pretty damn green

This morning an old friend sent me a link to an article he had gotten published. It was a well-written article, even had professional-looking photographs, with captions of "The Author", accompanying it.

My first thought was that he had done a really nice job writing the article. My second thought was that the photos looked great. My third thought was... I am pretty damn JEALOUS.

Jealous that HE was out on a nice day, riding bikes with his heroes and writing about it.

Jealous that HE got published, while I sat at my desk trying to make sense of budget numbers that made absolutely no sense.

Suddenly I was trying to figure out how the hell this guy got to do exactly what I wanted to do while I was stuck inside an office on a beautiful day in Colorado, wishing I could be out riding my bike and writing about it and getting published.

And then I realized, when I get out of this office I'll still have 3 hours of daylight (at least) during which I can go ride my bike against the backdrop of the Rockies. And then I'll be able to go back to my house and sit out on the patio and enjoy a sunset dinner with no humidity, before I get to go sleep in my nice comfy bed with the windows open. And I was going to be spending the weekend skiing and hanging out with friends in Aspen. Yep, the grass here in Colorado is pretty damn green.

I sent The Author a quick note to say he did a nice job and that I was totally jealous that he was now a published writer. And he told me he was jealous of my great job in Denver and was trying to figure out how to make a move to Colorado himself. I guess we're all a little green about some things, but at the end of the day, Colorado really is THE BEST. ;)

the best way to have a friend is to be one

It's also the best way to keep one.

Whenever I have found myself wondering why I have drifted away from some friends - usually the answer is, I'm not putting in the effort.

There are some friends I have drifted from whom I truly miss. I've moved (or they have), or they had kids, or some other life event has inadvertently changed our friendship. There are other friends whom I was not even aware I was drifting from - until I found out they were in my town via their facebook photos or a status update. Facebook also makes me aware of plenty of things my in-town friends have been up to, but which I haven't been invited to. Hmmmmm. Perhaps we are not really 'friends' then, are we?

I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me. But it does. I'm sensitive like that.

However, at the bottom of all these instances - and there are a lot of them - the common denominator is I'm not really that great of a friend to those people, either. I look at their facebook photos, I comment on a status or two, but I'm not calling them to hang out. I'm not making plans to meet for breakfast, or go for walks or go ski together. Because there are OTHER people I am doing those things with - people who are my actual, real-life friends. :)

Friends are the people you want to hang out with, talk to, be with, help out, have help you out. They add to your life and you add to theirs. Friendship isn't a big thing, it's a million little things. And whenever I am wondering "where have all my friends gone? Why aren't we better friends?" the answer can be found by asking "Where have *I* gone? How can I be a better friend?"

Happy Valentine's Day to ME!! :)

This year I got an early present for Valentine's Day - here it is on the left!! Actually, Marito and I do not "do" Valentine's Day, really... but apparently (and obviously) this year is different!!

The last weekend in January, we were driving up to Vail to ski with some friends and we stopped at our usual break point. There is a Starbucks, gas station, bathrooms, and a lovely ski shop all under one roof. Well I just ran in to use the bathroom and ran back out to the car - it was cold and I only had my longjohns on. I was sitting in the car daydreaming while I waited for Marito to come out. I started wondering what was taking Marito so long just as he ran out to the car.

He was grinning and hopping around as he flung my door open and said "I can't believe you're in the car!"

I said "Huh?"

He said "Did you see that your jacket is on sale?"

WHAT?!?! This could only be the GREEN jacket that I had been eyeing for months, and that I had tried on every time we stopped at that place. On this trip, I actually had not even glanced toward the ski shop. We've been trying to save money and I was so cold and badly dressed, I just wanted to run back in the car after I left the bathroom.

Marito said I should get out of the car and we should go look at it. So I did. He and I walked in the store, and sure enough, the jacket was discounted 35%. He said I should put it on. So I did. And then he said OK we should buy it. SO WE DID!!

I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE my jacket, I think I love it even more because Marito was so excited for me to get it as an early Valentine's Day present. YIPPEE!!!