Chapter 1 - In the beginning

*picture taken Feb. 2002 on our way to Hawaii.

I thought I'd write about how Mr. Wonderful and I met. It's a complicated story and for the fun of blogging, I won't reduce it to the short version.

Chapter 1 - Everyone knows Everyone

I was renting a room from a guy named Kevin.

Kevin and Chris were friends.
Chris and Wendy don't know each other.
I knew of Chris through a girl named Carla because she was madly in love with him.
Carla and Chris were friends.
Wendy and Carla were friends.

It's Boulder - everyone knows everyone somehow, some way....

I ended up going to a party (Ward Baker -Summer of 2001) everyone was there - Chris, Kevin, Carla, me, etc. This was the night Carla introduced me to Chris. From the way she talked about him, I thought they were an item (but this apparently was only in her book...poor thing).

Chris and I chatted and he said he was really into hiking too (ok, whatever) and liked my favorite hike (yeah, right...isn't what you mean to say is you really like my butt in these pants and want to jump my bones) so I gave him my number so we could hike together (yeah, right, more like leave me alone now). At this point, I'm just through breaking up with the famous Tim (my mom was secretly happy) so I'm NOT interested and giving Chris my phone number was the only way I could see of him leaving me alone.

Alone? Yeah right. The phone number was like a shoe in for him and he was always so charming, well mannered, innocent, slow, friendly. We did end up hiking Sinitas and talking, talking, talking. I can still remember that hike and sometimes when I'm there by myself, I can feel him there with me. I can remember the rain as we ran all the way down, drenched. It was glorious. On that hike, he said he was going to marry me. You know, one of those stupid comments that no one really pays much attention to (no offense babe).

It wasn't long before we became friends. But that didn't come without hiccups. He floated some of race pictures from the internet to Kevin via email which made me furious. It still does to this day. I'm a private type of person (that's an oxymoron since I blog about my life but whatever) so it really upset me and I gave him the silent treatment for a while.

By now, Kevin has decided to move to Europe and it just happens that Carla has a room for rent, so now I'm roommates with Carla and I'm friends with Chris. (She had smelly cats and she wasn't clean so I stayed in my room alot.) Anyway, I finally decided to forgive Chris and we made up after a couple of months. Besides, he was always at Carla's house dropping off sweet Nilla for Carla to run with. Chris is such a tease and flirt (don't think I don't know this about you darling. I do and I accept it.) Carla still had the hots for him. And you call me a player! Ha.

By now it's December, then New Years and just before going out with a bunch of my girlfriends, I get the flu at like 9 pm New Years Eve. LAME. I'm down for the count and sick sick sick for a few days. It was nasty. But I remember Chris coming over and taking care of me. We hung out quite a bit; snowshoeing, he'd cook me dinner, a romantic Valentine's (remember all of the little valentines card you put all over the outside of my car...awe, so thoughtful, romantic....again, I know you were just trying to get in my pants and it worked!). After awhile I asked Chris:

"I have a free airplane ticket to use. Where I should go?"
"Hawaii," he said.
"Do you want to come with me?" I asked.
"Sure," he said.

And in one weeks time, we had a week long vacation planned for Hawaii with a guy I don't really know all that well and a guy that my current roommate is in love with. Hmmm! And that's the beginning.

So in short,

Wendy was roommates with Kevin
Chris and Kevin were friends
Chris and Carla were friends
Wendy and Carla were friends
Carla and Wendy were roommates
Carla loved Chris*
Kevin loved Wendy*
Chris and Wendy loved each other*

*this is the juicy stuff. I'll leave that chapter for another blog post.

It's funny to document it, to try to remember the dates of all of this (we've known each other for 8 years already and married 6). Where does the time go?

It goes to creating all of our wonderful memories, our stories, our life. I love you Mr. Wonderful.

Thanks for tuning in. Stayed tuned for more, it only gets better.....

Mama Mia

Mom, you're beautiful. I love this picture of you.

Rodeo and Spaniards

That's right - A 14 inch hotdog. Besides the Rodeo, the flea market, and maybe the baseball stadium, these things should be illegal. It didn't take Mr. Wonderful and Cole very long to devoured this calorie packed piece of mystery at the Rodeo on Friday night.

The Rodeo -a little piece of childhood memory that as an adult I get to now share with my little one. We had a great time as a family. Chris and I have a pretty good setup, in that, we both require a lot of personal space - time by ourselves - to workout (mainly) or to get stuff done around the house or to shop or to do whatever. We compliment each other well in this area but what it means is that we end up doing a lot of activities alone with Cole. So, when we have a family outing, it really is a treat. I absolutely love this picture of Cole.

As for the Rodeo, the only thing I have to say is "watch out little fluffy sheep, because Cole's coming next year - Mutton Bustin at it's finest"! And as for this Alpaca or Llama or whatever it is, he was the cutest freakin thing. The picture doesn't do full justice, but his expression and his mustache were something else. I chuckle everytime I see this picture.

If he could talk, he would have the voice of a Spaniard and he would be saying "Adios mucho!"

Dessert First, Please

I've been tired all day today. I have no idea why because I got a good 9 hours of sleep. I don't function very well when I'm tired. It's like I'm not really in my body or my head. I have a hard time focusing and well, it's just not good. Just ask Chris- I suffered from this alot during the first two months of parenthood and I was, well, insane.

So driving home from work in my half slumber state, I decided that what I needed was some sugar. And then I thought that if Cole had been a good boy at school, him and I would go on a sugar hunt. Much to my excitement, he was a good boy, and we headed to Old Chicago. What's better than a pizzooki? That's right! Nothing is better than a pizzooki, except a pizzooki with ice cream on top. A pizzooki is a giant chocolate chip cookie, baked in a deep dish pizza pan. It was delicious. But here's the thing; I'm not sure Cole was excited about eating dessert before dinner. I, on the other hand, thought it was the best idea I had all day. I don't think in his whole 4.5 years, we've ever had dessert before dinner. It's an occassion to write about, don't you think?

We made it home, bellies full, and sugar starting to make it into our blood stream, when Mr. Wonderful made it home. But now, they are off at work (Chris took Cole to help him get some stuff moved at the office. Besides Cole being the cutest kid on earth, he is also wonderful hired help) and our usual noise filled house is empty and quiet, except for the occasional pitter patter of dog nails on the hardwood. The quiet is making me even more tired...that an my burning hot, non interpreted shower.

It will all change in about 15 minutes, when they explode through the door and the chaos of bath time and bed time arrive. But for now, I'm going to be lost in my own thoughts and the quietness of this wonderful house.

p.s. my heart is filled with so much relief that NieNie is back. Her life and her struggles to rebuild herself have changed me. Stay strong Nie.

Sweet & Simple

I haven't been feeling the flow of words lately. I hope I'm not getting writers block (ha!). It seems like there hasn't been much new going on. Maybe that's the problem...or maybe it's just that I wrote a whole blog entry and just accidentially deleted it. Damn it! Urgh...second attempt now.

1. Cole had his second swim lesson. He is such a ROCK STAR! He did the backstroke all by himself. It was another one of those proud parent moments. We aren't at our limit for those yet, right? Because in all honestly, I don't think they will ever run out.

2. Cole and I saw Hotel for Dogs - super cute. Wished Aunt Emma could have been here to go with us.

3. Chris has made two really good meals this week; Chicken Paella and Penne with Asapargus and turkey bacon - WOW - watch out Wolfgang, you've got competition.

4. I shopped at the new farmers market grocery store, Sprouts, and I even used our grocery totes instead of plastic bags. Way to save the planet Wendy. (Just a little side note about the planet - if you don't recycle, START! It's so easy. Start with cardboard, plastics, glass, alum...you'd be amazed how much less trash you have.)

5. I sat in my car and watched a guy roll down his window and throw out his burning cigarette. For about one minute, while I waited behind him for the light to turn green, I honestly thought about getting out of my car, picking up his disgusting trash, pounding on his window and throwing it in his car. This was quite a fantasy and I played it in my head out about three times before the light turned.

6. Amazing cross-country skiing adventure with one of my best pals, Charlie. She is just so British and just so cute. We had a blast. Thanks for getting me out there.

7. Four days of 60+ degree weather, sunshine, hiking, and riding my new single speed - all have hindered my motivation at work as I would rather be outside playing.

See what I mean... just doesn't seem like worthy blogging but then again, it is our life.

Simple and Sweet.

p.s. Umple Joe - we hope you start feeling better. We're patiently waiting to see you in your new bowling shoes.

p.s.s. Thank you to the President of Simple Computer Systems, Chris Velez, for upgrading my hardware. This new computer rocks.

Treats

The family who inspired me to start bloggin, Stephanie and Christian, are back. Nie Nie is back. She just updated her blog herself for the first time in nearly five months. It's good to have her back. I can't wait to hear her stories.

Beautiful weather is making me crave Spring. I want to ride my new bicycle. Isn't she beautiful? Chris built her up and had it sitting by the Christmas tree in the morning. Pink and Brown...oh so sweet. Pink is my favorite color.

Speaking of pink...Cole got me these slippers for Christmas. He picked them out by himself and I wear them every night and when I don't have them on, he asks me "where are your slippers?". They are my pink clouds.

Here's to pink slippers, pink bikes, and Nie.

Firsts

Thank you for all your emails, thoughts, and prayers around my mom's health scare. She is back home resting, going to doctors appts, taking her meds, etc. She has started her road to recovery.

On a lighter note, Cole had a couple of "firsts" this weekend. We went to Eldora and he tore up the bunny slope. Burton makes the cutest snowboard 90 cm which was perfect for Cole. Chris and I had a great time watching our little guy balance and cruise down the mountain (cruise down means in tiny little segments where the front end of the board points straight down and the instruction is "When you feel like you're going to fast, sit down") He loved crashing! UBER CUTE!

The second "first" was private swim lessons. He's always loved the water and he's old enough to pay attention and follow directions for half an hour. Ms. Ashley was TERRIFIC! She taught him airplane, soldier, chicken, pancake, ice cream scoops, big circles. He listened so good and did everything she said. He is so adorable. We got great video footage. He is on the path to follow in Aunt Emma's wake. Watch out Boulder Kids Triathlon - Cole is coming!

I didn't snap any photos of snowboarding and the ones of swimming didn't come out very well. ARGH! We did get great video of both so there is some documentation.

Hearts

My Mom... mini heart attack... hospital... angioplasty.... stent....prayer.... family....rest....home again.

It's the simple things in life that mean the most. It's the soft touch of someone moving your hair from your face, the gentle taking of someone's hand, applying chapstick to someone's lips when they can't do it themselves, repeating part of one of Cole's bedtime stories because I have it memorized, listening to a brother recite an essay he just wrote, laughing at silly things, being thankful for EVERYTHING all in one instance....and all this happened in the hospital last night.

I love you Mom. I'm so thanful that you're ok. Cole asked about you first thing this morning. What a sweetheart. He's a good nurse. I'll send him your way in a couple days. His kisses alone will heal your heart....(well, almost, plus some medicine, diet, exercise, etc.)

Flu

So, I've been laid up in bed with the flu. Dr. Chris and Nurse Cole have been taking wonderful care of me. Sweet Nurse Cole comes to check on me "Mama, how are you doing? It's going to be alright." And Dr. Chris has been a trooper changing out my vomit bags from the trash can that sits bedside. I'm amazed at the human body and how much force and contracting power it has during these episodes of throat burning extraction.

To hear Cole in the shower last night, giggling and talking to himself, was sweet sounds to my ears as I lay in the fetile position. I attempted to go to work today, even showered and dressed before I found myself laying once again under covers with the heating pad still in my work clothes, to tired to undress. I was able to eat dinner and keep it down (so far), so hopefully that will give my little body the much needed energy it needs.

In the meantime, a huge thanks to Dr. Chris and Nurse Cole for taking such good care of me at the Velez hospital. Dr. Chris is a much better physican than I am. He is a patient and sympathic and entertained Cole all afternoon on Sunday. I'll kiss the Dr. when I'm feeling better.

Stick figures and notes

I'm amazed at how fast little kids learn things and how much they remember. We were driving yesterday and Cole and I were talking about the old Volvo beast and he recalled a time when we were driving in the mountains and the beast overheated and we had to walk and hitch a ride with strangers. And I thought to myself, "How do you remember that?" He even remembered that we were going to Sierra's birthday party when it happened. Darling boy!

So, I'm equally amazed when I see his drawings go from scribbles to stick figures, resembling people with arms, legs, eyes, hair, etc.. A few weeks ago he made a beautiful self portrait, a portrait of mom, one of dad, and one of grandma (which we framed and gave away as a Christmas gift). He even wrote g'ma on it all by himself. The picture here is one he did yesterday at school. He explains that it is Cole, Dad, Mom, and Eliana (which everyone knows is his little cousin) but in this picture, she came out of MY belly. HA! Precious! It's notable because he hasn't ever talked about a sibling before and this maybe the start of it. Easy does it Grandma - there is absolutely no hope of this happening so don't get excited. We just get to think it's cute when he talks about it.

Which brings me to my next topic - Thank You notes. He just wrote his first two thank you notes making the letters all by himself. All I did was tell him which letters to write. My little genius knows all his letters. (Thanks to Rachel for the great idea to take pictures of his notes and pictures. I love it.) This picture here is his note to Aunt Mary. It says "Thank you for my game".

Cole is good for the soul. He is part of my soul. Yesterday he woke up on the wrong side of the bed and was a cranky pants all day long. But this morning, I heard him slide down his slide, his little feet on the hard wood floor, a tap on my shoulder as I lay in bed, a quick pick up and tuck under the covers and him and I laid there giving hugs and kisses and tracing each faces. Oh what soft cheeks he has. Oh what a great way to start my day.

So long 2008

We don't have any remarkable New Year's eve traditions. I guess our tradition is staying home and watching movies. I don't believe I've ever attended a New Year's party and I'm ok with that. We watched a couple movies and like usual and I was sleeping when the New Year rolled in.

Maybe this is why when I do out with my friends, I make it a point to call someone who isn't out with us and have everyone yell "Happy New Year" into the phone. It's my favorite line and I think it started during a girls trip to New York some 8 years ago. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure Hannah is the one who started this and it just stuck with me. It doesn't matter if it's April or July or October, if you've ever gotten one of Wendy's late night calls (sort of like a drunk dial) then you probably have experienced the "Happy New Year" yell.

So, here it is officially the 1st day of 2009 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!