A Likely Story!

Please...

...pass THIS bill.

The only thing I don't like about Denver is that smoking is allowed everywhere. Speaking as a lifetime non-smoker, I hate it.

The #1 'must have' on my 'what I look for in a guy' list is to be a non-smoker. That's a non-negotiable. Nothing grosses me out more than spending the night out being subjected to second-hand smoke. Not only does it stink up everything I wear, my hair, my purse...EVERYTHING...but it's just not good for me..or you. Everytime I come home from any bar, it's automatic 'wash-my-hair' time...no matter what hour of the morning I stumble in. It does a number on my eyes and lungs. It hurts to breathe...really and truly hurts.

Ok, so poor whiny me. Why don't I just stay out of bars and steer clear of places where smoking is allowed? I don't think so.

I could go on and on about how bad smoking is for you. I 've lost 4 close relatives to lung cancer. Half of my family smokes. My best friend here in Denver smokes. I'm not against smoking, per se. Just smoking in public places. What you do in your own space is your concern and more power to you.

I lived in CA when they went non-smoking. Everyone 'predicted' restaurants would lose business. Business boomed. I live in FL when they went non-smoking. Ditto there.

My friends that are smokers are FOR a ban. They figure if they can't smoke, then they won't. And maybe it will be easier to quit.

I hope that this bill does pass. Not only will it be better for me, it's better (health-wise) for everyone involved.

Then Denver will be perfect...least in my opinion!

I LOVE Purple

Internet, meet my office.

Office, this is the internet. I spend waaaay more time with them than I ever will with you.

Of course, this is still in the painting stage. Scott is doing the cut-ins as I type. Hope to have it up and running as a 'finished' office within a week.

And Jillian, I promise I will never ask you to stay in this room when you come to visit. PROMISE, buddy!

Jillian, Avert Your Eyes...

...but not just yet.

Pix of my office will be posted before the end of the day.

Jillian, sweetie, you might want to bypass my blog for the next couple of days.

We will miss you:-)

Where Tom And I Did Not Go Friday Nite

Thoughts...

* Chose the color for my Master Bedroom....Laura Ashley Moss 3 (a really pretty rich/soft green). The second choice was Laura Ashley Rustica 3, so Gabe wins a round of beers at a future Rockies game. Thanks to all that played along and offered suggestions both on and off the blog.

* The hangover I thought I would have on Saturday never happened. Kewl! Maybe drinking tons of Gatorade at 2 and 5 in the morning helped.

* Washed down my driveway this afternoon...after I bought a new hose and sprayer-thingie cause the one I packed last July (when I put all my stuff in storage) vanished. Ah, the simple pleasures of life...washing all the grungy salt by-product gunk down the gutter...and watching a gorgeous sunset while doing it.

* Found out the vacant lot next to my house will not be more new houses, instead it will be a PARK! Yes!!!

* Picking out tile for the Master Bath is tons harder than picking out tile for the rest of the house. Why? Cause I have to match/coordinate to what currently exists. And I didn't want to bother you guys again for another 'pick the color' challenge.

* Was not today's weather totally killer? Yes, I concur.

* While I was out looking at houses with my buddy Friday night, we stopped at a Bingo Going Out Of Business place (on Sheridan just north of Hwy 6). Went in to check it out and found three really cool copper tubes...2 sorta chunky- 4 inches in diameter and 5 inches tall and the 3rd was slightly smaller in height and diameter. When I asked the guy 'how much' he said 'I have no idea what they even are...take them for free'! Woohoo!  Then he asked me ' What are they'? My reply...'it doesn't matter what they are, it's what they could become'.  Whoa, deep thoughts, huh?

* Will eventually drill holes in them and use them as luminaria's by putting candles inside of them. Any excuse to use my new drill.

And on that note, NNSD from Denver,

Did You Know??

...that Tulane University (where my buddy Chris goes to school) shuts down for the ENTIRE week of Mardi Gras?

I did not know that....until Chris called me at 5:30 this am to tell me yet ANOTHER reason why he loves Mardi Gras.

Tulane...a bastion of collegiate wisdom.

Woof woof, Chris!

Am Over The Purple

...for my blog, at least.

What do you think of the new look?

LOVE/HATE

LOVE-

- hanging out with one of my best buddies
- LoDo
- Red Bull and Vodka

-HATE -
- Republicans that are wishy-washy
- Republicans that back down too easily
- When I don't get the phone # of said Republican cause when all is said and done, he seems like a really nice guy

LOVE

-when your buddy will drive you home after WAYYY too many Red Bull and Vodka's
- being drunk...it feels so good
- knowing you can tell your buddy you love him and he doesn't take it the wrong way and get all creeped out

HATE

- how this hangover will feel in the morning
- how the room keeps spinning and spinning
- how the noise inside my head will not stop

LOVE

- Denver
- I made the right decision for the right reason
- my life...wouldn't have it any other way

NNSD

And The Gifts Keep Rolling In!

I can't believe it!

FEDEX pulls up while I am hard at work (no snickering, ok??) and delivers yet another gift to me. This one from one of my clients from WI. The card is incredibly sweet, wishing me a happy belated bday, happy belated Hanukkah and Happy New House. 

The box is huge. And she's from WI. What do you think it could be??

Say cheese!

So far this week it's been beer (btw, the Porter from Frederick MD is really good...I'm not usually a Porter fan... and the IPA beyond rocks!), free Rockies tix to any Weds game, tons o' yummy cheese...wonder what, if anything, will arrive on Friday?

The Jagermeister Bus? Jake Gyllenhaal? A house call from a masseuse (my neck and shoulders are all kinked up) or maybe all 3 rolled into one. That would be nice. No, that would be heaven.

Ok, tonite's a late one and I have to go back to work-mode.

Off to the office down the hall.

NNSD.

This Is What Laura Ashley Sand #3 Looks Like

...cozy corner of my living room...

Need Yer Help!

It's coming down to crunch time! House is almost completely painted. Guest room got painted today...tomorrow, my office. Why crunch time? Cause I have not yet picked out the color for my Master Bedroom!

HELP!

Normally I am very decisive and never have a problem making decisions at all...guess there is a first time for everything, right??

The room faces West (with a killer view of the Rockies and the daily gorgeous CO sunsets) and North/West. Trim will be in white, but it doesn't have to be permanent. Have white Duette blinds...am open to changing them in the future.  Color is currently a dark hunter green...I like green but this one is not cuttin it for me.

Some possibilities I've considered :

Coffee, Dark Chocolate (both 'not Kathy colors' but I am open to different things these days), light Sage Green, Dark Coral (again, not a Kathy color but what the hey?) and ?????

Colors I CANNOT have cause they will drive me nuts : Red, Black, and especially plain old boring white. No offense if your room is plain old boring white...I will help you paint it if you want.

The rest of the house is all Laura Ashley paint colors. All of downstairs, upstairs hall and guest bath are Laura Ashley Sand 3, Guest Room is Sea Glass 3 and my office will be Lilac 3 (as in Purple, Jillian...really PURPLE!!). So yeah, need to find a paint color by Thursday night.

Can you help me, oh buddies of the internet?

I'm hoping you can. Rockies tix to the winner...with dogs and beer included.

I'm waiting :-)

One Of Those Days...

..is it a full moon? It must be. Was one of THOSE days at work.

Sitting here in the sun, blogging. Want to write about the clueless clients I had to deal with today...ABSOLUTELY CLUELESS. But the day is over so why spend my energy writing about them? Other than to make you laugh your ass off, that is.

Nah, I would probably say too much, get found out, lose my job, have to find another one, actually COMMUTE to a job (eww, gross!) and that would totally wreck my life.

Instead, think I'll take a super hot shower, doff the hoodie wear for the first time in weeks, and actually GO OUT tonite. And not think about work at all.

Sounds like a plan.

WHAT A Way To Start The Day..

I'm upstairs working and right around 10:30 a DHL truck pulls up in front of my house. Since I am on the phone, I motion to him, asking if the package is for me. He motions yes, and I need to sign for it. Hmmm...who would be sending me a package?

So I go downstairs, sign for a big box that clinks (??) and what do you know, my WONDERFUL Realtor, Angela has given  me one of my all-time fantasy gifts...

Beer Of The Month Club! YES!!!

How sweet is that? Then..yep this gets better...she notices the Rockies schedule I have on my fridge and says she has a block of tickets to every Wednesday Rockies game and just to let her know when I want to go and she'll get me the tix.

Yeah, free beer and baseball tickets.

So how did YOUR day go?

Oops, I Did It Again...

...the subtitle to this post should be 'Lead Me Not Into Temptation'.

No, I didn't go shopping at Nordy's. Or Home Depot. Or Lowes. Or even Target, Tower or Tattered Cover.

Much, much worse.

I found a house. A brand new house. I WANT THIS house. Scarier even, I CAN AFFORD THIS HOUSE.

Sigh.

I can see the house being built from my bedroom.

Sigh.

It is an effin HUGE Ranch , 2,950 sq ft, 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage, back patio, and best of all, GIGANTIC finished basement with walk out patio, wet bar and plenty of room to host the wildest, raunchiest TLAP weekend you've ever seen (HDW and the rest of the Denver Bloggers, save the weekend of 19 Sept...'Talk Like A Pirate' weekend...argggg!).

LOVE the layout. LOVE the basement. LOVE the roominess.

I feel guilty even thinking of getting a new house, considering my current new house isn't even finished being painted or tiled...I haven't even sent out the rest of my new addy cards.

WTF?

Was out in Golden earlier today looking at homes. Golden was my #1 location at one time. Stopped and looked at an Open House in Stapleton on the way home. HOLY CRAP! $419K for a 2 story warren fit for midgets. Honest, a person could barely turn in any room on the main floor. But the house I am in love with?  Huge, roomy, spacious and very very affordable...plus it's brand new.

Will really have to think this one thru.

Little, Big, Jillian, Ryan, Chayale and everyone else who reads and wants to visit, y'all better make your reservations soon if you want to see my current place...just in case :-)

This Just In...

Over the past week I have gone from having:

* 989 emails in my In-Box
* 1745 Sent emails
* a jillion emails with friend's addy's and phone #'s (after my cell died twice)
* and 43% capacity of my Yahoo space...

To....

* 5 emails in my In-Box
* 0 in my Sent
* All my friends addy's and phone #'s attached to their email and noted in my Yahoo address book
* 6 new folders added to my sidebar so I can save emails from 6 new sources (I am the worst email saver in the world)
* 4% used space in my Yahoo account

Yet another area of my life organized.

The Sun Is OUT!

Awake, feeling a gazillion times better, blogging.

After that, out to shovel snow (so fun, I love it!!) then do whatever my heart desires.

Happy Saturday :-)

TGIF

Am so so so glad that Friday is here. Big time.

Still sick all day...couldn't keep anything down, so when it was time to take my lunch, I im'd my associate back in FL, told her I was gonna take a nap and to call me if she didn't see me log back on in about an hour. The nap felt sooo good...but she forgot to call on time so I wound up taking a 1 &1/2 hour nap. Felt divine but made me feel guilty.

Bit of stress added when I discovered that HR has been wiring funds into my checking account without telling me. They have paid me late one week, and early this week. My commissions were off and my vacation accrual non-existant. Huh??

When I brought it to their attention (very politely, cause I am such a polite person and all) was told 'ADP is having issues with your account...we hope to have it fixed by March 1'. Huh again? Bottomline, I have enough in my accounts so I won't bounce anything and have no plans for taking vacation anytime soon. But still...they could have given me a head's up, ya know??

Continued the day plodding along at my own pace (right Scottie?) and wound up working overtime so I could make up my 'nap' time.

Aftewards, put the living room back together (Scott is finished downstairs...yay!), started a load of laundry and had hot chocolate and toast. As soon as my sweats are toasty warm from the dryer, will take a long hot shower and plant myself in front of the tv (and the fireplace) for the rest of the night.

Just me, the fire, Olympics and my best buddies on the internet.

Can life get any better?

Almost Friday...

Was out of it most of today.

Felt like crap but reasoned that I had to work thru it. Cancelled an appt to a new pedicure place (thanks HDW) I was dying to try. Then I crashed on the couch from 6 until just a little while ago.

House is in disarray from the painting process. It's cool tho...Scott should finish tomorrow so I'll have the whole weekend to get everything put back together and as an added bonus, the downstairs will be finished.

Less Than Jake is at the Ogden tomorrow night...maybe if I feel a burst of energy I'll force myself to go.

Or not.

We'll see.

NNSD.

My Mom's Hilarious

Did the tour guide thingie with my parents and sister last Sunday. Drove allll around Downtown Denver so they could see what is to be seen. As we pass The Filmore I do not share with them that I passed out in Tom's truck a week ago after seeing the Disco Bisquits. What I do say is 'hey Kel, I saw a cool concert there last week'.

Then my mom says (reading the marquee) 'Oh look...the Sisters of Mercy are coming to town...how nice that they have religious concerts in Denver'.

It's a miracle that I'm able to drive without doubling over in laughter and crashing my truck.

Maybe the Sisters of Mercy were watching over me?

The 1 Month Mark

I arrived in Denver a month ago today to start the next chapter in my life.

WHAT a month.

Right now I’m sitting downstairs cuddling under a fleece throw watching the Olympics with all the lights off. My painter Scott painted the downstairs today (it looks AWESOME!) and since the blinds are off the sliding glass patio door, decided the ‘lights off look’ would provide more privacy.

So the house is making progress, I’ve comfortably sequed into the ‘working from home’ routine (yeah, I still can’t believe they said yes and I get to do this), have had 3 sets of guests visit so far, and I’ve had a chance to hang out with my buddy Elise as well as former client/current buddy Tom. And my liver is still intact!

Have seen two snowfalls, getting ready for a 3rd snowfall tonite. My truck has been emisisons tested, registered and I got my driver’s license in the mail today and the picture was even half way decent.

I’ve come to know several cool bloggers, have met one and am getting ready to meet another one very soon...(lunch at Elways, HDW??)

People in Denver are SO BEYOND NICE! Have never met kinder people across the board until I moved here. It blows me away each and every day. And the boys are so cute and sexy and funny and nice and sweet and just plain yummy to look at. I heart Denver boys..as well as boys that move to Denver from other places.

CO itself is breathtakingly beautiful. I stare a lot now...actually, I stare all the time.  The mountains, the views, the SUNSETS...oh my goodness, the freakin’ gorgeous sunsets.

Found a killer hair salon, am lovin’ the whole King Soopers card that gives you a discount on gas ($2.05/gal, baby! In FL I paid $3.49/gal right before I moved), the recycling bins are PURPLE, and downtown Denver/LoDo area is TO DIE FOR. Oh, and I've lost 20# without really trying. No more late night eating and constant snacking on total yummy (and junky) stuff like I did when I lived with Howard. It makes a difference!

So color me happy, thankful, grateful, content and LOVIN’ life in Denver.

The benefits you get when you take life into your own hands and drive your own destiny.

The Day I Love To Hate

Valentine's Day is not my favorite day of the year. Not my second favorite. Or even my 364 th favorite day of the year.

Last year's VD went badly. Cried my eyes out before the day had ended.

The year before (even tho the shoe was on the other foot) was not a good VD either.

So this year is a bye.

Over and out.

It's Survey Time!

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF - The Survey
Name:	Kath
Birthday:	12/13
Birthplace:	So Cal
Current Location:	Denver,CO
Eye Color:	Hazel
Hair Color:	Brown
Height:	5'5"
Right Handed or Left Handed:	Right
Your Heritage:	Irish/Hungarian
The Shoes You Wore Today:	Merrils w/ fuzzy warm lining
Your Weakness:	The internet
Your Fears:	Heights
Your Perfect Pizza:	Red Onions, Bell Peppers and Pineapple
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year:	Continue to be debt-free
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger:	Waaaay
Thoughts First Waking Up:	Baruch Ata Adonai (Blessed Are You, Oh God)
Your Best Physical Feature:	Smile?
Your Bedtime:	Whenever I run out of steam
Your Most Missed Memory:	My Auntie Maggie who died of lung cancer
Pepsi or Coke:	COKE!!!
MacDonalds or Burger King:	Neither
Single or Group Dates:	Either/Or
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea:	Yuck
Chocolate or Vanilla:	Swirl
Cappuccino or Coffee:	Neither
Do you Smoke:	HELL NO! Detest smoking.
Do you Swear:	Fuck yeah!
Do you Sing:	Fuck yeah...see, there I go swearing again.
Do you Shower Daily:	Please...at least once
Have you Been in Love:	Yep
Do you want to go to College:	Did
Do you want to get Married:	Did that already, not sure it's worth it to ever do it again
Do you belive in yourself:	Always
Do you get Motion Sickness:	Just once in my life
Do you think you are Attractive:	Cute more than attractive
Are you a Health Freak:	On certain aspects, yes
Do you get along with your Parents:	Worship the ground they walk on
Do you like Thunderstorms:	LOVE 'EM
Do you play an Instrument:	Skin Flute (he he!)
In the past month have you Drank Alcohol:	Umm...YEAH!
In the past month have you Smoked:	NEVER
In the past month have you been on Drugs:	Legal only
In the past month have you gone on a Date:	Nope
In the past month have you gone to a Mall:	Yep
In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos:	Nope
In the past month have you eaten Sushi:	Never
In the past month have you been on Stage:	Nope
In the past month have you been Dumped:	Nope
In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping:	Nope
In the past month have you Stolen Anything:	Never
Ever been Drunk:	Oh my my, oh hell yes (what song is that from??)
Ever been called a Tease:	Yep
Ever been Beaten up:	Once...was not fun
Ever Shoplifted:	Never
How do you want to Die:	Happy
What do you want to be when you Grow Up:	Who wants to grow up?
What country would you most like to Visit:	Ireland
In a Boy/Girl..
Favourite Eye Color:	Brown
Favourite Hair Color:	Black/Brown
Short or Long Hair:	Short or no hair
Height:	At least 5'11, please God
Weight:	Proportionate to height
Best Clothing Style:
Number of Drugs I have taken:	Legal only
Number of CDs I own:	100+
Number of Piercings:	0
Number of Tattoos:	0
Number of things in my Past I Regret:	0
CREATE YOUR OWN! - or - GET PAID TO TAKE SURVEYS!

I Wake Up With Them Every Morning*...

...now I get to see THEM  in person on 21 April.

(*my cell alarm plays 'A Favor House Atlantic' every weekday at 6:30)

Mr. Sun...

...and a new peephole too!

Mr. Sun courtesy of my buddy/former roomie Howard...installation courtesy of my Dad - and I helped too!

Quiet House

Took my family to the airport at the butt-crack of dawn so they could catch their flight back to L.A.

Started getting things back in order during my lunch break...washed sheets, towels and of course, the floor of the garage. (Doesn't everyone???)

No one ever told me that when you park an auto with ice hanging from it, that it will combine with icky oily road crap and melt on your garage floor. And then...by mistake of course...your family members will walk on it and track it inside on your freshly shampooed beige carpeting.

Yeah.

So I sprayed the garage floor with Kitchen Degreaser Stuff and attacked the first part of it during lunch...the gunk came off quite nicely and BOY did my garage smell lemony fresh. Now it's time to do the 'stubborn part' that has been soaking since lunch.

Two more loads of sheets and towels, a quick vacuum of both the guest room, my office, deflate and store the pirate raft, clean the bathroom and then I will be ready for my next set of guests.  Which haven't been booked in stone.

Anyone up for a visit to Denver??

With a lemony fresh garage thrown in for good measure?