*drunk*

What we are talking about during our drive to Eagle: http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=517

Test from new iPhone. Stop. Excited. Stop. Just peed a little. Stop.

Disappointed, Mr. Obama... *shakes head disapprovingly*

This blog has been very VERY supportive of Obama. But he better gay-en up! (Get it? instead of straighten up? LAME, I know).

Read this to find out why I'm disappointed.

Literal Video

Thanks to the lovely Heather McDowell for turning The Blog(tm) on to this video.

Mesa Verde

This is our destination. I plan to research things to do along the way next week (at work).

We'll be staying at the Far View Lodge which is IN the park, so we don't have to worry about the two hour drive in and out of the park!

Did You Know?
On a snowy December day in 1888, while ranchers Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason searched Mesa Verde’s canyons for stray cattle, they unexpectedly came upon Cliff Palace for the first time. The following year, the Wetherill brothers and Mason explored an additional 182 cliff dwellings.

IF YOU HAVE ONE HALF DAY OR LESS...
Plan to spend at least four hours at Mesa Verde. Two hours of this time will be spent driving in and out of the park.
•Your first stop should be at the Far View Visitor Center (15 miles from the park entrance) for information and orientation.
•Visit the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum and Spruce Tree House -or- drive the Mesa Top Loop Road (six-mile loop).

IF YOU HAVE ONE DAY...
•Stop at the Far View Visitor Center to purchase tickets ($3.00) to visit Cliff Palace or Balcony House.
•Drive the Cliff Palace/Balcony House Loop Road. If you plan to visit Cliff Palace or Balcony House, be sure to purchase your tickets at the Far View Visitor Center first.
•Visit the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum, take a self-guided tour of Spruce Tree House, -and- drive the Mesa Top Loop Road (six-mile loop).
•Hike the Far View Sites Complex.

IF YOU HAVE ONE DAY (alternative)...
•Stop at the Far View Visitor Center to purchase tickets ($3.00) to visit Long House on Wetherill Mesa.
•Take the Wetherill Mesa Drive, hike the trails to the mesa top sites and cliff dwelling overlooks, and enjoy the tram service.
•Join a ranger for your ticketed tour to Long House. Be sure to purchase your tickets ($3.00) at the Far View Visitor Center before driving to Wetherill Mesa.
•Take a self-guided tour of Step House.

IF YOU HAVE TWO DAYS OR MORE (one day activities plus)...
•Stop at the Far View Visitor Center to purchase tickets to visit all three cliff dwellings (Cliff Palace, Balcony House, and Long House).
•Hike one or more of Mesa Verde's hiking trails.

NEXT WEEK

P&D are coming! WHEE!!

Not only will I get to catch up with them (and, as a result, get to know them better since I expected to score 100% on their respective "How Well Do You Know" Facebook quizzes), but we'll get to see some gorgeous Colorado scenery, play in Denver, and create life-long memories! AW.

Things I'm Excited About in June

1. Our trip to Denver/Telluride/Mesa Verde to see J!
2. My new computer
3. Our new iPhones!

*whispered* iPhones are coming.

Bing bong!

P and I are taking the plunge (we hope)! On Monday night, we met with a Realtor®, which is both exciting and pee-in-my-pants scary. She's lovely, which is nice. She knows the area we want to live in very well, which also happens to be the area we currently live in. The whole process is terribly confusing, and I work with loans all day long. Our next step -- we need to get pre-approved. Also scary, mainly because we both (OK, mostly me) are paranoid that we won't get approved. I'm sure we will, but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't worrying! Also, see my previous post about buying a computer. So much for not making major purchases right before you apply for a mortgage. What can I say? I like pretty things. We'll show pictures of our search. More to come! Unless we don't get approved, in which case I will never write of this again.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I hope that didn't make anyone panic--it's not my birthday--YET! But, it IS this month, so the free stuff is starting to trickle in. Not from my real friends--from my friends at the mall!

I used to be reluctant to sign up for memberships and clubs at stores, but then I started to realize there are some benefits (and MANY more if you shop way more savvier than I). The birthday benefits, though, are ALWAYS the best!

Thusfar, I have a $10 off coupon at DSW (min. purchase $20--that's half off!!) and a $10 gift certificate from Origins. (Thanks, guys!!) The ones I am looking forward to include the one from Aveda (years past have included free product and a custom scent--2 of which I still have!), Banana Republic (I forget what they gave me last year, but I haven't been to Banana in forever which I assume means it will be GOOD!), and I think I get something for having a GAP card.

And I certainly hope my old friend Ann Taylor LOFT remembers my birthday. She emails me every single day, I assume they're all leading up to a really nice gift!

P. D. and J. want to hear from you!

Dear European and Canadian Blog Readers,

In an effort to better understand what attracts you to our blog, we invite you to comment on this post. There are over 100 hits to our blog between you. Do you find our quaint stories of American Life(tm) exotic and strange (believe it or not, not a single one of the blog's authors drives an SUV, and we don't eat at McDonald's! Well, I guess I can't speak for J, but I presume if she knows what's good for her she doesn't! And get this! We don't own or carry guns, either! And we have health insurance! Don't let that fool you, though. True to form, we don't save nearly enough money, we carry balances on our credit cards [except P, who just paid his cards off {jerk}], and we are definitely as materialistic as they come. In fact, let's go shopping!)? Or is it just fascinating that we don't end all of our words in "e's" and call chips "french fries"?

I should point out that we DO have our similarities. I love hockey, for example, and can sing the entire Canadian national anthem. And my experience with people from Quebec is that they are annoying. (If you are from Quebec and are reading this... oh who am I kidding? By now, since you've realized this site isn't in french, you've given up.) And your blog authors are all of European stock, so we understand what it's like to be pasty and burn, even when it doesn't seem like there was enough sun to cause any sort of problem (except P, who is Italian and does not burn, ever [jerk]). And P and J have been to Europe.

In any event, please... comment. Let us know what you like, what you don't understand, and what we can do to make this a more pleasant experience for you.

Pip pip for now! Cheers! Eh? You get the picture.

P. D. and J.