Linda Rokos Watts

Yesterday (Monday) Stella had her weekly piano lesson down in Lyons. It changed a little from her regular Wednesday class because her teacher was going on Spring Break. Usually during her 1/2 hour class I go for a speed hike in the foothills. It's not a lot of time but I squeeze in a workout when I can. It was 5:30 when I dropped Stella off and 28 degrees out. It was a little chilly but after I got hikin i warmed up a bit. Got to the top of the ridge and the wind hit. HOLY COW it was freezing. I don't think I've ever made it down the mountain that fast. I made it back just in time for Stella to be walking out the door and thanks to John Common, and Mana tunes, I cruised though my hike with a smile on my face.

Friday March 27 th , was Connor's Birthday so we decided to have a good old fashion pig roast with a keg and lots of good friends. No snow storm was going to stop us. In the morning Stella, Connor and I set out in the snow to pick up out 70 pound pig and a HUGE grill. We had to drive up to Lafayette to Arapahoe Pig Roast to pick it up. On the way home we made a stop at Costco and at the cake shop. It was a HUGE hit and we totally pulled it off. Buying a 70 pound whole pig takes a long time to roast... 8 hours to be exact so we rushed home after picking the pig up so we could throw it on the grill asap to be ready in time for everyone to show up at 7. We had Stella all day until I dropped her off at her dads for the weekend at 5pm. She was so enthralled by the pig she didn't want to go but on the other hand she was really excited to go see her dad, step mom and Arlin. Here she is. We named her Miss Piggy, not too original but funny non-the-less. Here is Miss Piggy grilled up ...

Thoughts and prayers are with the McConkey family today! RIP Shane! http://espn.go.com/action/freeskiing/blog?post=4018726

Oh Happy Day!

It is such a luxury around here. Living up in the mountains where we do, no one seems to want to deliver anything up here. It's a bit of an adjustment since you have to come up with something to make to eat EVERY night even on the really busy nights. Its not like it's easy to run out and grab a quick bite to eat or have anything delivered, not that we did it that often when we lived in the city but it's nice having that option. Well tonight was Stella's night for piano down in Lyons (there's still no take out there) so I busted a move after I dropped her off at piano and drove the 15 miles to Longmont to pick up some Chinese takeout! It worked out perfectly, just as I pulled into her teachers driveway they were walking out the door at the end of her class. Mission accomplished, we had takeout for dinner. WOOT . I can't tell you the last time we had takeout up here. It's funny the little things you miss every now and then, living up in the mountains. Not th...

After what was a wonderful weekend.....it always takes me a day to get back into the groove of the week! (that's what Mondays are for) This week is a little shorter then most, Stella has Friday off! Woo- hoo ! I'm taking the day off from work as well so we can have a fun day off together before she heads to dads in the afternoon for the weekend. This week seems to be slipping away already... it's Connors birthday on Friday and there is still a lot to get done before the big fiesta! Oh and Thursday to top it all off we have teacher / parent conferences at Stella's school. I just got her report card yesterday and she had straight B's across the board...not bad BUT there's always room for improvement and I look forward to meeting with her teacher about it. Stella has been struggling a bit with reading and I feel like we are stuck in a rut spinning our wheels at this point...I'm hoping that on Thursday Stella's teacher will have some suggestions and or I...

Whew! What a weekend so far...it's on Saturday afternoon and it's already been a fun packed adventure of a weekend. Friday afternoon we got to Connor's house and had to hit the grocery store so we could make the Stella special in the morning. After the grocery store we were off to the bowling alley with Connie, Stella and Adam (Connor's brother ) and I for a little friendly competition. Guess who won the first round....MAMA!!! Stella bowled her best game ever, the girl knows how to hock a ball. After some really BAD bowling alley finger food we headed home for the night. Saturday morning we slept in a little and had a great cup of coffee and the Stella special. After a belly full of food we were off to the Golden Gate National Park. It was such a beautiful day today we had to get outside so we decided to go on a nice long hike with the doggies. After our great adventure we dropped Connie and the doggies off at home and Stella and I headed to Target to pick up a few ne...