Madison Monroes

I just got out of a meeting with my boss for next year and I’m happy to say it went well. You could say I had some rather strong feelings about how things went down last year and they weren’t all that positive. I wanted to try to convey some of that to my new boss in hopes of avoiding a repeat of last year. My goal was to be as objective as possible and I think I did a pretty good job. I was a little nervous because I didn’t want to just go in and say: “This is what was wrong with last year, and here’s what you need to do to fix it.” Even if thoughts like that did enter my head, it would never be my place to do that. But she was very receptive to what I was saying and listened to everything I had to say. I hope she appreciated the meeting as much as I did. It really makes me feel a lot better about starting a new year in a building that I love, but where I managed to piss off a lot of people last year.

Changing gears. Last night was awesome! Even though Leigh was MIA and the crowd got smaller as the evening wore on, it was still a great time. It’s too bad summer will be ending soon and the group will never be the same. We have 3 Thursdays left! Long Island Iced Teas at Gold Fork rule. I recommend Alaskan.

Unfortunately, starting with the drive home last night, my brain jumped into overdrive. Occasionally when I get home after going out, I don’t just collapse into bed. Last night was one of those nights. Thoughts were rushing through my head at a million miles an hour and even as I felt my body getting tired I couldn’t sleep. What sucks is that the thoughts in my head were not of the positive type. Even things that normally don’t bother me started to. I felt myself getting angry because I couldn’t stop them from coming. I finally gave up and tried to sleep but it didn’t work. I tossed and turned most of the night and finally fell into a good sleep about 7:30, only to wake up at 9:00 to get ready for my meeting. I’m not tired at the moment, but that could change at any moment. Luckily, the meeting made me feel ten times better. Today is looking up.

Currently Playing: Nickelback – Feelin’ Way Too Damn Good

And it’s like…

Everytime I turn around
I fall in love and find my heart face down
And where it lands is when it should
This time it’s like
The two of us should probably start to fight
Cuz something’s gotta go wrong
Cuz I’m feelin’ way too damn good

Oh yeah, tonight was great. Everyone was on top of their game, the teams were matched…we played like 6 games. Gotta love it.

I’ve been busy reformatting my laptop so things might get a little slow for a bit. Back with pics.

Currently Playing: Stargate SG-1 – Red Sky Commentary

Kansas is hot. And really humid. After spending a week 5,000 feet above sea level in the dry mountain air, it was really like a slap in the face to step out of the car when we got back. I was reminded again today when I went to play softball. Even though it was after 5:00 and the heat of the day should have been fading, it was still sweltering. I just felt completely drained when the game was over. We won by the way, 15-13. I went 3-4 with a triple, line out, and two infield singles. I also scored the last run of the game, so that was exciting. We played hard, and despite the heat it was a great game. I think all the time spent hiking around in the mountains actually made the game easier on me, though. Because my body had to work harder in the thinner air of the mountains, it wasn’t so bad getting back here in the thicker air of the plains.

I also had an interesting experience last night. On the drive home we stopped in Dodge City and had dinner. We ate at Applebee’s and the food was pretty good (I had been craving steak), but we were seated in the smoking section because we knew it would be faster. We were in the corner so it wasn’t bad, except that there was this couple sitting across from us with a baby that did nothing but fight while they ate. It wasn’t a little between the two of them fight, but loud enough for the five tables around them to hear it. They dropped the f-bomb about every other word and I got the feeling they had the combined IQ of about 12. They both took cell phone calls at full volume, and smoked in front of their baby. I really think if they’d been there much longer I would have complained to the management at Applebee’s and/or told them off myself. Ok, so now that I’ve gotten off track, I’ll switch back to the interesting experience. Sorry for the delay.

Delay…that reminds me of another something that happened on highway 160 between Cortez and Cañon City. We were somewhere in the middle, possibly before a mountain pass or after. I really don’t remember at this point. I was driving, and we had just passed through some construction where they had the road torn up and there was only one lane. Luckily we didn’t have to wait very long. Soon after, we came to what appeared to be more construction cause about 15 cars were stopped in front of us. So we waited. More cars kept rolling up. We waited some more. I don’t know how long we were there but I finally glanced at the clock. Ten minutes later, I knew we’d been there at least that long, and nothing was happening. We’d seen about 3 cars going the other way and that was it. People started getting out of their cars. The line kept growing. Some cranked up the music, some explored the area to the side of the road, some got their bikes out and rode up and down the line. It was like a little party, except know one knew anyone else and everyone really just wanted to leave. One guy decided to walk up the hill into the trees a bit to relieve himself (so I decided to follow suit as there was no other option). My mom and sister made their way down towards a creek where they discovered some animal bones of what was probably a deer or an elk (souvenirs!). Finally, after an estimated 40 minutes, people started jumping back in their cars and the line moved. For 500 feet. Then stopped again. WTF?! We were only stopped for a few minutes when we got to move for real. As we came closer to the construction, we saw that a large RV had been pulled after the road after having some kind of major engine trouble and stalling in the middle of the road, blocking both lanes of traffic. The construction was long and everything was messed up, but it wouldn’t have taken nearly as long without the damn RV. As we got to the other side, we started counting cars waiting. 1, 2…50…75…100…150…186 cars stopped in the middle of the highway, waiting for things to clear. They stretched easily over a mile. Again with the diversion, back to my original topic.

After we left Dodge City, I was driving again. Somehow my mom started talking about something from when she was a kid and it kind of snowballed into a bit of life history for both of my parents and what things were like for them growing up. There were a few stories I’d heard before, but a lot of it was things I never know about them or their families. It was interesting, funny, and sometimes sad. Their families weren’t always the most functional, particularly my mom’s side. It really puts things into perspective when I think about what my life has been like and how lucky I am to have a family that is still together where we all still love each other. It was really cool hearing them talk about how they met and all the different places they lived and what Wichita was like 30 years ago.

Anyway, back to the present. After the game I chilled out for a bit then went to Chipotle with Leigh. It’s been too long since I ate there. I love that place. Unfortunately, it also loves to take lots of my money. I caught up a bit with what’s been happening in Manhattan the past week, and it doesn’t sound like a missed too much. We stopped off at Digital Shelf so I could grab a few DVDs. Picked up Stargate SG-1 Season 5 Volume 2, and Spider-man in preparation for the sequel. You can guess what I’ll be doing the rest of the evening. This turned out to be pretty random. Vacation pics up tomorrow hopefully.

Currently Playing: Something Corporate – Walking By

So why do you leave these stories unfinished?
My cheshire cat doorstop with tears in your eyes
And why do you look when you’ve already found it?
And what did you find that would leave you walking by?

I’m in a motel room in Cañon City, Colorado, and my vacation is almost over. It’s about 11:30pm and my whole family has already been asleep for almost an hour. We’ll probably be getting up pretty early tomorrow to see if we can find one last thing or two to do before we start on the eight hour trek back across the vast expanse of flatness that will start about 30 minutes after we leave here and stretch all the way to our house in Andover. So here I am posting.

In the last few days I’ve learned to succesfully navigate mountain passes (around four in all I think). The vacation has been pretty good so far. I’ll hit the highlights: spending time in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Spending quality time with my aunt and uncle (something I wouldn’t have thought possible a few years ago). Getting to know my cousin’s eight-year-old daughter on a personal level (Bethany: “Are we ready to go yet?”). Seeing some really awesome sites like Pikes Peak, Mesa Verde National Park, and Grand Mesa (the largest flat top mountain in the world). Playing with my dad’s new digital camera.

Still, as much fun as this trip has been, I find myself wishing (just like the last family vacation) that it would have ended a day sooner. Our nerves are shot, we’re tired of being in the car (a PT Cruiser looks cool, but it’s not the best for a family of four and all of their luggage and souvenirs for nine days), and I’m ready to get back to Manhattan and my friends.

I fully intended to post some more pictures tonight, but I just don’t have the energy. It will probably just mess with the layout some more anyway. I’m in a strange mood right now so I think I’ll end this post before it gets depressing or weird. Vacation pics to come in the next day or two.

Currently Playing: Nothing (The family is asleep remember?)

Well, when I said I didn’t know if I’d be able to post until after vacation, I didn’t realize that some of the places we’d be staying in would have free internet access. Lucky you (and me?).

After a long but acceptable drive yesterday morning, we got to our hotel. For the rate we are getting, it’s pretty impressive. The room is a suite with a full kitchenette. The only downside is the lack of a second bed, so two of us are on a sofa sleeper. Also, I found out that Dylan is here too, and was actually in Garden of the Gods today as well. Talk about irony.

Ok, I’ll move on to the things people might care about. Pictures!

Me, my mom, and my sister Sheena in Garden of the Gods.

An example of my dad playing with his new digital camera. I rather like the results.

This is Sheena and me under a formation called Balanced Rock that I can still remember from my first trip to Colorado Springs when I was eight.

Seven Falls is where we spent the last part of our day. I also remember a little of this from last time. It’s a lot of steps to climb to the top…

This isn’t actually one of the seven falls. It’s a place called Midnight Falls and it’s on a trail towards the top of the mountain, above Seven Falls.

We also planned to try and take the Cog Railway up to the top of Pike’s Peak, but we couldn’t fit it in today. By the time we got there, all the trains for the day were booked. We’ll be getting up early and going at 8am. If I have internet access again later, you might get to see them sooner rather than later. Alright, we’re getting up early, so now it’s bedtime. Oh yeah, this post is on Mountain Time (in case you were wondering).

Currently Playing: The Legend of Bagger Vance (It was on TV. It’s also a good book.)

Edit: So I realized those pics probably screwed up the page layout. I’ll fix it later. Just enjoy the pictures.

Senor Cardgage Mortgage helped consolidate my life into this tiny box! Act now and see if you can stand to talk to me for more than 4 seconds. Well, let’s hope you can.

Vacation is calling my name. I’m so close I can almost taste it. What does a vacation taste like anyway? Apparently it’s going to taste like adventure. I just hope that nine days in Colorado with my family doesn’t drive us all crazy. The last time we took a trip in the car our nerves were worn pretty thin by the time we got back. But then again, I don’t really know how spaced out this trip is going to be since the rest of my family did most of the planning. Either way, it should be a good time.

So the last few days have been interesting. The other day I was making my blog rounds, checking in on some of the ones I actually care about reading. There was a lot of the typical: this is what I did today, this makes me mad, I don’t understand my friends, and of course stupid/funny links. Personally, I think that all of these entries have a place in the blog world. Still, through all the rest, one entry in particular caught my eye. Something a little different, that you (ok, that I) don’t see nearly as often. One of my friends has been going through a rough time in his life and wrote a beautiful entry I think just about anyone can relate to. With his permission, I give you Alone. The first comment is my attempt at encouraging words.

Other things of note…I played the longest spades game of my life the other night. Once again, while Leigh worked the West Hall desk from the couches in the lobby, a game of spades dragged on. We started out by going down over 200 points. Only to regain about 400 points in three hands. To bag over. Then get set. Then set them. Then they bag over. Back. And forth. Back. And forth. Finally, tie game. 595-597. As Jason pointed out, the game would have been over by computer rules. Ahh…but we don’t play by those rules, now do we? Somehow, Leigh and I managed to win the game. We set them in the final hand, completing a game that lasted three hours, went 19 hands, and could have been won nearly 5 times over. 247 total tricks taken. Wicked crazy. I sound like my sister and Pule.

Only four hours to go, then I finish packing and head for home. It’s ironic to me that I’m driving two hours south to go home this evening, when tomorrow morning I’ll be returning almost two hours north to head out to Colorado on I-70. I may not post again until after vacation. So until then: rock, rock on.

Currently Playing: Family Guy – Brian: Portrait of a Dog

Peter: [writing letter] Dear MacGuyver, Enclosed is a rubber band, a paper clip, and a drinking straw. Please save my dog.