15 years later!

Thank you Harry!

Happy Birthday to me...

So I know that I have been remiss in posting my birthday. I am constantly reminded by my better half that I should get these pictures up for all to see.

Had a fanastic "all birthday" weekend here in Denver. It was a bit weird not to be home to visit with my family on my birthday, but we still managed to have a good time.

We started off the weekend with a trip to "El Chapultepec", a dive bar in downtown Denver. Apparently, this bar has been around since 1951, and has survived through the downturn and subsequent upturn of the Downtown district. Unfortunately, no pictures from here, because it really is the type of place where a camera screams tourist, or worse. Best story of the night there is a tie between the group of six older men playing a game of cash poker in the back room, shouting intermittently, "Angela - we need some more drinks! I'm buying - and pick something out for yourself!" and the story of the man at the end of the bar who had obviously been sitting on his stool for quite a while. We order our drinks, and no sooner do we have our $1 drafts in hand, five paramedic/firemen in complete gear enter in the front door, asking who had called them. Remember the drunk at the end of the bar? He finishes his drink, and right as the men are leaving, figuring it was a false alarm, the man pipes up with "that was me...my chest hurts...hic.."

Once the combo started, we had a great time. Snow coming down outside, and smoking straight-ahead jazz inside.

So on my actual birthday, we didn't have cake, as the jazz bar really wasn't the venue for candles and such. But the following night, Liz made me a great cake (lemon, with cheesecake flavor frosting) and we opened presents!


What did I get for my birthday you say? Well, mom and dad did a great job of sending a care package that reminds everyone where I am from.

Michelle sent me a very nice card and some fantastic shots of us in San Diego (which are now on my cube wall at work, next to the post cards of home). She also gave me somthing else, but you will have to ask her about it. (Here's me talking to her while on break from snowshoeing!) For more on the shoeing adventure in four part harmony, see Liz's blog here.


And, drumroll please! Liz gave me a fantastic gift! A coffee maker that has to be the coolest coffee maker ever. Put the beans in, set the time and, voila! Coffee is ready when I wake up.

All in all, a fantastic birthday weekend. I wish that I could have spent it with all of you readers, but your birthday wishes from afar helped me have a fantastic time in my new home.

David Gray Show!!

So it was six months in the making, but I finally got to go see David Gray in concert here in Denver. It was a fantastic show on the part of the band, but the crowd was kind of crap. Lots of white zin drinking people, lots of sitting, which I was a bit disappointed with. But the new album is a bit on the slow side anyway.

We were really f*&^ing close.