The first weekend in February, Matt had a conference for the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph science team up in Winter Park, CO. Another member of the science team also had a wife who had to work until late in the week. So, Matt drove our SUV up into the mountains, and I borrowed a car from friends for a few days.
Which, thanks to ice and snow and Boulder's craptastic lack of snow and ice removal, I had to leave stranded on the Hill Thursday evening after work because I COULD NOT GET IT OUT OF ITS PARKING SPOT. The eight-inch-tall ice/snow border around the parking spot prevented me from making a timely exit. With the help of Waldo, a local college boy who wandered by, I managed to get the car pushed back into the spot so at least I could leave it for the night. (In case you were wondering where Waldo went after the early 90's, I can tell you: he's living in Boulder and is growing up into a fine, thoughtful young gentleman.)
I began running in the snow across campus to try to catch a bus to daycare. A car accident in the middle of campus meant no buses were coming through from any direction. I called my out-of-town husband to look up bus schedules online in case I couldn't find us a ride home. Then I kept jogging through the snow, and finally arrived at daycare circa 5:45 p.m.. One of the bug's teachers had waited patiently for me to arrive, and they even had an emergency carseat for me to borrow. I am so happy she is at a place with such caring people...
My friend Tom was in town last week, since he had to defend his dissertation Friday afternoon. We had made plans to have him, his wife Jenny, and their charming son Max over for dinner Thursday night. I had rashly promised to distract him from worrying about the next day. So, when I called from daycare, out of breath, and begged for a ride back to the icebound car (so I could get the bug's carseat) and then out to Longmont, he was successfully distracted. Not everyone can manufacture a daycare emergency and a transportation emergency on such short notice, but hey, what are friends for? Thank goodness they had rented an SUV so the snow was not too troublesome. We had a safe ride and a lovely visit, and Tom is now Dr. Tom so all is well that ends well.
Friday morning my friend Staci and I set out for Winter Park with our three girls. While our husbands considered the future of Hubble science, our young future scientists pondered the wonders of Dora the Explorer:
They mixed slack-jawed wonder with a few jaunts into the hotel pool and a memorable breakfast out where the bug managed to catapult her booster seat and chair backwards into a stranger's ski boots. That took a bit of recovery time, but she was physically fine, just overwhelmed by her own brute strength and the force of gravity. Lots of fun and pizza was had by all, in spite of sub-freezing temperatures and gusty winds. And we filled the in-lodge pub with cute girl action:
Last weekend the weather was actually nice. For the first time in eight weeks. So, Matt and I took the bug down to Denver Saturday for the "Home and Garden Show." Which should have been renamed the "Windows, Siding, and Off-limits Backyard Playground Equipment Show with a few Flowers." Little "Garden" was to be seen, but many strange and wonderful vendors provided amusement instead. We had to drag the bug away from the pianos with promises of snack, which I think bodes well for her future musical career. Other favorite booths included the "create-a-skylight-at-any-angle" window vendor, the many hot tub vendors who let us touch the bubbles, the "stained-glass-for-your-grandma" seller, and the one backyard playset vendor (out of eight I counted) who ACTUALLY LET KIDS PLAY on the equipment. That vendor deserves blessings and business, for saving the sanity of all the parents who had to spend much of their day dragging all their kids away from the "DO NOT PLAY ON THIS EQUIPMENT" booths. Dude, setting it up and not letting them play is like dangling candy in front of them and not letting them have any. Not. Nice.
Least favorite booth: the two plastic dinosaurs at the entrance that scared the hell out of the bug when they "roared." It took ten minutes to peel her off of me, and I don't know who would want dinosaurs in their home or garden so I'm still mystified by why they were at the show. Maybe everyone but me loves dinosaurs.
After the Home Show we took the free bus down 16th Street Mall to a favorite coffeehouse of mine on Larimer Street, the Market. Wow, yummy baked goods and fine, fine coffee make tiredness retreat in style. At least until the long drive home, when the bug wiped out in the carseat from the sheer variety of adventure.
2 comments:
Mmmm. I love the Market. I should go there more often while it's so easy...
The picture of the girls at the pub is awesome. There was no holding them still for a split second!
You do arrange a dramatic distraction from dissertation defense. Hope the weather insanity has abated somewhat. You guys are rapidly approaching our "four hurricanes in two months" level of meteorological lunacy from a couple of years back, although I don't think any of us can quite match the Katrina Katastrophe (ongoing) orchestrated by Ma Nature and George II.
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