Goodbye Rowdy . . .

I’m feeling a little bit sad today. Well, maybe not sad. There’s not really any reason to be sad – this is, after all, just bittersweet, I suppose. But, I can’t help but feel sort of down about the fact that the University of Colorado is getting a new Ralphie. And actually, I do have a right to be broken up about it, because I spent three of my four years at CU as a Ralphie Runner. Ralphie IV, or Rowdy, as we called her, was the only buffalo I ever worked with. She was pretty young when I joined the team, but that was more than seven years ago, and as captive bison don’t have a very long life expectancy, she is at the end of her career.

In the past, the team always scrambled to find a new mascot after the current animal passed on. I suppose they wanted to be prepared this time, which is smart, but it’s sad to me that Rowdy’s days on Folsom Field have come to an end. She was kind of my baby. We were, after all, the only girls on the team for a while and we had a special bond. That bond was cemented when she tossed me like hay on pitchfork during one of my first practices, leaving my right leg black and blue from the knee up. From that day on we understood each other a lot better.

I would spend hours upon hours sitting in her pen, doing my homework, while she sniffed around me and grunted, as if to say, “I know you now, and I like you. We’re friends.”

For a long time, I was the only one she trusted to harness her before her runs. The boys didn’t get her and she didn’t get them. They weren’t gentle and sweet and certainly never kissed her slobbery nose like I did. And if they saw me coddle, I would always get scolded – the boys wanted her to be mean and fast.

But she wasn’t mean and she was never as fast as her predecessors, but I believe she possessed much more spirit and personality than any bison that came before or will come after her. She did what she wanted when she wanted to do it – and no one could stand in her way. (Maybe that’s why we got along so well.) And I know that I will always remember this impressive creature, at once gentle and wild, for her great might, tempered by poise and quiet resolve. . . I think I carry a little bit of her spirit with me.

Ski season, where are you?

Sayonara Japan! Hello Vail! I’ve made my way back from the sushi and rice paddies of southern Japan to the Rocky Mountains just in time for ski season. Or, so I thought. Vail was supposed to open tomorrow, but lack of snow has delayed the opening to sometime next week, if we are lucky.

This is kind of a disappointment, considering that my last two seasons here have started off with a bang – powder on opening day! But, that’s unusual, and I’m told that the season before I moved up here, the mountain opened with one run. At least that’s better than no runs, right?

Keystone, A-Basin and Breckenridge are open now, all with just one trail, and everyone wants to go skiing this weekend, but I’d personally rather stick needles in my eyes than ski a snow ribbon of death with thousands of other people who aren’t patient enough to wait for the season to really start.

I think I’ll ride my bike instead, study more GMAT, try to write something worthwhile on my blog, and maybe do a snow dance.

Almost Ski Season

I caught up on everything just in time to leave for Japan! I’ll be writing my Cooltiques blog, www.cooltiques.blogspot.com until I come home, just in time for Vail’s opening. Then, I’ll get to write about epic Colorado powder days - I can't wait!

SWAMPED!

I have never been so swamped in my entire life! There are simply not enough hours in the day to get everything done, so how I’m finding time to update my blog is a mystery. Well, maybe less a mystery than just a great procrastination tool.

But, blogging is part of what I do now, so if I don’t get it done, it hangs over my head just like any other project on my list. I would also like to start my copywriting blog and update my website and my listing on Media Bistro, but those things will definitely have to wait . . . until I’ve completed a few hundred more SEO product descriptions for one client, created new web content for another, written copy for an interactive map for somebody else, finished formatting and editing a technical manual, followed up with a few other clients who have things on the burner, and finally created thoughtful copy for a charitable foundation’s website (my pro bono project).

Anyway, now that I’ve gotten my head to spin uncontrollably, I am signing off and not promising anything to this blog until everything else is off my plate.

Quick Catch Up

For someone who claims to be as addicted to blogging as I do, I sure haven’t done a very good job of feeding my addiction recently. So, let’s see, quick catch up . . .

I moved back to Vail! Well, actually Edwards. And so far I love it. It’s much more livable than Vail with lots of shops and restaurants for us normal people. There’s also a much greater sense of community here, thanks to all the year-round residents.

And as much as I would love to just park it here and not leave for a while, my second love, CU football, (first love, skiing) keeps dragging me back to Boulder and various other places. A few weekends ago, I went to Denver to watch the Buffs play CSU, and win! Last weekend I went to Phoenix to watch the Buffs play ASU, and lose. ☹ Still bummed, but what can you do? It’s in my blood, so I keep going back to watch them get stomped. Which is probably what I’ll be doing this weekend when I head to Folsom Field to see the Buffs challenge Florida State.

Up here in the Vail Valley, I have been really busy getting settled in my new place, working and prepping for ski season. I am actually taking a ski conditioning class with my fellow ski instructors and I love it! It’s a super hard workout, but I think it will really whip me into shape.

So, between moving, catching up on work and settling back into the mountain life, you can see why it has been so hard for me to keep up with my blog. That said, my future entries will hopefully be more exciting, not just a rundown of my recent activities. How boring, but I needed to fill in the gaps.

Until next time, Go Buffs and Think Snow!

Happy Hour Boulder

I did something today that I haven’t done in a long time – write a Happy Hour Boulder newsletter. When we first launched the site, I was so good about communicating happy hour news on a weekly basis. But, as the luster of new business ownership faded, the parties ended, and the work set in, I began to lose motivation. Over the winter, skiing took precedence, as did work that actually paid, but I still took care of happy hour business as much as possible. By the time summer rolled around, though, and I left for Japan, happy hour news really fell by the wayside, and I was totally neglectful insofar as promoting our brilliant business idea.

On the upside, I diligently maintained the database. So even if anxious happy hour goers weren’t getting a weekly buzz from me, they could still count on the site to be complete and updated.

But, I’ve renewed my happy hour spirit with the idea of featuring a weekly cocktail in our newsletter and creating a happy hour blog (coming soon).

I plan on spending some time over the next few weeks rejuvenating our original plan by reestablishing relationships with different happy hours and the users of our site. We’re planning a one-year celebration and some cool ways to get businesses psyched on keeping their information updated. And, if there’s time, maybe we’ll even hit a happy hour or two. ☺

What time zone am I in?

I think that this is the latest I have slept in since I was in college. I got in from Boston last night at about midnight, and didn’t set an alarm since I knew my body needed extra sleep, what with my weekend trip on top of my return from Japan. So, when I finally woke up this morning and looked at my clock, I immediately jumped out of bed and set about brewing coffee, eating breakfast, catching up on phone calls and emails. Now, at 2 p.m., I am still not dressed, but at least to the outside world, I appear to be marginally productive.

Anyhow, the weekend was fantastic. I took the red-eye to Boston on Friday night, which put me in Cambridge at about 7 a.m. The hotel staff at the Royal Sonesta was nice enough to let me check in. So, I slept until about noon and then ran across the street to the mall to get a headband and a wrap for my outfit. From there, I hopped a cab to Harvard Square (I am trying to muster academic inspiration for the grad school application process), which was interrupted midway through by a phone call from Sarah. She was getting ready and invited me to hang out in her room so we could catch up a little. So, back to the hotel it was for pre-wedding giggles and sips of champagne.

Now, Sarah is one of my good friends from college. But, we met second semester of her senior year (my sophomore year), after which she moved back to Boston. So, we don’t really have any mutual friends, which is how I found myself at her wedding knowing absolutely no one. Of course, it was totally fine – in fact, I made tons of new friends in her fiancé’s (now husband’s) crowd and connected with friends of hers that I’ve always heard about and never met. So fun!

The wedding celebration commenced with a cocktail reception an hour before the ceremony. I was an especially big fan of the margarita bar, which I think is the most brilliant wedding fixture I’ve ever seen – several of the engaged couples I met found it totally inspiring.

After that, Sarah and Jason got married in a traditional Jewish ceremony. Their chupah was lovely and the ketubah artwork featured scenes of the outdoorsy things that Sarah and Jason love. Their reception also included many Jewish traditions, such as the dancing of hora and mizinke.

After the wedding, about 15 of us continued the party in Sarah and Jason’s bridal suite – romantic, right? I headed to bed at about 2 p.m., shortly after which I’m told everyone else was thrown out of the room.

The next morning I dragged myself out of bed to attend brunch and say goodbye to Sarah. Then it was off to the airport, for yet another lengthy day of travel. First I flew to New York, where I had a four-hour layover at JFK – the worst airport in the world! Then back onboard for a four-hour flight to Denver through every thunderstorm in the country. The more I fly, the more I hate it. I think I will have to be sedated on my next trip to Japan.