5 questions (the easy way to blog)

I haven't been too creative lately for the blog. I need to save blogging about Paris until later in October so I don't burn you all out. So, here are my blog cheating ways...
1. What excites you about Fall?
The clothes. I love Fall clothes...in fact, I need to plan a shopping trip soon. Hmm...I love Sunday afternoon walks, where it is the warmest part of the day and looking up there is a pallete of browns, greens and yellows on the trees.
2. What are you reading these days?
I have been into some meditation books lately. I have been a little on edge with all the activities and stuff going on and I realized I have forgotten how to breathe and be in the moment. I need to re-learn this to enjoy the moments in life and not just the big picture.
3. What's going on this weekend?
Friday night is a fundraiser at Swallow Hill my friend Karen invited us to. Saturday I am meeting with Kristi to discuss our November presentation. I also have "girls night" with some awesome ladies that work at Regis. Sunday, Liz and I are doing the Race for the Cure and I have brunch plans after.
4. What excites you about your trip to Paris (ok, couldn't pass that one up)?
I love anything visually stimulating and I think the city of Paris and the French countryside will do this for me! I think I am most excited about seeing history-in buildings, in art, in the people. Oh, and gastronomic delights!
5. Give a shout out to...
Mike for making Paris a reality; Mom and Dad for being such loving and wonderful parents; Robbie for being a good friend; Meg for being a role model; Liz for doing the Race with me; and everyone else who know I love and care for them!

Computer literacy

I taught my first Morey Rec Center computer class last night for the term. I was so proud of myself-I was all organized, created a questionnaire, a syllabus, and even outlined the topics for discussion. The class is adorable! Of course, all adults, and most know nothing about computers. If you want to feel successful in teaching something, this is the class to teach! The demographic varies...some are older, some are younger...two don't own a computer...It felt great to have these people looking at me, waiting to hear the next thing I had to say. Now I hope I can actually teach them something.

Teaching is an amazing vocation. Teachers hold so much power...the power to influence, to educate, to change one's perception of things. As I do this more and more, I become conscious of what I am saying, doing, how is it helping students, not helping, am I engaging them enough...this process has a lot of synergy. I am so far feeling pretty good about it all!

Paris

After weeks of deciding where to vacation this fall, Mike and I have settled on Paris! We are leaving Ocotober 27th and will be home on November 4th (don't worry, we will go to the early voting locations). Here are a list of reasons why this was our choice...

1. We have plenty of miles so we can get two tickets for a small fee
2. We enjoy museums more than snorkeling (why Hawaii didn't win)
3. Shall I say...EuroDisney??
4. We love big cities, walking around, looking at buildings and people watching
5. French wine and French food...who could ask for more?
6. We are due for a trip to Europe
7. There are plenty of places to visit if we just hop on a train!

There are other reasons of course...to visit a city so entrenched in history, to be a part of the bohemian writer/artist/musician culture, to sit at cafes and people watch, to test our comfort zones,to enjoy the lights and romance of Paris...

Weekend at the Conflict Center

"Conflict is inevitable; violence is not."

Karen asked me why it is called The Conflict Center and not the Conflict Resolution Center. It was clarified to me after spending the whole weekend at the Center that the motto above is why it is called The Conflict Center. So, Karen, I hope that answers your question.

I spent the weekend with 11 women who are all interested in teaching conflict management to kids or adults. It was a great weekend, very cathartic for me. We did some "personal" work, discussing our own history of conflict and anger management. We learned about teaching the subject and had to do our own presentation. My friend Rusan and I presented "I messages". This is a strategy to not place blame on the other person for how you might feel...Instead of saying "You never listen to me" you can say "I am hurt when my ideas are ignored because I think I have something important to say." This is a way to de-escalate conflict. The presentation went okay-I have work to do for sure-but I am just so excited to start teaching this course to adults.

Life is full

I had lunch with one of my favorite people-Karen-who I met at SCFD a few years ago. Karen is a kind, loving, creative soul and every moment spent talking with her is a breath of fresh air. You know how I always say how busy I am? Sometimes that has a negative connotation, like...I am too busy to spend time with the people I love, or I am so busy life is passing me by, or I am so busy I can't relax. Karen and I decided to say that "Life is Full." Her life is full, my life is full, but it is full of wonderful things. Thanks, Karen, for your unique perspective which is always an inspiration!

The past...but friendship lives on

I met the "girls" from the laser eye center where I worked a lifetime ago (really, it feels like a lifetime!) after work for a beer tonight. As much as I don't want to get stuck in the past, it is fun to hear the juicy gossip about what is going on now at the center. Even more fun, though, is getting caught up on personal lives...Chris just celebrated her one year wedding anniversary, the other Chris got a new job with the state of Colorado, seeing Liz always makes my week, and seeing Di and Jane always conjures up a story or two. Hopefully, as time goes on and we continue our get togethers, we can talk less and less about TLC and more about what makes us such fabulous women!

Evidence of the end of summer

Obviously I am feeling a little nostalgic for summer as we make our way through the last week of it. Last night Mike and I went to our final Guys Night Out baseball game of the season. We ate our last pre-game slice of pizza at Two Fisted Marios. We bought our last $1 bottles of waters from our favorite street vendor outside the park. It was such a pleasant evening, the jackets we brought went unused, happily. The last Guys Night Out game is always a little more relaxed...Mike was tapped on his shoulder and when he turned around four free beer coupons were thrust into his hands, gathered by people who weren't using theirs. We took one and passed the rest down the row. I high-fived the guy sitting in the seat next to me when we got a home run. We sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame at the top of our lungs for the last time, and gave the song "Hey Baby" one last good dance. The Rockies won, it was a great game, and Spillbourghs finally played, which I guess if I am to keep up the crush facade I was ecstactic. So long to summer baseball for this year, but I was reassured by Mike that we will still get the tickets for next year!

That fall feelin'

The chill in the morning air is definitely different than a July morning that happens to be a rainy or cold day. The chill in the air is definitely a sign of fall. The chill is bordering on permanent, or at least to be around for the next half a year. Fall makes me want to do different things-buy fake flowers that are rich in reds, yellows and oranges, buy candles scented of apple cinnamon, or decorate the front porch with corn cobbs and pumpkins. Entering fall and summer both bring memories-in the fall, it is the purchase of school supplies, halloween costume contests and dad raking the leaves only so I could run and jump into them. In the summer, it is the last final taken and putting the closed toe shoes away to slide into flip flops. I do love fall, and can tolerate the transition into Christmas. It is that black hole of January, February, and March where I cringe. Oh well, I guess I should enjoy fall while it is here...

Durango

It was good to get away, even though much of the time was spent on our butts! The drive to Durango took us about 6 hours and the same coming home; the train was a round trip of 7 hours. I guess we take enough trips where we walk all over (hello San Francisco) that one spent sitting is well deserved. We had a fun time. We got in Saturday and scoped out the train and depot. We had dinner at a Brewery and called it a night early. Sunday we took the 8:15 train to Silverton...it was a gorgeous ride and a lot of fun. We spent some time in Silverton, longer than we wanted...our train engine was having problems so we had to connect all the train cars from the 8:15 and 9am trains. It took a while to make it back to Durango, but once there we had dinner at a darling French restaurant. On Monday, Mike took me on a tour of Fort Lewis College, where he spent some time his Freshman year. We diverted through Crestone on the way home, hoping it was more of a spiritual community than it actually ended up being. It was good to get home, but boy we both enjoyed being away!

Slacker

It is unbelievable how fast time goes and then I realize I haven't posted in days! Mike and I are off to Durango today and will be back Monday. As usual, I will post our pictures when we get back. Both of us are looking forward to getting a way, enjoying the beautiful scenery and hopefully seeing the colors changing on the way.

Enjoy your weekend!