Hello everyone!
It's not as long this time! Yay!
So, as I mentioned before, Mike and I headed down to the Springs, last weekend to go to Cripple Creek and use our free train tickets. I drove, as my car has much better mileage than his. I know understand his frustration when he is driving, and I'm in the passenger seat, saying," Oh! Look at that!" "Oh! How pretty!" "Oh! Look! There's a horse!" "Oh...so sad, there's no water there anymore." "Look! Those trees are so pretty!".....You get the idea yet?
Mike was pretty good though, he would say something, but follow up with, "I know you're driving." Um, thanks?
We got to Cripple Creek, and traffic was okay. Not fantastic, and it got worse the closer to Cripple Creek we got. The people were still driving around that area to take pictures of the changing leaves, but you always get that one person, who loves to slam on the brakes to take a picture, maintaining the slowest speed of 5mph, instead of pulling off onto those convenient pull off points. Really?
When we finally got to Cripple Creek, we checked with the ticket agent about what time the train was going to leave, as we noticed that there were a lot of people already seated. We both needed to use the bathroom, as we had traveled all day. With about 8 minutes to spare, we had plenty of time to go and pick a spot.
When we sat down on the train, there were hardly anyone near us, as most people were hiding under the covered car, because the weather was threatening to pour. Within a couple minutes, we were surrounded by a huge family, or group from India. There had to have been 6 adults or so, plus 10 kids? Mike was doing the math on how much they had to spend on tickets, as it was $13 per adult, $12 for seniors and $8 for children. They were fine for the most part, but the beginning was tough, as each time our conductor was trying to give us some history of the area, they would start yammering away, taking pictures. Mike said that they had to have taken over 500 pictures.
The train ride is pretty short, all things considered. It is about 45 minutes total time, round trip, four miles total? Perhaps less. Pictures were passed around, and when the sun finally came up, and the sky cleared, I was able to get some nice pictures, though I still need to download them off the camera.
After the train ride, Mike and I were starving. We had dinner plans with friends in a few hours, but we both agreed that we'd need something now. We walked down the main area, and finally settled on a nice pub and had great food!
When we were done eating, we headed into one of the casinos. I've never gambled before, so Mike had to be the one to teach me. We started with video poker, and the machine wouldn't take my money, as it was a new $5. Okay, fine. Take a couple ones... Mike was doing really well, and me, okay. We decided to move on, so we cashed out, and got our tickets.
You can tell which one belongs to whom.
We moved onto slots, and that's where I did better. We stayed in our little casino for about an hour, and then we decided that it would be best to head to the Springs, as we still needed to go to the hotel, check in and go to dinner.
The drive to the Springs, was much smoother than the initial drive to Cripple Creek!
We checked into our hotel, cleaned up a little from all of the soot from the train, and headed to dinner. We had a great time out with friends, and of course, we decided to end the dinner early, as we were hoping to jump start our shopping, since we had a ton of it to accomplish, in addition to our little trip.
By the time we left, all of the stores had closed, because it was Sunday. We decided instead, to go back to the hotel, and go swimming. What we didn't really realize was that the pool was a "heated" pool, outside. With how cold it was outside, the water didn't seem to be all that heated. Once we were in, and moving around, things were fine.
Of course, what is the first thing that Mike does when we get to the pool? He dives in...ignoring all of the posted signs, painted markers on the cement that clearly states NOT to dive into the water. Oh well, he didn't kill himself, so that's good. It had been a really long time since either one of us had gone swimming, and we felt it. By the time we were thinking about getting out, the wind picked up, and it started to rain! Yay....let's make it more difficult to get out because it's cold!
The next morning, Mike and I got up and had breakfast at the hotel. We checked out, and began our shopping. Of course, the mall wouldn't be open yet, so we headed to Barnes and Noble, a dangerous place! I needed to get a planner for my business, and they had some journals on sale. We even did a little Christmas shopping there too!
Because we were in the same shopping area as Best Buy, we stopped there too. Mike had a coupon that said to bring it into a store to have them scan it and tell you how much you'd get. Anywhere between $5-$5000. What do we get? $5. What has everyone else gotten? $5. =) We were walking around the store, looking at cds, when Mike got a phone call. Turns out the hot tub arrived. Great...we're not even close to ready for that to be here. We both thought that we'd have at least another two to three weeks to prepare it's arrival, get the spot ready, before it arrived. Nope. It's here...now. Mike talked to the guy at the small spaced place, and discussed a series of things. Mike of course, was happy that it was here, but the timing sucked. We paid for our cds, and headed out to our next shopping stop.
Once we were done at the bookstore and Best Buy, back to the mall we went. We were there for a while, and ended up realizing that we would need to order what we needed to online.
Looking at the time, we realized that we wouldn't have the time to get anywhere else before meeting up with my mom and step dad for lunch, especially because we were meeting them at the Trading Post in Garden of the Gods. Mike had no idea where this building was, and I told him that it was in the middle of the park. Yay...now we have to be stuck behind tourists who can't figure out the one way streets and yield signs. Sighs.
When we got there, Mike and I stopped to use the bathroom before grabbing a table. I found my parents wandering through the gift shop, and we headed to order our food. Looking at the menu, I decided to be a creature of habit. When Mike and I were in Cripple Creek, he mentioned that we should grab something light and quick like a hot dog. Now, when he said that, I thought that sounded amazing! We hadn't had hot dogs in forever! Of course, I ordered the chili dog at the place in Cripple Creek, and it was to die for! Now, I was still remembering that meal, when I decided to order the same thing here. It was so-so. Definitely not great.
We sat outside, and watched the squirrels take fallen fries and other food. After lunch, mom gave me a few things to take home, including some tools for us to borrow to get the yard taken care of for the spa placement. Mike and I also looked around the gift shop and found a couple of things.
Looking at the time, and realizing that we had to drive home still, that we wouldn't be able to make it to the last few stops. So, we decided to just head home. Traffic was nice, and oddly, it was relaxing.
The next morning, I headed to a thrift store, one of many, here in Craig. I realized later that I was in the store that wasn't entirely organized. I did manage to find some things to decorate my table at the upcoming craft shows, and some garden tools for pretty cheap.
I left there and stopped by a local small business that is a frame shop. I talked to the owner for a length of time, and decided to stop by later with my prints to get matted and framed. She's even going to cut me a little deal too, as I'm going to be working with her often.
During my talk with the frame shop owner, Mike texted me to tell me that they were going to lunch early and that he would see me whenever I got there. I left and headed over to the hospital to have lunch with him. It was at lunch that I realized that Mike was suffering from a migraine. Great, I thought, It can only get better or worse.
Worse, it got. He ended up coming home at noon or so, the next day, feeling miserable. He stayed in bed the rest of the day. The next morning, he got in the shower, but still was feeling so weak and sick. He called out. I felt bad for him. I couldn't do anything for him, but make sure that he was comfortable and eating and drinking fluids. Thankfully, we think we've figured out what the problem was. Not only was it a migraine, but he had some old pumpkin puree left over from when I did the pumpkin mousse over two weeks ago in his breakfasts. He's doing much better now, and I'm glad. It's tough when someone you love is sick, and you can't really do much.
A couple nights ago, Mike and I get ready to head to bed, and we see Lola, our middle cat, lying in front of the front door. What the heck? It's not in the sun, and it's not really near anything...so this behavior made us laugh. Of course, she's been talking up a storm lately too. I think she is pouting because she wants into the basement. But who knows...?
Lying by the door. Waiting for someone?
One afternoon, I happened to be cleaning and organizing more things for the house, and decided that I needed to replace the steps in the back, as the insurance people stated that it was unstable and needed to be done. Well, yeah, duh. We know. We'll get there. So, I went to the garage, brought up the old spa steps and camp stakes and headed to the back door. I put the steps down in the laundry room, looked out the window of the back door. Great. There goes that idea of replacing the steps. There was a deer and her baby lying in the back. Of course, I thought they were moving on, as I had seen them walking past the kitchen window earlier, which is away from the door. Scared me at first, especially when they were looking into the window.
Hello neighbor...where's our watermelon?
Because I realized that fixing the steps would have to wait, I suddenly remembered the previous owners...the wife, say that she would feed the deer watermelon and other random tidbits. I remembered that we had some watermelon left over from when we bought some about two weeks ago, or so. I could tell, just from looking at the bottom of the container, that it was starting to go bad...like slimy, bad. I walked out the sliding glass door, into the fenced back yard, and chucked the bad watermelon over the fence. The deer, of course took off into the little field, glaring at me. I just fed you, ungrateful... I guess I don't have the disconnected vibe because the deer don't trust me. =)
The next morning, however, the watermelon was all gone. Someone ate them. I'm not in a habit of feeding wild life, as I believe that they need to feed themselves, for many reasons, but because the watermelon was going to be tossed out anyways, why not give it to the animals. I'm certainly not going to be doing this again anytime soon, if ever. I'm not that person. Be self sufficient Miss Deer!
Today, I started to clean the house. I started with reorganizing the basement, for the umpteenth time, and sweeping out the boxelder beetles. I told Mike it was kind of sad. I'd fill the pan, open the door in the basement, and toss the dead bugs out the door. There are still more! I swept that place clean, and somehow they are still getting in! Crazy! I think that finishing the basement should help with the bugs. I hope. Fingers crossed.
Next up, replacing those steps...finally! Now that there are no hoofed visitors sleeping in the back yard, I could go out there. Little chilly, but hey, I expected this to take longer. Nope. I pulled on the top two by four, and the whole step set up came out. That was easy! I replaced the steps with the spa steps, and secured them in. I'm very grateful to my mother for teaching me at a young age, how to use tools, and that I don't need a man to fix things, or whatever, like I've known others to be like. I love Mike to death, but honestly, I don't think that my life will be "over" if I have to actually get dirty and do things, like replace steps or install fire detectors, etc. I'm not that simpleton woman who only shops, and raises the kids. I could do it all.
The house, as I have quickly learned from cleaning it, was filthy! No offense to the previous owners, but my god! They were disgusting people! Mike and I are not dirty people. I clean the house often, and because we just moved in, and finally have some space to start cleaning, and I don't mean just laundry and dishes, but really cleaning...ugh! How do people live in squalor? I'm not saying that this house was that bad, but...there was something crusted onto one of the bathroom faucets, that I had to scrap off with a pair of scissors! It smelled awful too! I cringe just remembering it! The other thing that I've noticed, is that they must have loved playing with caulking. I am finding it everywhere! Things like sink stoppers are so stained, that they are clean, but don't look it....really?? Really, people? I shake my head once more!
We have our house warming party date set up, and we're looking forward to it. It's going to be fun. Rock Band/Guitar Hero, board games, food, music, dance games, and more....We're already getting some good people coming! I'm also not expected the out of state people to show up, as that's not feasible, but I know that there are some people I know aren't coming and I invited out of politeness. If they show up, that's fine, I'm ready for the reticule, but I know that I'm going to be too busy playing hostess and talking with those that really matter to even be bothered by it. Will I get upset, probably for a moment, as most people do, because we're human, but I think I'm passed it all now.
Mike is home now, and outside getting ready to work on the spot for the spa. I think that I better end this tirade and go help him.
Until next time!
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