Small Golf and Psychiatric Conditions

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Colorado weather is schizophrenic. Wednesday of last week was 70 some-odd degrees and sunny. Thursday of last week dumped snow on all of the out of doors in quantities of 1-4 inches.  Weird, weird, weird state. And state of mind.

The weekend before the snow was perfect (weather-wise) and my friends and I decided to take advantage of it. We played my favorite sport except for football and volleyball. Tired of guessing? It’s miniature golf. 🙂 Here’s the day in pictures so you can feel the warm rays of sunshine and friendly competition that we all felt that Sunday afternoon.

Katie and Stephanie all sisterly and stuff. That was before the competition part…I like these girls. They make everything fun. AND they were suprisingly patient with my many strokes.

Steph, Katie and Liz in the fortress of solitude. Or Davey Crockett’s fort. We couldn’t decide…although the lack of crystals and…you know…Superman kind of made the choice for us. Hey, a girl can hope, right?

Hands down THE most exciting play of the game. She would have gotten MVP for sure if we would have been playing in the Superbowl. Except if WE actually played in the Superbowl, it would show an amazing decline in American sports as we know it. I’m only speaking for myself. For all I know, Liz has the arm of John Elway. Or Peyton Manning. 🙂 But, back to the story. Gosh, stop letting me run down these rabbit trails!!

Okay, picture this. A miniature golf hole. A long straight row of fake grass, and at the end of it…a hole. Sounds easy, right? Here’s the twist. Halfway down the row is a “speed bump” of sorts for our little brightly covered golf balls to find their demise. Liz wasn’t deterred. She stepped right up,  and shot that ball forward. It caught air and then went directly IN THE HOLE! Coolest hole in one I’ve ever seen. Color me surpised.

Who won, you ask? Well, I like to think it’s not all about WINNING or LOSING but…who am I kidding. It’s completely about winning. And while got a hole in one on the first and last holes, the middle part was…well…not good. So, not good, in fact, that we had to adopt a mulligan policy. I will say, that I was not the only one to USE the mulligan policy, but I was the only one to use it the most. I say this with my head hung in shame because I always thought I was good at this game. It turns out, not so much…

And the bona fide winner is: KATIE! She’s the best, she’s the best! Hurrah! Hurrah! 

We snookered some poor chap into taking a group photo of us.

Long live the days of semi-spring weather!! 🙂

The Continuation and Conclusion of the D.C. Trip

It’s a long title, I know. But I couldn’t think of a more succinct way to state that I will no longer be dragging this hulabaloo out any longer. You know I went to Washington D.C., I know I went to Washington D.C…let us have this be the end of the matter, eh? You all have the patience of Job.

So, during the eventide when we were no longer speedwalking, taking tours, and running the country, we sat down to visit with our relatives in the area. My Uncle Scott and Aunt Debbie live in VA, not too far from the fair city we spent most of our time in.  It was great to see familiar faces after all those strange weirdos we kept rubbing elbows with in the metro. 🙂 Plus, in addition to the nice company and wonderful meal, we weren’t walking.  Which I was happy about. And so were my feet. By the way, I was just kidding about the running the country thing… 

My cousins Michelle and Miguel and their sweet wee one, Aiden also just moved to the area. The last time I hung out with my cousin Michelle, she taught me speed (the card game of course, but somehow I picked it up in my speech also :)), played with me in their pool in the back yard, and let me play her tiny piano (or that might have been my other cousin, Pamela’s).  Needless to say, it’s been a while.

Okay, GET THIS! They have a TRADER JOE’S IN THE WASHINGTON D.C. AREA! I contemplated a move right then and there. Now, this is next part is going to sound a bit silly, but stick with me. When I walked inside, I almost cried. I was literally overcome with emotions. Now, to be fair (and gain myself some credibility back), it wasn’t really Trader Joe’s that made me cry. I was the girly nostalgic part of me that really missed my friends in California and my life back in that time. Trader Joe’s was only the vehicle of emotion.

If that part wasn’t silly enough, this next part will floor you. If you have never been inside a Trader Joe’s, here is your chance. A pictoral turn about the store awaits you below! (You can thank me later. I really like fresh flowers, books, and Starbucks gift cards…)

The entrance. The left the lights on for me… 🙂

Sniff. I miss picking up a bunch of fresh flowers after my grocery shopping. My budget doesn’t miss it that much, though…

Frozen meals that made me feel like a gourmet chef…complete with white puffy hat, without the unfortunate side effect of actually having to COOK.

Fun in a little cute box with a little cute label. Everything from chocolate covered sunflower seeds to candied almonds. A good time was had by all.

Trader Giottos is the Italian brand of Trader Joe’s. It’s like having a small teensy weensy Italian man live in your freezer and handle all your Italian eatery needs. He gets cold, but that’s how much he loves you. And making the food. And it saves a step because while he’s making it in your freezer, it’s already frozen! No Ziploc bags required. And now, I’m looking for a way to extradite myself from this line of thought and having a hard time…

The dried fruit aisle was the highlight of my trip mostlybecause I didn’t need dry ice to haul back my loot. Now THAT might seem a bit conspicuous to the airline attendant…I picked up some cinnamon flavored dried apple rings, dried mango, banana chips, cranberries, dried pears, and some slivered almonds.

Ah, the juice aisle. Also one of my faves. Those small bottles up above hold smoothies like Naked Juice, but they are much more cost effective. Tasty too. My favorite is the mango smoothie. I bought three. I was able to drink…well…one. But, it was worth every penny.

Trader Joe. Always the gentleman. Always.