Au Revoir

Tomorrow Mike and I leave for Paris! I am so excited...kinda nervous...but excited. Our travel day will be about 24 hours, with the day long layover in Dallas. It will be well worth it.

Mike was promoted to Manager of Science Planning. He has been going non stop for months now, and he shut his computer off today and said, "that's it! I am not checking email until November 5th!"

I wish I could post pictures along the way but that means we would bring the laptop and then Mike might work. So, you will have to eagerly wait until we get back...look for pictures after 11/05!

See you soon. Thanks to all of you for your well wishes. Thanks to Robert for staying with the dogs, to mom for coming over to let them out at noon, and to dad for the ride to the airport. It is a team effort for sure!

Love, Mel

Countdown begins!

I feel like I can officially start counting down to Paris! We leave this Sunday and get in Monday morning. I am dreaming of what it will be like. I heard from a student who is in the military overseas that the weather has been good (in Germany at least) and so hopefully Paris will hold out for us. Here is my checklist of things to do...
1. Get new walking shoes-a pair that does not scream tourist!
2. Get something to read...The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is the book club pick and so I think I may read that, but it needs to be good to capture my attention
3. I need to get my sunglasses adjusted-they are falling off my face!
4. I need a new watch even though I am tempted to not wear one and truly let this be a freeing experience
5. I need to make my IPOD Paris mix
6. Listen diligently to my French language CD that Susan made for me
(Bonjour, Merci are all I know...)
There is a ton more to do but these are my most urgent 6. I did have a funny hotel reservation situation. When I reserved our hotel (Hotel Muguet: http://www.hotelparismuguet.com/)via email the woman said she did not have a room for the first night we were there. I asked for any recommendations and she wrote back "we will get you a room." Well, I wasn't too trusting in that, and I couldn't call her for more explanation, so I reserved another hotel for that first night. I emailed to confirm to both hotels and she wrote back, "We have a room for you the first night, too." So, I scrambled around to make sure I could cancel the other, which I can, but it just reminded me that in Paris I will be out of my neat and tidy comfort zone. I can't wait though! This trip is much needed for both of us.

Mia, The Farm and Congratulations!

Meg and V's Mia turned 2 and we celebrated yesterday at Berry Patch Farms, a pick your own produce farm off US 85 and 136th. If you ever have a chance to go...do! This place was awesome. Yesterday was a harvest festival, so there was all sorts of stuff for kids and families to do. There was music, a hay ride, and a chance to pick raspberries, carrots, among other things. I spent time in the market which had fresh everything...they had these bags with recipes attached for salsas or other vegetable courses and in the bags were all the ingredients. It was definitely a room for the senses. We had homemade cupcakes as we sang to Mia and just had a fun time all around. Isn't she a doll?

A shout out to Meg and V for their news of another Pellegrino on the way. They sure do well in this arena, don't they? We love you and wish you the best now through the beginning of May-the expected arrival date!

Max

Saturday afternoon Mike and I took Max S. to Wings Over the Rockies museum. I had these images in my head that we would be wandering around, looking at the planes, with Mike pointing out all these very important things. Well, turns out I forgot how imaginative and hands on 5 year olds are. Max wanted to climb on the planes and play imaginary games. He could care less about what the planes were used for or even how big and cool they were. We ended up finding the kids play room close to closing time and Max had a ball playing in there. Oh well! We had so much fun being with him. When we got in the car he asked if he was good. He was so good! We met Jason for pizza where Max demanded for his pizza every time the waitress came by. What a fun day with an adorable little dude!

Fall at Butchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C.

A garden club member sent these photos-when Mike and I were in Victoria we didn't go to Butchart Gardens because it was rainy. These pictures are amazing and get me into the fall mood for sure!

Advice for the day

So...I decided I was getting bored with the other blog format and decided to make the new one more "fall-like". I hope it is easy to read.

Tonight are the second set of Obama/McCain debates. I am excited to watch how the town hall format will be different than the last debate. Hopefully the candidates actually answer the questions (I am alluding to the VP debate here..."let me talk about energy because that is all I know about").

Did you all get the election blue book in the mail? Goodness. I usually try to keep any sort of prescriptive advice to a minimum but today I urge you-mail in your ballot, vote early, or take the day off to vote! This seems like the longest ballot ever! And I urge to read about the measures ahead of time. If you wait until voting day you will be in that little booth for a long, long time.

Me? I am going on October 20th to vote early since we get back late on the 4th. If you are a Denver voter and would like to join me, I will be going to the booths at the rec center on 46th and Sheridan that day.

The weekend seemed long

I find that the weekend seems a lot longer when I do a lot of different things. This weekend was packed full of fun stuff. Friday night I took Mike out to sushi and then to see a performance at Swallow Hill. He got to meet (and vice versa) my good friend Karen who read some poetry (which was beautiful). I was sandwiched in between these two wonderful people-hubby and Karen-for part of the night and couldn't have been happier. Saturday, Mike and I ran errands and then had a delicious brunch at University Park Cafe. I met my teacher Kristi to discuss our AAACE presentation in November. I capped the evening off with a blissful "ladies night" at my friend Debbie's house. A group of young women from Regis get together once a month for friendship and professional support and I look forward to this dinner every time. In Italian Debbie style, we had pasta putanesca and roasted chicken-it was delicious. Sunday, Liz and I walked the 7am Race for the Cure. It was different than the 8:30 walk and I liked it a lot-all women and not as crowded. Liz and I got to have undivided time together to catch up-I am so lucky to have her as a friend. I went to brunch with my brother and Kendra at the Hornet, and then Mike and I hung out the rest of the afternoon. I love it when the weekend feels longer than the actual 2days really are.