Tonight we participated in a time honored tradition, that American past time, a baseball game. We went to a Colorado Rockies game!

About a month ago, DCM got a subscription to the Denver Post. Along with the subscription, came a sheet of coupons, and who doesn’t love coupons? Here’s the thing, he signed up for the paper in mid July, take a guess when they expired, hmmm…

Included with the coupons and subscription was a voucher for two tickets to a Colorado Rockies game. I found a Rockies Dugout at the mall, there are a lot of locations that you can get tickets out, wahoo. You can guess where the seats were located, as they were free.

We left in plenty of time, not sure what the traffic would be like, no traffic, so it only took about 25 minutes to get there. We went into the stadium, took the escalator up, found our seats, then it was time to find food, we were starvin’! The vegetarian options, along with everything else and more options, were back down on the first level, stairs thank you, so down we went.

CKM, you would have been in heaven, gluten free options everywhere!

Veggie burger, that was for me, shocker! I don’t have a problem paying $5 for a veggie burger, they a good size, same a I make at home or get in a restaurant, I do have a problem paying that much for a veggie dog when they are pretty small. You can get a foot long or bratwurst, that’s worth the price.

So, veggie burger and bottle of water for me, bratwurst and a coke in a souvenir cup for DCM, and fries to share.

Back up the escalator, just in time for the national anthem, it was very nice, then to find our row, sat in the middle, we took a little liberty with that, pretty much over first base. We enjoy dinner, there’s nothing like a burger or dog at a baseball game.

The weather as beautiful, not too hot, a nice breeze every once in a while, great view of the mountains in the distance. When you looked across the field, there was a very nice area that looked like a mini woods with trees and a pond and when there was a home run, water feature shooting up, very cool. This was also where the pitchers warmed up, how cool is that!

The stadium was pretty empty at the start of the game, oh, they were playing the Cincinnati Reds, sorry! By the end of the fourth inning, it was pretty in full the lower levels and more and more people joined us up top. One thing I noticed, most of the people who were there were fans, in one form of Rockies apparel or another and now, thanks to DCM, I was too, with my new Rockies hat, thank you!

Now, DCM and I are not baseball fans, we enjoy going to a game, there is a crackle and feel in the air, a hum and of course, nothing like the food and snacks you get there! We discussed it and agreed that we probably wouldn’t stay to the end of the game, DCM said we’d try to make it to the fifth inning.

The fourth inning had some excitement in it, there were double and triple plays and four runs home, wahoo! It lasted quite a while, the other innings didn’t go on as long.

Before the excitement, I said “I don’t think I’ll make it to the seventh inning stretch” his response…”I said we’d try to make it to the fifth inning!”

At the end of the fourth inning, we looked at each other and said yup, so off we went. Down the stairs, back to the car, funny thing about that, we parked in a trendy area and apparently free, on the street parking is rare, a girl in an SUV asked if we were parked there and were we leaving, so she followed us, we walked as quickly as we could, but she followed us, it was a little like being stalked!

Got into the beetle bug, dropped the top and headed home. Cross one item off the Colorado to do list, going to a Rockies game!

How old am I? How old do you think I am?

I had so many other things I wanted to talk to you about tonight but here we are.

Today I had to return something at the mall, I got sidelined by one of those kiosk people, you know, please come over, let me touch your hair, moisturizer your skin, you know.

I normally don’t even talk to those people. I remember be out to dinner with KH and TS, we were at the mall, on our way to see JV at her job at Coach and someone pulled me over to talk about a hair straightener, I’m not even sure how they got me to talk to them. The next thing I know, this person had pulled my hair out of its pony tail and started straightening my hair. The look on my face frightened my friends, they thought steam was going to come out of my ears! I managed to get away without anyone getting hurt.

The moisturizer guy tried to talk me into the $125 ball of something with gold in it. Who knows what it was, I wasn’t buying it, his lines or the product.

As I was walking away, he asked if I was younger than him, I asked how hold he was, 34, he thought I was 32. No, I am not that gullible, it’s still nice to hear. We all know that I am a bit older than that and I’m good with it. I do look younger than my age, all the women in my family n my moms side always look young, well into their 90s, good genes.

Now, coming full circle back to my opening thought stream, how old am I or do they think I am?

When I got the mail today, I had an envelope for Neptune Society…I could win a free pre-paid cremation! As well as information on cremation. This was not just junk mail, well it is, but it was addressed to me personally, my name and address! What? The letter inside had my name n the greeting!!

There was information about the benefits of cremation, the economics and an entry form to win a free cremation!

So, in conclusion…how old do they think I am?

http://www.neptunesociety.com/

No, I am not a Home Shopping Network fan or junkie, I think I’ve seen anything on the HSN twice in my life and for about 30 seconds to a minute max.

When I was in college, I got a job at a specialty food store, Lloyd’s of Long Island in West Hampton Village. I called it an upscale deli once and got hit on the back of the head, I learned my lesson.
I remember being exhausted when I got home every night, I think I even fell asleep in my food at the dinner table one night!

I know my parents didn’t think I would go back, but I ended up working there for all four years of college, even after it was sold and became Paula’s. It was quite an experience, catering to the rich, the very rich and sometimes the famous. I got to make sandwiches for Paul McCartney, I served Marvin Hamlisch and Glynis Johns, you know, the mom from Mary Poppins! just to name a few, yes, I just name dropped!

We had a cappuccino machine with a plethora of flavored coffees, I was a “barista” before there were baristas! For someone that doesn’t even like the smell of coffee, I could make a mean cappuccino! Hot or cold, you name it, I could make it!

As we were catering to the wealthy, we had high dollar prices, $9 for a pound of tuna salad, $28 for a pound of shrimp salad, but along with the high dollar prices, we had really good food! I know it was good because I ate it and after a few days of being in the case, it was either take it home or throw it away, guess who’s family ate well during the summer!

I really liked working there and loved the owners M & D, aunt and niece. They took a chance on me and I’m not even sure they thought I would come back the next year, but I did and our relationship got stronger, enough that they gave me more and more responsibility, I was honored. Eventually, I was the one who worked solo during the week, with one or both of them, we would do inventory, rearrange, cook, just have a good time.

I remember when M met her husband, he was a tall, handsome biker with a great mustache and used to say “Cool Beans”, I hadn’t heard that before and use it still to this day, and then when her son was born… what a doll baby.

D had the cutest little boy, J. I babysat a few times, most memorable? His ‘noo-noos’ with butter, that would be noodles for those of you not in the know. I would make it and he would take the pat of butter and put the whole thing in his mouth, I got wise fast!

Ok, now, I’ve told you when I was in college, you’ve figured out how old I am. Let’s just say, this was early 1990s, how old do you think I feel thinking about those kids?

The cool thing is that Lloyd was the matriarch’s maiden name and everyone in the family, male and female, had the middle name of Lloyd, except for one of the grandkids, who’s first name was Lloyd, isn’t that an awesome tradition?

There are so many memories, most of them good, that I have from that time, I will definitely treasure those memories. I know some of you are shocked, but I still have a Lloyd’s of Long Island tshirt or two, so does my dad!

One of the businesses that was next door was the high end jewelry store, Joan Boyce, Fine Jewelry. Joan and her husband Allen (I know I use initials, but if you go to the site and look at the gallery, you’ll see his name) were always very nice to me. When it was lunchtime, I would bring what they ordered and mine and then sit in the back of the store or on the stairs in the showroom and have lunch, I was kind of hiding out until it was time to go back to work, I was able to get thirty minutes of quiet, anyone who works in the food industry knows how precious that is.
http://www.joanboyce.com/

Not to worry friends, I am tying this all together, and here it comes!

I was flipping through the channel guide and I saw a name that I knew and immediately flipped it on because I had to know if it was the same person and it was! She hadn’t changed or aged a bit!

I was surprised by what she was selling, well, not completely surprised, but it wasn’t what I thought she would be on there for. When I knew her, way back when, she was selling high end jewelry in a very high end town, West Hampton Beach, NY. I thought she would be selling her jewelry, but she was actually selling velour track suits and a few other things, not my taste, but I did check it out for a minute. She was as vibrant and boisterous and I remember, I expected nothing less! After looking her up on Google, she has HSNs for jewelry and shoes, there you go.

Seeing her and hearing her voice brought back so many memories.

http://westhamptonbeach.org/community-links/

Today I went back for my second physical therapy appointment.

When I got there, the ladies behind the counter asked me if I’d seen the MTV music awards, I hadn’t, do they still show music videos? And all anyone can talk about is Miley Cyrus and the “twerking”, even CKM asked me about the controversy and what twerking was. (You can find the news stories on your own, I won’t be responsible if you see this and you are irrevocably damaged!

Unfortunately, DCM had introduced me to twerking through a video on YouTube and let’s just say..I’m scarred for life. I would never subject anyone to this torture and since I was subjected for quite a while and every once in a while, I look at him and say “twerk it! Twerk it!” Take that!

I waited a few minutes for my turn and then we went into one of the therapy rooms. I hung my head and said I hadn’t done my homework, I apologized and said that I would do it going forward. She laughed and said, “Well at least you admitted it”.

We started with heat, a warm towel wrapped around something and placed on my left neck and shoulder. That was for about ten minutes, I checked Facebook, my email, I may have dozed off. Then it was time for massage, the torture begins.

I told her about blogging about what she said last week, she laughed. Let’s just say, this time, way more painful, not sure why, but it was and…get this, she told me I was THE WORST case she had ever encountered! There were a few spots that she dug into that I felt in my toes and my fingers were tingling, definitely not fun.

She apologized and I told her it was fine, she had to do what she had to do, but unfortunately, I might throw out an expletive or two, I apologized as well. I did ask her if anyone laughed or made her laugh as much!

I also asked if this problem was going to clear up in 4-6 weeks, because that’s what the prescription was for. Um…

She also asked if I had ever been to a massage therapist, I said no, should I? She recommended it after the PT was done, said I would be a massage therapists best and worst, a challenge; you know me, always a challenge!

After massage, it was electrodes, fun! I think I may have fallen asleep that time. After electrons, she wanted to do some traction, so I laid down on the table, my feet propped up on a stool, my head in a vise that would pull and hold for 40 seconds, oh what joy! She started and left for about 7 minutes when she came back, she said I had a frown on my face, nope, I had actually dozed off, that was my confused face.

We were done and on the way out, I promised to do my exercises. A little sore, but none the worse for wear.

Lets see what happens on Thursday, my next appointment.

I don’t do this often and I don’t like to, but I am going to ask you to beg my pardon. Something I ate today is not sitting well with me this evening and I am going to instruct myself to get some rest and everything should be better tomorrow.

I hope you all had a great Sunday and I will tell you about The World’s End tomorrow.

Today, we had an adventure.

If I haven’t told you before, DCM is an avid poker player and fan of the game. He hosted monthly games when we were still in Atlanta and he has started the tradition here in Colorado with his co-workers.

In addition to playing in “live” tournaments, he also plays online…individual games as well as online tournaments. So, now the bug has hit, he needs to play in a tournament. He went online to find some places to play and some people have told him about Błackhawk.

It’s about an hour from here and casino city! I lost track of all the casinos! I can tell you that the city was better looking on the outside than the inside of most of the casinos! You can tell they spend more money on the machines and tables than anything else. The town reminded us of Helen, Ga, maybe even the town of Blue Ridge, Ga, very cute.

There are definitely a lot of choices, if you gamble, you’d never be bored, but for those of us who don’t, you would be. There are very few restaurants in the casinos, a lot of them have just a counter with some food, some of the bigger ones have a restaurant and a buffet. I can tell you that none of these restaurants cater to non meant eaters.

Ameristar is the newest of the casinos and it was the nicest on the inside, had very nice stone accents and decor, there is a large hotel above the casino with a spa, a few restaurant options and of course, a buffet. When we walked in, this is what I expected, a more Las Vegas feel, the other casinos didn’t have that at all.

I did ask someone about things to do and restaurants. Apparently there used to be a restaurant outside the casinos, but they shut it down because no one went, people only go there to gamble and nothing else. I asked about other things to do, no shops or restaurants or theaters, but you could go to other towns, like Capital City, only a few miles away, they have more casinos, smaller, but more and some restaurants, then you could drive to Idaho Spring, not too far, for more outdoor activities.

Needless to say, unless DCM is going to be in a weekend tournament, he will probably go up there by himself to play for a few hours. It would be fun to get away for the weekend as the area is beautiful and while he’s playing, I would play tourist and maybe even hiker.

The best part was the drive, it was absolutely beautiful driving up through the mountains, truly breathtaking and I’m looking forward to our next adventure into the mountains,

http://www.blackhawkcolorado.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hawk,_Colorado

Today I went for my first physical therapy session.

After discussing what the issues are and what the course of actions were going to be, massage, a little heat and electrodes (pulses), I laid down on the table on my back. She put one of those cylinder pillows under my knees so they would be bent.

So you know I have Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, it’s issues with my neck and pecs, basically, tension, lets get to working that out!

First thing was going to be massage and when she started on my neck she said, oh! And wow! And oh boy! She said I was a rare case, awe gee shucks, I’m rare! She rarely has experienced muscles that tight and this was probably going to be painful. I said maybe I should wear headphones so I don’t hear her! It’s ok I told her, just do what you have to.

I told her about having knots in my shoulders since I was a kid and how a friend of mine in college, JB, used to work the knots, it would take a long time and then get upset because the knots would be back the next day, not my fault!

So, there was about 10 minutes of massage, and…for anyone that knows me, I don’t enjoy massages, and then she put four square pads on my back and pecs and then the was about 20 minutes of little electrodes sending pulses.

After it was all done, I got some exercises to work on at home and set up my next appointments. I have a feeling this is going to be a very long process.

I’m just glad that the healing process can begin. I’ll keep you posted.

I had a great post all planned but then I got some very sad news and it’s all I can think about.

I’m not going to go into a long diatribe or say very much tonight. I was on Facebook tonight and saw a post by a friend about another friend who lost her life this weekend. She was visiting friends, fell down a flight of stairs and never regained consciousness. I do want to tell you a little about her.

She has been an educator for 13 years and an assistant principal for the past five years. She was a joy to everyone who knew her, was a great influence to her students and had an infectious smile. I know people who taught with her and said she was a great teacher.

I met her about 7 or 8 years ago at a party, we used to laugh remembering that party, it was a redneck party and we met over a drunken watermelon, she said I did a great job! Later, when I got into direct sales, she became a great hostess and a friend when we would get to see each other and catch up. She was very happily married and has two amazing little boys that she dotted on. I remember when she was pregnant with both boys, soooo excited! And what a great mom, 36 is way too young.

Thank you for listening and if you could send some good vibes to her family and maybe a virtual hug to me, I would be so appreciative. My life is better just for having known her.