vacation was wonderful. Flew into Pensacola. Two of my dearest friends, Danny and Aileen, picked me up and we went to the beach. Aileen played with Iris, their little girl, in the sand. Ian, their little boy, and I played the wave game; stand where the water line runs up on the sand and try and not let the waves get your feet wet.

The next day we went into New Orleans. I love this city. Every time I visit I fall in love all over again.

We were the perfect tourists. Munched down beignets at Cafe du Monde. Wondered the French Quarter. Watched jazz musicians and jugglers. Went into several art galleries. I bought a painting outside St. Louis. Artists line the square. Sublime.

The next day we wondered the streets of Mobile. I saw the Mardi Gras museum. Mobile hosts their own Mardi Gras parade every year.

Relaxed the rest of the day and went to a movie that night.

Love you Danny and Aileen.

Merry Christmas

As pathetic as this may sound, I have finally finished my Christmas shopping... for Dec 2006. And if I sound pathetic, keep in mind I will be getting gifts too.

I am off to see friends over the weekend in Mobile, AL I haven't seen since August. We will trade Christmas gifts then.

I thought in true spirit of Christmas I would wait until the very last minute. Off to Borders I went and scored a very sweet box set. Occasionally these friends read my posts. I am keeping hush on the particulars.

Have a great weekend and um... Merry Christmas.

Hmmmm

I had a wonderful St. Patty's day. My friend and I went to a party Saturday night. We danced all night. (The living room doubled as a dance floor.) Well, I danced all night. My friend was hanging out with his friends discussing God knows what. I was happy dancing with my new friends on the dance floor while some of the guys were trying to figure out how the computer was connected into the stereo system.

How do you convince someone good manners dictates not to arrive at a party on time or early? We were early enough our hostess had not put on her shoes yet.

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As I was driving home last week, I saw an a Ford Explorer with Environmental Police emblazoned on the side. An oxymoron? I tried to take a picture with my camera phone, truly I did, but I lost the vehicle in traffic.

Joining the Group (Visual DNA)

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Dogsittin

I am dog sitting this week for two cutie pies. (not awake yet - will continue later.)

Later:

On Friday, I began dog sitting the cuties you see above. The dogs live across town. In order to sit them, I'm staying in their house for a week. Kinda like a vacation but I still go to work everyday.

What I find weird is how quickly I am settling into the a new routine; a routine revolving around the dogs. When I awake up in the morning, I automaticallylet the dogs out. I time leaving work in order to let the dogs out. (Somebody burst into song! "Who? Who?)

The dogs have a bedtime ritual. The dogs go upstairs about nine thirty at night. If I am not upstairs for bed by ten, one will come downstairs and look at me expectantly before returning upstairs. If I am still not upstairs in the ten minutes, one of the dogs, Piper, will bark. I thought my curfew days were over.

I checked with the owner to make sure I was not imagining the meanings of the dog's actions. I am not. The dogs have a curfew for the owners too.

Book Meme

Thanks, Paperback Writer for the cool book meme!*

Look at the list of books below.* Type "READ" beside the ones you've read.* Type "WANT TO" beside the ones you'd like to read.* Leave blank the ones that you aren't interested in.* Type "AGAIN AND AGAIN" beside the ones you could read again and again.* "Tried" for those books that you've tried to read...again and again. (This oneRob put in!)* "??" For those books you haven't heard of

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) Read
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) Again and Again
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) Read
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) Tried
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) Want to
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien) Read
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien) Want to
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) Read
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon) Read
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry) ??
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling) Again and again
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown) Read
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling) Again and again
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving) ??
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden) Read
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling) Again and again
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald) Want to
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling) Again and again
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) Read
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien) Read
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger) Want to
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) Read
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold) ??
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel) Want to
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) Want to
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) Read
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) Again and again
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks) Read
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) Read
34. 1984 (Orwell) Want to
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley) Want to
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett) ??
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay) Want to
38. I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb) Tried
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) Want to
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel) Tried
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) Again and Again
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom) Read
45. Bible - Tried
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) Tried
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas) Again and Again
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt) Read
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) Want to
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver) Want to
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens) Read
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card) ??
54. Great Expectations (Dickens) Read
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) Read
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence) ??
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling) Again and again
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough) Again and again
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood) Want to
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky) Tried
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy) Tried
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice) Read
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis) ??
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez) Want to
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) Want to
69. Les Miserables (Hugo) Tried and Want to
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) Read
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding) Read
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez) Want to
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje) Want to
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) Again and Again
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith) Want to
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence) ??
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White) Again and again
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck) Read
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier) Want to
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen) Again and again
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams) Want to
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) Read
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields) ??
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago) ??
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)??
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck) Want to
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd) Want to
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton) Again and again
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce) Tried to

The Weekend

Started out well enough.

A friend and I met for dinner and went to see a modern dance troupe. Sounds high brow, doesn't it? One of the dancers did a shadow dance to March of the Pigs by NIN. The coolest and best dance in the show.

My big girl bedroom set came on Saturday. I am smiling thinking about my stuff. Makes me want to dance, and I did when the delivery guys arrived. Had to wonder what they were thinking. I also had a new chair and funky pillows delivered.

Saturday was warm, read fifty degrees. While I am enthralled with my new stuff, I needed to go out into the sunshine. I walked around town and had fun. Bought smelly lavender paper drawer liners to keep my clothes smelling smelly. Went to dinner with another friend.

Sunday I began the process of moving clothes into the drawers. I also sat in my new chair, read the paper, and finished a Game of Thrones by George Martin. Two friends recommenced the book over Labor Day. I put off reading it because the book was supposed to be Science Fiction. I am not much of a SciFi fan. Finally I picked it up and finished it. I would have been glad to move on to a new book, but oh no, George Martin writes in a series. Mr Martin left a cliff hanger at the end of the Game of Thrones. I purchased the sequel, A Clash of Kings, today.

Ice

When I first moved to Boston, I lived in apartment with one of my good friends. The apartment looked over a reservoir. I spent a lot of time studying the reservoir 'cause I had no money to do anything else. I was poor student.


I arrived in Boston on January 1, 1999. The reservoir was frozen solid. Temperatures were between four and ten my entire first week. Over the following months before class, I noticed the ice would move and melt and then refreeze again.


If this sounds a tad boring, give a Georgia girl a break. I had never seen any water so sizable frozen.


I am still fascinated by frozen lakes. A pond not too far from where I live now hosts skaters on the weekends when the temperatures fall and the ice will allow.



















For music lovers: check out this site: http://www.hearya.com/2007/02/14/top-100-indie-songs-of-all-time .... Hmmmm. I dispute some of the songs... Thank you Paperback Writer for the link.

Mummies

Something about cleaning always seems to resurrect old memories. Some would say memories are like ghosts; they linger and sometimes haunt. I prefer to think of memories as mummies. Dust them off and the recollections arise, temporarily, again to walk the earth. Real and unencumbered.

Saturday morning I woke up late after being out with some friends the night before and decided to begin sorting through my junk closet. My junk closet contains all manner of stuff; exercise stuff, albums, papers I decided I need for a reason which was clearer at some other time, off season clothes, and tons of notebooks.

I love to write. Even in elementary school I would write down my dreams and create stories in notebooks. English and History were my favorite subjects; one, I could write or learn about writing, and the other, I could hear stories.

Mysteries have always been my preferred genre; the turns and twists, looking for possible clues. The first story I remember writing was detective thriller. I was eight and very proud of the way the detective hunted down the jewel thief; reviewing all the clues in the shower - the way I would think of plot lines.

I still have the story. I have kept it with a bazillion other notebooks and journals.

I found eighty pages of historical fiction and thirty pages of a CIA mystery. Both started about eight years ago and yet to be finished. I flipped through them reminiscing the countless hours I'd sit at a bar stool writing while Maria, my best friend, was tending bar. Mummies.

I'd always ask Maria’s opinion about what I was working on. She’d flood me the possibilities in which path the story could take. I’d pick one, maybe incorporate two or three, and start writing again until the bar closed for the night.

The hours I engaged in writing, crafting are non-existent in my day now, but I see the joy of pen (yes, I said pen) in hand scrawling out ideas and plots and elementary poems. I hated typing them out later on the computer. Now I rather type than write even though I miss the feel of calluses on the inner part of my index finger and thumb.

Maybe my junk room should be renamed as the "remembrance closet"; remember to finish, sentimental memories; cleaning memories… Maybe this is why I have a junk closet because I like watching mummies arise and walk.

Cleansed

I finished the Cleanse. I have learned many things about myself.

I will not kill anyone for chocolate. The thought only crossed my mind during the first three days.

I was a habitual coffee drinker. Decaf Vanilla Chai is my new baby.

I do know how to cook. I have prepared many meals over the past few weeks.

I actually feel better without sugar and caffeine through out the day. Prior to the cleanse, this statement was a vicious rumor.

My energy and strength levels have gone up. I can do more at the gym. Watch me jinx myself.

I have no idea how to maintenance is going to work. Friday is dinner and drinks night with friends, emphasis on the drinks.

The cleanse did not interfere with my ability to write- work did. Working on writing more.

A Weekend off

Last week was hectic. At work I am in the middle of a reorg and all that goes along with it; meeting my new boss; working with new personalities... Just could not goof off and post.

In light of last week and the four weeks prior of never having personal time to relax, I did absolutely nothing this weekend. I had three glorious days to be bummful. (I did rearrange my living room, but I was getting ansy doing nothing.)

A box full of my grandmother's letters, written by my grandfather, arrived last week. I need to open and find a place to store them. I am not sure if I am ready to read them. I read some of their love letters in December and cried. I don't think I am ready to go there again.

The box has some papers in it declaring the end of WWII and President Kennedy's assassination in the Saturday Evening Post; the picture by Norman Rockwell. I am not sure what to do with these. I know they must be preserved somehow. I guess plastic sleeves?

The ads are funky: Ribs in a Can, Old Grand-Dad 100 Proof Bourbon.

For now, I am putting the papers back in the box.

Resolutions

I don't have any resolutions this year. I really haven't thought about them until I read Kaply Monday.

About a month ago my coworker and I decided to go on a cleanse diet. Good for your liver, etc... Since there was no way we'd accomplish what we'd need to with the holidays coming up; we put the diet off until after the New Year.

Clincher: No Coffee. No chocolate. Expect major whining from me over the next three weeks, how long the diet lasts. Not having any chocolate is going to be the killer. I feel it. I've gone without coffee, but.... YIKES!

This week, I am gearing myself up for the next three. I have cut myself down to a cup of coffee a day. I haven't succeeded without the chocolate yet. How do you cut down on MM's? One handful from two? Sigh...

Tiff is in a race to lose thirty five pounds. I'll think about losing weight after I get through the next three weeks.

Do you think I'll have any friends left when I am through?

Not as Planned or my version of Blizzard 2, Denver.

My plan, this Christmas, was to spend a quiet fun holiday with my mom, aunt, and uncle in Raton, NM. My aunt Jean and uncle Omer were to pick up my mom and I at Denver airport and drive three hours to Raton.

I arrived on Christmas Eve planning on meeting Jean and Omer at baggage claim. My mom was to be an hour behind me. As I was waiting for my luggage, my aunt phoned to let me know mom's flight was canceled because of mechanical difficulties. She was booked on another flight two days later because Denver's airport was still catching up on flights; in other words, all Denver flights were booked because of Blizzard 1.

Jean and Omer booked a room at a hotel near the airport where I met them. We spent Christmas driving around the Rockies and having fun.

The next day we spent in downtown Denver looking at different shops.

We picked Mom and made the trip to Raton. The next morning we had Christmas and then wondered around the town.

Omer had two appointments in Pueblo Thursday morning. We decided to drive on into Denver and stay at a hotel in order for me to make my morning flight the following day. Blizzard 2 was coming in and I wanted to be in a position to make any flight home.

The drive was increasingly difficult from Pueblo. White out conditions began to set in. In Colorado Springs I took over the driving. Colorado interstate signs warned chain laws were in effect, commercial vehicles are required to put chains on their tires. Many semis were stopped in the middle of the road on Monument Hill putting on chains. (At one point I asked my aunt to yell out the window to a trucker, " What is up with you people? Put your chains on on the side of the road." Jean refused my request for some reason. Shrug.)

We got into Denver eight hours later. My flight the next morning was canceled, but American booked me on an afternoon flight when a lull in the storm was forecasted.

The next day my flight was delayed two hours. My mom flew out an hour earlier than I did. My aunt was stuck in Trinidad, CO for three days, 17 miles away from her home.

Even though I spent more time in Denver than Raton, the holidays were fun and spent with some of the people I love most.