Finally - snow!

Things are looking up with the Saints in the playoffs and Timmy Tebow getting to play with the Broncos and Bama at some bowl game somewhere on New Years Day.

And the days are getting longer, minute by minute. 2011, here we come!

I've been an organizing manic over the last few weeks. It started when my old Quicken started to act funny and we had to buy another program. QuickBooks came to mind and was endorsed by our accountant so we picked one up at Costco and started entering data. That was a task that forced me to really organize all expenses. No more "put it on the business card and pay it back later". QuickBooks does not have a category for that. In order to enter everything, we had to get all the files in order, something we normally do when we're working on taxes later. So now, everything thing is entered up to date and I can check our profit/loss and see exactly where we are.

Next, I finally decided to listen to Dave Ramsey and get our finances in order. We started by pulling out the money to cover his recommended cash expenses and getting a rudimentary budget going. This is a little painful because we are in the relatively slack part of the year so but getting the order installed has been so liberating and empowering.

Next we came up with a baby step for turning over some management responsibilities to one of our guys who has been with us a while and has an interest. In order for this to work, we came up with a little routing form to follow to make sure all the steps are done. We mocked up a Google calendar and database that we can all access. It has entirely straightened out our procedure setting up jobs that has worked for 17 years but wasn't something we could easily turn over to someone.

Feels good to be in charge of these areas of my life.

This map of tweeted reports from the boulder fire takes a minute to load but is an amazing use of the technology.

photo from Twitter.com#boulderfire

I have a new appreciation for Twitter.
#boulderfire has been alive since the inception of the fire with updates, offers for help and needs posted, links to images galore and real data from the boots on the ground + helpful local bulletin boards established.

We took $$ to Longmont Humane Society where they are housing a lot of the mountain horses and a case of new socks and some vits/minerals to the fire camp at the Res.

So many people are volunteering in the area - 3000 people evacuated but only about 25 showed up to the RC shelter. 550 new firefighters and and Incident 1 Command team in place to relieve the original heros, many were with local volunteer fire departments.

Got about 1" of rain yesterday that was the equivalent to 7,000 slurry bomber drops. These helicopters are loading from a lake that's about a 10 minute walk from here.

Too close for comfort:

Take a look at that chainsaw dangling from his tool belt.

I had no idea taking down a tree would affect me so.

Fare well, my friend.

I got to spend some time with Honey's fiance today and had a great time at the Denver Botanical Gardens. The place is busting out with blooms everywhere but the part we both enjoyed the most was the water garden. Loads of blooming water lilies and these cute lil' ones that look like Pac Man. All the water was black, I think by choice ( I hope so, anyway).

Yum yum! We found the Comida food truck at Marisol Imports First Friday event. Earlier today I found some blue glass pieces at the new Goodwill in town. I love this time of year, even though I know the end of summer is getting closer and I'll have to move to an indoor pool. In the yard, we have blooming hyssop, yarrow, gallardia, rudbekia, echinacea, zinnias, blue mist spirea, honeysuckle, tomatoes, petunias, butterfly bush, geraniums, portulaca,lavendar, roses, chicory, mint, 4 o'clocks, that purple sage flower, and the maximillian daisies are about to bloom. The bees are pretty happy these days.

Last weekend brought the RockyGrass Festival to Lyons so we revved up Fitsy and headed north. We mainly went to see if we could hear some music from a distance and didn't, so after wandering around Main Street, we ended up at the pinball arcade. It's filled with all those old fashioned games like Baby PacMan but we ended up in front of the Kiss game ("Kiss" the band).

We didn't have to leave home after all to hear some great music. Joshua Panda delighted us on the Pearl Street Mall. What a find - a zydeco band from Vermont! With some of these street bands you just have to appreciate the effort but these guys are great! This summer has been stuffed full of live outdoor free music this year and we love it.

Bruce at the Beach posted a sea turtle story and this great photo yesterday. If you want to help save some future generations of these turtles from the oil check out the Share the Beach program in LA (Lower Alabama).

I'm really liking my new concrete mesh fencing. We needed something to contain the dogs in the front yard but didn't want to put a lot of work into the project. We just pounded some rebar into the ground and attached the mesh to it. I like that you can't really see it but we can hang bird feeders and garlic to dry. And yes, I know I need to get out there and do some weeding...

I just grabbed this picture from Bamabeachcams.com.  It's a webcam from Sea-n-Suds right on the beach in Gulf Shores, AL.  The oil is splashing up on the beach with winds from that hurricane near southern Texas.  It's pretty dirty but I have to say I've seen beaches in other places that were as dirty in normal times.  The heartbreak has to do with the fact that the sand there is usually the color of sugar.  Very white.

Like this.  This was taken last January.

Man, it is wet. The Boulder Creek is running deep and fast!

Three new things:  lots of great finds from Junkengruven; a bunny on a bike (also a chicken and a mouse that I didn't catch soon enough); and Blogger has a new way to upload photos.

WWOZ is streaming the NO Jazz and Heritage Festival!

On another subject, enough with the snow already, ok?

poster from flicker.com (social gumbo + often absurd)

That didn't take long.
Sweetie was just a concept in my mind a short time ago and here he is, his own creation: a husband.

I love LA. Parts of it, at least.

It's been a while, but New Orleans is still in my veins.

Here's some proof that we actually went out of town, specifically to the French Quarter. Our travel plans changed when Amtrak called the day before our planned departure to say that no trains could get through the 8' snow drifts in Iowa. We booked a rental (a Nice! Nissan Altima) and drove. This was the closest we came to meandering that we have come on any of our vacations. It was so nice to be out on the plains and drive through east Texas. We got acquainted with New Orleans and since we weren't mugged, we plan to go back sometime and do some more exploring.

We're getting read to ride on the City of New Orleans again, this time all the way from top to bottom. It's that time of year to saturate ourselves with the Deep South. Looking forward to the humidity, the smell of the pine trees and the Gulf Of Mexico. Maybe we'll find some fried dill pickles along the way.

photo from Trainweb.org