When, exactly, am I going to Seattle?

For the past month my friend and I have been planning a long weekend trip to Seattle.   

 

We agreed on a weekend.  

We booked the hotel room.  

We got the time off work.   

She buys her outbound ticket.

 

Yesterday I bought my ticket.    I send her a victorious text that I too will be on my way to vacation land.    We both are still scouting for a good return fare, but still, we're on our way!

 

Today at work I look at my wall calendar.    My mini-vacation to Seattle is proudly written in dry erase on a particular date.

 

I look through my email.   The hotel confirmation is for a particular date.

 

The same date that is on my calendar.   2 for 2.   Sweet.

 

Did I mention I bought my ticket yesterday?

 

It was not for the same weekend.  

 

I panicked for a minute.  I felt like a total idiot who had never booked a flight or planned a vacation before.   I share my shame with my co-workers.    I bounce up and down in frustration at my own carelessness. 

 

And then I breathe a sigh of relief.    I booked on Southwest.   They don't charge any change fees.    I simply clicked on change reservation, changed the date and clicked submit.  Same time.   Same price.  

 

I am, in fact, going to Seattle next month.   I'm going with my friend. 

And we're going at the same time. 

 

 

 

When was your last travel snafu?

It's Denver and We Have More Weather

The weather ruler doesn't lie

 

It's spring in Colorado.   

 

Just like every other time of the year, the weather is unpredictable.   We had nice sunny days last week.    On Friday, when leaving work for a little happy hour fun, there were some flurries.   I was not prepared.  No socks.  No gloves.   Shame on me.

 

By the time I got back to my car later that evening, it was covered with four inches.    And yesterday afternoon, my highly scientific weather ruler (above) recorded close to 10 inches on top of the air conditioner. 

 

When I was perusing weather.com, I found that I had the option to vote on the weather.  

Your vote?

And then when I was reading this article over on The Onion, I noticed that they have very special Onion weather.


Need to go thrift shopping for the proper ugly coat



Any fun weather stories to share today?

Living on a Prayer (lip sync version)

I subscribe to a lot of Groupon/Living Social type emails.   It used to be these sites were mostly restaurants (yay!).    Now it seems like it's a lot of microdermabrasion, teeth whitening, waxing and carpet cleaning (not so yay).

 

After about a month drought where I didn't buy anything.  Today I hit 2 for 2.   

The first was $25 for $50 at Wash Park Grille.

 

And then I saw an email from Travel Zoo.   

It must be a mistake. 

$25 for Bon Jovi tickets?

 

Let me read the fine print to make sure that I'm not missing anything.   Other than the pesky $7.75ish convenience fee, it was legit (I know those fees aren't for my convenience).   In reality it was $65 for 2 tickets.  Still a hell of a deal.

 

I (along with millions of others) grew up when Slippery When Wet was the big album.   On record.  Or cassette.  

 

We hadn't arrived at CD's yet.   iTunes wasn't even a glimmer in Apple's eye.

 

side note:  My first CD was Skid Row.   Parents were appalled.   

My second CD was Paula Abdul's "Straight Up."

 

The way back machine starts running in my mind.    I'm at a lock in at the YMCA.   A group is lip syncing to "Living on a Prayer."   20+ years later that song still makes me crank it up and sing along at the top of my lungs. 

 

Ohhhhh half way there

Ohh-ho ________________

 

Sing that line.

You know you want to.

First Ever International Day of Happiness = YAY!

 

New holidays keep sneaking up on me without any advance notice.   Already this week, I missed celebrating National Oatmeal Cookie Day.

 

I have just learned (seriously - in the last half hour) that tomorrow is the FIRST EVER United Nations International Day of Happiness.   

This will be one of the best days ever! 

To learn more about this fantastically new day check out:
What the UN has to say
What the Huff Post has to say (I didn't know they had a "Good News" page)
Encouraging news on the Day of Happiness site and their Action for Happiness FB page

And now, here's your mission.   Whether it's on the official day or just another day that works for you, go out and bring happiness to someone else.

I'm not very good at rest

The Five Minute Friday (or Saturday in my case) prompt this week is rest.

I'm not very good at the art of rest.   My mind is constantly running.   What's happening next today, tonight, tomorrow, 6 months from now.   Sometimes I need to make a deliberate effort to do nothing.   And yes, sitting with a book and drinking coffee on a Saturday morning is nothing.  It's an act of rest.  


My travel attitude follows the same pattern.    I want to see, do, be.    At long last, my travel self has slowed down.    She enjoys sitting with a coffee, a slice of baklava, or a cup of gelato and just soaking it in.    Sitting on a comfy chair writing in her journal.   Listening to the music, whether it's a guitar player in a bar or jams on the ipod.  

When can we tell ourselves that it's ok to rest.  To be.  To relax.  To enjoy.   American culture certainly doesn't push us in that direction.



Rest looks different to each person.   Reading a book while drinking coffee might be too much activity for someone else.  Or look too much like work.  

What does rest look like to you?

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A group of bloggers from all over get together on Fridays (or Saturdays) to write for five minutes, unscripted, based on a prompt from Lisa Jo Baker's blog.    Feel free to join in the fun.

Lady Whats? A pet peeve I had forgotten

People watching on the train is always entertaining.  On my morning commute it is people going to work and college.

One such college student was rocking her athletic shorts from high school.   Where, apparently, she was a Lady Pioneer.  I'm pretty sure that when I was playing Oregon Trail there was no distinction between pioneers and Lady pioneers.   Everyone had equal opportunity to get a snakebite or die of Cholera.

I'm not sure where the trend of "feminizing" sports teams started.  All I know is that it needs to stop.

Lady Knights?   Might as well call them the Damsels in Distress.

Lions?   The lioness soccer team will go all pride rock on your ass.

And then there's the -ette.   I don't care if you buy a small table for your dinette, but don't  you dare turn the girls basketball team into the Soaring Eaglettes.

As a kid you are on the girls team. In college you play women's _________ (sport of choice).   

No young woman deserves to be a Lady Tigerette. 

It's MS Awareness Week!

 

 

March 11 - 17, 2013 is MS Awareness Week.

 

On the MS Connections page, you can see all the reasons people connect to/with MS, including the ability to post a picture or a connection statement on their page. 

 

This one is mine.

 

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To help create a world free of MS, click here. 

 



Here vs There: Colorado vs Florida

I sent a picture of our Colorado snow to a friend who is in Florida for a wedding.   

She reciprocated by sending a picture back.

She wins.

It's Not Free - It's Complimentary: The Good Life at Beaver Creek Resort

The grand finale of the Tuesday night snow shoe tour!

 

I just returned from my staycation up at Beaver Creek.   For those who aren't familiar with Colorado ski resorts, Beaver Creek is just past Vail along on I-70.   It's beautiful.   And by staying Monday-Thursday, we enjoyed beautiful ski days with no lift lines.

 

If you make it up to Beaver Creek sometime this ski season, here are a couple fun and free activities you can enjoy.    Beaver Creek's tag line is "Not Exactly Roughing It."   Definitely the way to play and stay!

 

Epic Mix Photos - Catch one of the photographers in green while on the mountain. They will scan your pass (even if it's just a day pass) and you can get free digital photos to share on Facebook.   For a fee you can also get them printed in the village or download higher quality digital copies.

 

Just a little powder day

9:30am at the top of Centennial Express it's Cocoa and Corduroy - get off the lift and get a cup of cocoa, complete with whipped cream.   Just what you need to start your day.

 

3:00pm at the base of mountain in Beaver Creek Village - fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.  Just catch one of the staff in the chef hats before they are all gone.

 

S'more O'Clock at the Park Hyatt -  This is one of my favorites.   S'mores by the firepit from 4-5pm each day during peak ski season.

 

Nature Valley Complimentary Family Snowshoe Tour - this is offered Tuesday nights at 4pm this winter.   So much fun!    The staff takes you on a guided snowshoe walk near the Nordic center - they tell the kids that we have to go turn on the hot chocolate machine.    The best part was sliding back to the Nordic Center after the tour....heels down and tips up.    If you wear your "slippery pants" you will fly down the mountain.   After that exercise it's time for more cocoa and cookies!

Thursday Night Lights - I need to go on a Thursday night for this.  There are fireworks and a glow-stick ski down.   What's not to like?


Do you have a favorite ski resort?  What do you love?

Introducing: Hoping Liberia

Go into the world and do well.

But more importantly,

go into the world and do good. 

-Minor Myers-

 

 

I'm excited for everyone, even people I don't know, who are going out into the world to do something new, different, and challenging.    Going out into the world can mean going thousands of miles away.   Going out into the world might be in your own community.   I like to read articles, blogs and posts by people who are serving the greater good.    

 

I'm thrilled to introduce you to Hoping Liberia.   One of my best friends from college and her family are in the process of becoming missionaries.     Through them, I learning about long term mission work.   My experience has been limited to short-term mission and volunteer trips.   This is an entirely different animal. 

 

Once their funding is secured they will be off to Liberia for four years.  During this time they will serve at Ricks Institute, a K-12 school, in the roles of English teacher and maintenance supervisor.   They had a chance to go to Ricks over Thanksgiving to see, in person, their call and to meet the people they will be serving.   As I've been following their journey, I've been amazed at the people and organizations that they've been introduced to that have ties to Liberia.  This doesn't happen by chance.  It's all a part of God's plan.

 

 

Where in the World is Liberia?

It's on the "West Coast"...of Africa

Map Credit: Lonely Planet

 

How can you learn more about Hoping Liberia?

 

Like them on Facebook

Follow their blog

Read about their work on the International Ministries site

 

 

Do you have friends and family who are out in the world doing good? 

Are you out in the world doing good?  

Leave the link to your / their blog or FB page in the comments so we can provide encouragement!