Post-Thanksgiving Post (heh)

Hello, all! I am very glad to say that we had a very successful Thanksgiving, and boy were we thankful! The football game was watched, the Broncos won(hurrah!), and the food was awesome. Yes, we actually made our first turkey dinner all on our own, and it was great!! The turkey(11.5 lbs, we wanted leftovers and boy do we have them! I wish I could send some to e in Australia) was just a touch dry, but the gravy I made from the drippings was really really good, not lumpy or anything, and so that cancelled out the dryness. We totally overdid it on the smooshed taters, but that's ok... all I could think of [upon seeing the sheer volume of them when they were all smooshed and done] was that it was too bad my UncleJ wasn't here to help us eat them! He's the huge tater fan in the family(besides me, but I can't eat nearly as much). I worked my way through about a third of a drumstick, some taters, some stuffing, and some cranberry sauce. Oh, and some frozen nuked sliced carrots with butter and brown sugar. I wanted to get a block of frozen squash, but they didn't have any at the King Soopers(yep, the spelling is correct!). Mr.M, on the other hand, had 2 huge plates of food, including an entire breast! Go Mr.M!! I had a Thanksgiving sandwich for dinner last night, which is my favorite leftover... some stuffing, some turkey, a bit of gravy, and cranberry sauce, all smashed between some bread. Mmmmm. Messy, but mmmmm. That's what paper towels are for!

Also, go check out my FlickR, there are more turkey pics and also more squirrel pics... last week when it snowed, there was this cute little squirrel sitting on a squirrel-sized branch on the tree right outside our balcony. Mr.M told me to run and get the camera, because the cutest thing... he was using his tail like an umbrella!! Just sitting there, still as can be, with his tail up and over his entire body as a little snow-sheild! It was so adorable... and the squirrels here are super friendly, too. They'll come and eat right out of your hand! I'll be walking down the sidewalk to the car, and they run right up to within a foot of you, to see if you have any food for them. I've never seen a squirrel that close in my life, not even in squirrel-infested CT, where there's a ton of them but they're super skittish.

Well anyway, I hope everyone had a lovely holiday, and I miss everyone so much... Maybe next year we can come back for Thanksgiving or Christmas...

My French Name Is...

Your French name is~Aime~It means 'beloved'.You need to love and be loved. You love with all of
your heart, and expect the same in return. What
you want most is to make the ones you love
happy. You are warm and affectionate.

Nicked from Chaos With Class by way of e.

What is your French name?

*Sigh*

I took out my second tongue ring last night. *sniff* My dentist back in CT said that it was wreaking havoc on the back of my 2 front teeth, making the gums recede(eeew!). I guess the damage wasn't too bad though, considering I've had it in for the past 3 years, almost! But not to worry, I still have one left, and it's so far back in my mouth that it ain't goin' nowhere, nohow! Fortunately it doesn't affect any of my teeth. Still, you get used to something being in your mouth 24/7 for 3 years, and you go a little bonkers once it's gone. Well, I do, anyway. Hmmm, example; for any of you that have had braces, do you remember when you had them removed? Your mouth felt all weird for at least a weeK, right? Well, anyhow, I'm hoping to get over this in about a week also. The other thing that's kind of bumming me out is the fact that I can't stick out my tongue and freak people out anymore; one plain'ol tongue ring just seems so, well, common. I loved having 2, and barring the dental issues, I'd have kept it until I was so old that I couldn't untangle the spaghetti from around them anymore. *sigh* Well anyway, I suppose I'm still enough of a freak to get a decent amount of attention; maybe I'll get my forehead pierced!! Calm down, Mom & Dad, I'm just kidding! I am seriously overdue for another tattoo, however....

This is Gonna be a Big One

Ok, so I think I've figured out what's wrong with me and posting. I keep thinking, geez, if e can post on practically a daily basis, then why the heck can't I post at least once a week? Well, my current theory is that I let way too much build up. On the way out here from CT I wrote about 5 posts in my head, and then we got here and so much has happened that I just don't have a clue where to start anymore. So here's the deal. This is going to be a nice long post, and I'll try and touch on as much as I can that's happened so far since arriving. Then I think it'll be easier to sit and post things more often. Ready? Here goes!

Part 1: The Sky, and Nature's Boobies

Once we entered Colorado while driving here, I happened to be the lucky one in the driver's seat since Mr.M was beat from driving most of the way so far and was taking a nap. Living on the East coast for all of my life, with all of its trees, and cramped cities and neighborhoods and such, I had never seen much more than the sky immediately above, with the [notable] exception of the ocean. Well, picture that endless horizon, take out the water, expand it in ALL directions, and drive through the middle; to say the least I was blown away. Fortunately we were nearly alone on the road as I couldn't stop staring from side to side, at all that SKY, beautifully clear blue with white puffy clouds all over, and I daresay I may have drifted a bit from time to time. It was as if the vastness of the sea had jumped up into the sky and I was driving right through the middle of the ocean floor. Then, as Mr.M woke up and took the driver's seat again, and we got further west, the conversation went something like this:

Me: "Holy crap, look at those mountains!!"
Him: *laughs* "Those aren't mountains."
Me: "What the [expletive deleted] do you mean, those aren't mountains?!"
Him: "Those are just the foothills; wait 'till you see the actual mountains!"
Me: "But they're so big, and beautiful!" *pause* "They're like nature's boobies."

And so they are. Unfortunately, as we drove into town there was a serious cloud cover over said mountains, so I wasn't able to see them. But I have since, as you guys have seen on my flickR albums, and they simply take my breath away.

Part 2: Mmmmmm... The Food

Again, where to begin? How about the first place we went to, a place that Mr.M had been talking my ear off about since we met... Black Eyed Pea. That would have been a link, but unfortunately they don't have a website except for the location in Texas, and it's a lot different than the ones here. I'll have to take a picture of one and post it, maybe I'll take a picture of the menu too... Basically, it's a family oriented dine-in place, and the prices are good, and the portions are HUGE! Mr.M's fave that he was craving from afar in CT is the country-fried steak, one of many dishes in this country that would probably be considered a heart attack on a plate, but I tried some of his, and it's YUMMY! Except for the white gravy-like substance. I know it's very common here and in the south, but well, I just plain don't like it. Oh, and that heart attack on a plate thing? My salad wasn't much better! Yep, I said SALAD. I wasn't super hungry, so I saw this salad with bleu cheese crumbles, bits of steak, and fried mushrooms, and ordered it. Sounds good, right(if you like that sort of thing)? Well, it showed up on a plate the size of Gibraltar, with the yummy aforementioned bits of [cooked to order] steak, and breaded, DEEP-FRIED WHOLE mushrooms in a huge pile on top! Needless to say, I ate that thing for 3 days! Ok, moving on to our other favorite so far, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue. My favorite is the bbq mix plate lunch (which I can eat for 2 days), that has bbq chicken, beef, and short ribs, 2 scoops rice, and 1 scoop mac salad. OMG yum! And to clarify, we're not talking bbq like any you've ever tasted... It's completely unique, not even close to your typical American bbq. It's amazing! Even Mr.M never leaves hungry. Ever. So let's see, what else... There's the Hamburger Stand, Fazoli's, Village Inn (kinda like Denny's but way better, yummy strawberry crepes!), Blackjack and Papa John's pizza(they deliver, yay!), Good Times, Hacienda Colorado, Schlotzsky's(funny name, serious sandwich; and boy oh boy, they ain't kiddin'!), and last but not least(that I can remember right now, anyway), SONIC!!!! I've been seeing Sonic commercials on TV for the past 2 years, and there's not one within 3 states of CT, so it was a horrible tease... Well now we got 'em, and I love 'em! I have just discovered another place that I'm dying to go to called Noodles & Company, so I'll let you all know if it's as good as it looks. And boy does it look good!

Part 3: Other Stuff

Mr.M is, right now, finishing up his last day of actual classwork for school. He has tomorrow off, and then he goes out on the road for his driving training. He's so excited! He has gotten 100's on almost all of his tests, and a few between 95-98, so he's looking at a very high total average, and he's at the top of his class! I am so super-proud of him! As for me, I'm just about done with my first month at Contact One call center, the answering service that I've been hired at here. I have finally seemed to get the hang of the computer system, and don't have to ask TOO many questions anymore, but with 700+ accounts, I answer a new one at least once every day that I haven't seen before, so some questions are inevitable. But it's a good job, and the pay is good, and all the people I work with are really nice. I'm quite relieved that I like the people I work with, after so long working alone and just a few hours a week with others! The apartment has reached a standstill as far as unpacking, we still have a heap more to do, but since we've unpacked all the necessities, we have become decidedly lazy about it. It'll get done, though, eventually! And as soon as it is, I'll be posting more pictures of it, but sorry, not until then!

Well, I think that about covers it for now... Except that I miss everyone so much, and can't wait to come back and visit when we can! I know I always say something like, "And I promise to post again real soon," but nope, not this time. Maybe I was jinxing myself. So, bye, hope everyone's well, and I'll post when I post! {{{HUGS}}}