Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Dead Sea Scrolls?

Nope, just some ornamental work on a building in Civic Center park, in Denver.



I'm a nut for architectural details...if you haven't figured that out already. :-)

What will they think of next????

It came in the mail....and Mot wondered what the heck it was. The box contained a smaller box. The smaller box contained a product made by Vosges Haute Chocolat.

The name of the product.....

Mo's Bacon Bar.



Why do I have a Mo's Bacon Bar addressed to me?

Because I rock.

No really, I rock.

Seriously.

I won it!!!! In a contest!!!

A movie trivia contest.

Elliott's Foodipalooza Film Trivia Contest, to be exact. :-)

And I won!!

I already said that?

(ahem)

Sorry

I've had my prize for a little while, but the holidays, the Denver trip, the new puppy, the sick dog (my older dog Penny was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and we had to put her down), and plus a big ole' case of the "Oh My Gawd, Where is the Sun, I Need SUN" blues have kept me from blogging at all for the last week.

So anyway...back to my awesomeness!!

I can say that, since I won a contest....without it sounding like I'm tooting my own horn.

Right??

:-)

Mo's Bacon Bar



Chocolate + Bacon

Bacon + Chocolate

Together.

To some it sounds gross, to some it sounds like heaven in a small foil package.

I belong to both groups. I mean, it's bacon, and it's chocolate. How could you go wrong? But at the same time.....I was leery.

With an open mind and camera in hand....I opened the package and gave it a shot.

Here's a stream of thoughts from Nej's brain........

"Wow, this smells really good."

"The chocolate in this bar is awesome. Milk chocolate, creamy and rich."

"The bacon is allot more subtle than I expected, but it's good."

"MMMMmmmmm chocolate."

"Mmmmmmm bacon."

"Oh crap, I've eaten 1/2 of the bar already?"

"Must. Put. Bacon Bar. Away."

Mot tried it as well. I really wish I'd had my camera at the ready. Because a picture speaks a thousand words in this case...for sure!

Let me see if I can recreate the look........in words.

No.....I don't think I can.

OK fine...I'll try.

It was a "hmm, this isn't so ba.....oh, no.....there's the bacon flavor....people did this on purpose? why? oh why?"

He said the chocolate was actually really, really good....(and he comes from a family of chocoholics) ...but the bacon thing is "just wrong."

But keep this in mind...Mot eats things one at a time. There's no mixing of food. He picks one thing, eats it all, then moves on to the next. I'm not surprised he didn't like it....but it was amusing to watch him give it a try! :-)

Thanks again Elliott!!!

If you don't read Elliott's blog, you really should.

Do you like movies, or even better, do you like pie?

If you do...you must go read.

I mean it.....

Like...now!

Even if you don't like movies and pie....check it out.

Go ahead....I'll wait.

(tapping toes)

(watering plants)

(cleaning dust bunnies off desk)

What is that??

Nebraska has not seen the light of day in weeks.

The presence of the sun has been zero...nada, zip, zilch.....for nearly three weeks.

Or more.

I've lost track.

Sunday morning I got up from the couch to let the dogs out. I'd just taken a shower, and was sitting around in my bathrobe, trying to work up the motivation to get dressed and get on with my day.

I walked to the dining room, opened the sliding glass door....and just stood there.

And stood some more.

I rubbed my eyes.

I shook my head a few times.

More eye rubbing.

"I must be seeing things."

"Nope, I think it's real. The sky....."

"It's....it's...........blue."

Hallelujah.

I closed the door, and went downstairs to my closet to get dressed. While I was down there, I switched laundry from the washer to the dryer. I folded a load of dried clothes. I put on my shoes and socks.

I went back upstairs....looked outside....and it was cloudy.

Completely overcast.

We went from not a cloud in the sky, back to depressing in less than 1/2 an hour.

(sigh)

With head lowered, and shoulder slumped, I walked to the couch, curled up under a blanket, and watched TrueBlood episodes for the next couple of hours.

OK, OK...for the next like 5 hours.

The next time the dogs wanted to be let out, I opened the door and......

"No friggin' way."

"It can't be."

Rubbing my eyes.

Shaking my head.

More eye rubbing.

"Is that..........? NO...can't be."

"It's....it's...snowing?"

We got a good couple of inches over the course of the afternoon.

All the grass that was finally showing was now gone again. The piles and piles of snow throughout the city finally melting were added to.

At the gym this morning, the weatherman told me that it was going to be sunny...not partly sunny, not partly cloudy....sunny....starting tomorrow.

I ignored the part where he said the highs were going to be in the single digits.

Why?

Because the sun will be out!!!!!!!!!

Bring it on!!!! :-)

My apologies.

Whew! Life has a way of getting away from a person, doesn't it? With this being Thursday already, and nary a blog post has been done.....I'm thinking this week will be called The Adventures of Mot and Nej take a week off??

My dog of 13 years died on Tuesday. Lady Penelope of the Loess "Penny"


Not the best picture of her...but the picture is "her." I mean...she loved being outside, no matter the weather (which is why she's so shaggy in this pic...she wanted to be outside 24/7...so we kept her fur long during the winter)....and also explains the dead grass all over. She was a tom boy, so to speak. Never afraid to get dirty. Her nose was always covered in dirt. :-)

We had to take her to the vet and have her put down. We noticed her breathing was labored....and one day, while trying to remove all 70 million tons of snow from our roof....we also noticed that she'd decided to stop walking. (sigh) A couple hours, a drive to my hometown, and a vet bill later....she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure.

Mot took her in for her followup appointment the following week (last week), and I was truly afraid she wasn't going to come home with him. It had gotten that bad.

Tuesday was, yet again, another followup. But I took the morning off of work and went along. I knew what was going to have to happen....and I wasn't happy about it.

How do you decide to end the life of someone (something?) who trusts you, but can't speak for themselves? They aren't in pain, but are uncomfortable and has a low quality of life, and getting lower each day. Tuesday was the 4th day of her refusing to eat.

So that, coupled with the fact we haven't seen sunshine since we left Denver two weeks ago.....I'm just "off". I'm a little easier to anger, a little easier to tears, and all I want to do it curl up in my bed and hide. Now my dog is dead, our puppy is, well, a puppy, and driving me insane. The one remaining male Scotty is jealous of the puppy, and marking anything of mine he can find. Bowling bag, new wool coat.....(sigh).

I want to go back to Denver, do you think it's still sunny there? It doesn't have to be Denver...it can be Detroit, San Jon....anywhere with sun. Do any of you live where the sun is out? Do you have a spare bed...couch.....piece of floor I can sleep on??? I never thought I'd say it, but I need a massage, a facial, a pedicure, about 7 hours in a tanning booth....and any other pampering (and UV light providing) I can think of.

Plus, I'm falling behind on my commitments. Elliott - I swear....the post I've been working on for you will appear soon.....I promise!!!!!!!! I just don't want to write it while so darned down in the dumps....because the post is quite the opposite!!!!! :-)

I'm also falling horribly behind on my blog reading. I started back up a little today, so if I haven't commented on your posts lately, it's nothing personal. I'll get caught up. No worries. :-)

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: I'm Gonna Let it Shine

The Denver state capital building is covered in brass.

And I mean covered!!!

Handrails. Light fixtures. The works.

When we got there, there was one person polishing the banister on the main stair case.



She was still working on that stair case when we left.

Weekend Update #41: (part 4) Happy New Year!!!!

Our last day in Denver. (sigh)

Since we didn't have a ton of time before catching our flight (needed to be at the airport around 1:00 or so)...I suggested we check out the state capital building. The architecture in those places is usually awesome!!!!!!



We weren't disappointed.






Those are actual canon balls as finials. Now THAT'S my kind of capital. :-)


Just as we entered the building, we passed a tour guide and two people he was showing around. The tour had just become, so we tagged along. He was awesome! Personable, knowledgeable, and interesting to listen to. He knew that we were still listening, as we were looking around. He didn't need us to stare at him the whole time. He was excited about the information he was passing on.

A+


When we found out we could take the 99 stairs to the top of the dome.....you didn't have to tell us twice!!!


This was one of those staircases that gives you vertigo, whether you normally get it or not. :-)


This is a picture taken from the main floor. We ended up two levels above this when it was all said and done.


It's not my camera...it's that out of focus painting. It made my head spin. :-)

The tour didn't take as long as we'd planned, so Steve thought we should check out the church across the street.

Denver's Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (quite the mouth full).






So....does anyone out there know what this symbol means? Or is it just a random cool doorknob??



After checking out the cathedral, we headed back over to the Fainting Goat for one last lunch before leaving town.

Before heading to the airport, we packed our lightweight jackets into our luggage, and pulled out the winter gear. It was in the 40's in Denver, and-40 in Omaha. (sigh)

Security at the Denver airport wasn't any higher or stricter than usual, as far as we could tell. So getting there early was....was really early.

The four of us copped a squat at the gate, and waited for our plane to arrive.


Danny went and found an ice cream place (and showed his displeasure of my camera coming out, yet again.) :-)


Mot, Steve and I tried out my brookie.

Yep, brookie. I got it at the pie shop/bakery in Estes Park, but hadn't tried it yet.

It's a cookie and a brownie, for those people that can't make up their minds.

I was surprised security didn't confiscate it. It weighed a ton, and could be used as a weapon.

But it was surprisingly tasty. :-)

Unfortunately, this was when we found out that only three of us had seats on the plane. We'd had our tickets for months...but the airline royally messed up. Steve had a seat, and the other three of us were put on standby. They'd gotten two volunteers to take a later flight...but that still left one of us without a seat.

Eventually, they found one more volunteer and we were all good to go.

Some of us better than others.

Danny ended up with a first class seat.

Jerk. :-) :-)

I was seated next to a tall and large dude, completely terrified of flying. We talked the whole way to Omaha.

While standing at baggage claim in Omaha, I saw Mot walk over to him. It turns out he knows the guy's mom. She works at the gas station by our house. Small world.

To say it was cold in Omaha when we arrived would be a serious understatement. The four of us had to remove the inches and inches of snow from the Jeep before we could even pull out of the airport parking lot.

After we dropped the boys off, we headed back out of town, to Mot's parents house to pick up Sam.

By the time we got home, for good, we were all bushed and headed for bed.

The End :-)

To see all the pictures I took in Denver, check out my Webshots page.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Cold Doesn't Begin to Describe It

It's been cold here lately. Uber cold. Friggin' freezing. Downright miserable.

I woke up Friday morning, and noticed wet spots forming on the ceiling of our bedroom.

Oh yeah, we've got an ice dam on our roof...under the 3.5 foot snow drift....and it's leaking into our house.

Great!

I love this weather, I love this weather, I love this weather.

The coldest day of the year, and we have to spend it on a ladder busting ice off of our roof.

Without hitting the shingles.

Mostly.

Sam, being a true lab, was loving the weather...and loving the fact her humans were outside in the snow with her.

So...after much begging and pleading on her part...we took a break to play.

The snow is three times as deep as she is tall, but that's not stopping her...oh no!!!

Well...until her little puppy feet got cold. When that happened, she found the warmest spot she could find to stand.


On Mot. No sooner had he fallen into the snow, she jumped up on him.

She's not dumb. :-)


P.S. Moonspun....I'm wearing my "hat with balls" in that top picture...unfortunately none of the crochet balls are hanging in the front for you to see.

Weekend Update #41: (part 3) Happy New Year!!

With the hockey tournament being over, we had all day Sunday and most of the day Monday to find something to do.

"When in Colorado, go to the mountains."

"Spoken like a true flat-lander."


Estes Park it was. We got up, went to Target to get our picnic lunch, and headed North to Estes.

And, when in Estes, and the park is covered in snow...what do you do? You check out the Stanley hotel...of course!

None of us had ever taken the official Stanley hotel tour....so we signed up.

The tour didn't start for a couple of hours, so we went into downtown Estes to wander around the shops, and grab some lunch.

Finally, it was time to head back up to the hotel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




The tour of the hotel was great. It could have been longer (like all day if you ask me)....but it was fun!!!!


Infamous room 217.











I see two little girls in pale blue dresses.




Even the elevator was uber cool!!! :-)

After touring the upstairs levels, we then headed into the basement.


Oh yeah, I volunteered to go into the spooky old tunnel in the basement. No one wanted to, or raised their hands...so I jumped at the chance.



"Um....Mot??"

"Yeah?"

"I need a buddy."

"What?" (giggles from the other tour people)

"I need a buddy. It's spooky in here." (more giggles)







After the tour, we went back into town with two missions in mind.

1) the tshirt I've been trying to get since we first went to Estes quite a few years ago. Success!!! We found it!!! It says "Bring a compass, because it's awkward eating your friends."

2) Coffee, and dessert.


We found a pie shop next door to a coffee shop. (We, of course, bought a piece for the ladies working in the coffee shop.)



You could tell that the mountains were getting weather. In fact, as we walked around Estes with our sunglasses on, and not a cloud in the sky above us.....we were getting snowed on. Talk about pretty!!!


We later found out, on our way home, that the mountain passes back to Denver had rec'd 3-4 inches while we were in Estes. The trip home was a little slower going. :-)

We went back to the hotel, down to the breakfast room, and played cards again into the night. While eating our picnic lunch that we didn't eat (we ended up at the Chicago pizza joint instead), and drinking our bottle of white wine. :-)

One more day left. We were going to have to go home on Monday. :-(

(to be cont)

To see all the pictures I took in Denver, check out my Webshots page.

Weekend Update #41: (part 2) Happy New Year!!

Saturday was a good day. It was my birthday!!!!!!!!! The boys had hotel staff bring up a balloon bouquet for me while we were out the night before.



After eating a small breakfast at the hotel...we headed out to Margaret Brown's house. AKA, the Unsinkable Molly Brown.




The house was gorgeous!!!!!


The tour guide was the most annoying creature. I mean, she knew her Molly Brown facts. But....her delivery was very.....um......terse.

Over the top.

Rehearsed to the point of uncomfortable.

I appreciate the information she had to give us. But if felt as though we were taking her away from her life. That she was making time to show us around Molly....I'm sorry, Margaret's house.

Apparently, the writer of the show didn't think the name Margaret was lyrical...so she changed her first name to Molly.

Like I said, the guide had all kinds of interesting information. But she delivered it down her nose. It got to the point that Mot was actually doing things to make her nervous. Wandering around, hovering over things like he might just touch them....but had no intention of doing so in real life.

"The only rules of the tour are no photography and no food or drink. But I have my own rules. No cell phones, no calls, no texting, no tweeting. No gum chewing, no touching. You are guests of Margaret. You see, her real name is Margaret, and that's how I refer to her. I will never call her Molly...her name was not Molly."

Now, at the end of each sentence, she drags the last word out...and the pitch of her voice dropped.

"You seeeeeeeee. Her REAL name was Maragettttttt...and that's how I will refer to herrrrr. I will nnnnnever call her Molllllyyyyy....her name was not Mollllyyyyy."

(sigh)


The day before, we'd passed by a local bar....and the name caught our attention. We had to check it out. The place was actually quite amazing. It was three stories, with an outside patio on the roof. And, apparently, it's an Oklahoma State bar. As we were getting ready to leave, the place was suddenly full of people wearing orange. :-)

Oh, and the food was wonderful!!!!!!!

Oh, and we got a parking ticket. $25....ouch Denver!!!



From there, since we had some extra time, we drove further downtown to check out Union Station.



I love train stations. There's just something so open, so exciting about them. To think about the people that have passed through that building. Trooops being sent to war, people going home to visit family, and travelers experiencing the joy of going somewhere new, or somewhere they love.







At the train station, we jumped on one of the free 16th street mall buses that runs routes through the mall all day.



Our final destination was the Brown Palace and Hotel. The run tours at 2:00, and the place is gorgeous!!!!











Apparently, they changed the times for their tours to 3:00, but have not bothered to change any of their information. Websites, and brochures. The hockey game that afternoon started at 4:05, so we didn't have time for the tour.

All of us were pretty bummed. There is quite a bit of history to the building.


Next door is a building named The Navarre. While we were waiting for the tour that didn't happen, I googled the building. It was at one time, a brothel. Under the street between the hotel and the house of woman are railed tunnels....so businessmen could visit without being seen. And the tunnel was railed, so they didn't have to walk.


The Beatles stayed at the hotel.....says this plaque on the sidewalk outside.


On our way back to Union Station, we stopped at a bookstore.

Come on...Mot, Steve and I not stopping at a bookstore? Not going to happen. :-)




I think the boys need to play in red from now on. They won. It was a much more pleasant game to watch!!! :-)

I was nearly booted from the arena.

Was I causing a commotion? Was I picking fights? Was I defacing property?

Nope, nope and nope. I was taking pictures of the game.

Which is, by the way, perfectly acceptable per their website.

They tried to remove me because the lens on my camera was too professional.

Yep, too professional.

All of my pictures were either taken through the net, or the dirty glass. I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm not selling my pictures, nor would I know how to go about doing so. Yet, I'm a threat to professional photographers everywhere.

I just think it was because we were from the opposing team. :-)

After the game, we walked across the street from the hotel to Safe Way to get some snacks for the night. On the way to the grocery, we passed a liquor store. We had plans of going up to Estes the next day, and were going to pack a lunch. Danny and I thought it would be a good idea to also pack a bottle of wine to go along with lunch.

While there, we found a set of those lime squeezers things.....the ones that Natalie uses at our favorite tequila bar in Omaha. We're constantly threatening to steal her set.

You'd think we'd won the lottery.

When we asked how much they were....the employees of the store had no idea.

"$2.99??"

Um...sold!!!! We walked up to the counter with just the squeezer. Nothing else.

"Seriously?"

The look on the guys face behind the counter was priceless. After all of our looking, that's all we were getting. :-)

From there we wandered over to the grocery store. The guy working at customer service told us the Chinese place next door was good food....and Danny needed dinner (the rest of us ate at the game).



It may have been next door, but unless you walked all the way out to the street and around....you had to scale a small wall, then over a fence.

Danny and I walked around. :-) :-)

The food wasn't worth the walk. :-(

Back at the hotel, we asked them to open up the breakfast room, so we could play cards and munch on some snacks.

It was a great evening...and the end to a great birthday!

(to be cont)

To see all the pictures I took in Denver, check out my Webshots page.