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...

This one seemed to take longer then all the others and is probably my least favorite look, but other people seem to like it. I think it looks kind of sloppy but that's the only way to stack moss rock. Either way it's done and on to phase 4. I might just have this wall done by then end of the month! Woo- hoo !

Stella had funky hair day today at school. I went to go wake up Stella for school this morning a few minutes early so we had time to do "the do" and as I go to wake her up she turns around and says let's GO! I have never seen her get out of bed so quickly in the morning, usually it's a struggle to get her to get moving, but not this morning. :) She was sooo excited about doing her hair I wonder if she slept at all... haha . Here's what we came up with..... Our poor dog Rudi didn't know what was going on this morning and once he saw Stella he started barking at her, we all got a good laugh out of it this morning. Wishing everyone a happy day!

This time the dog really was chewing on Stella's homework. Stella was warming up on the piano and had her books on her bed. I walked in to check on her and there's Rudi chewing on the corner of one of her books and listening intently to her play. It was hilarious, he had such a guilty look on his face.

Most people, if you were to strip them of everything they have inside, are merely searching for love and meaning in their lives; but to some, it is a never-ending, self-fulfilling prophecy of dead ends and wrong routes taken. We are always going to be our worst enemy and suppressor in seeking our personal nirvana! If we were our biggest fan, we would clone ourselves and when we stepped up to bat, there would be 50,000 screaming clones of us cheering for our success. We were probably taught by society or learned this ourselves , but certainly, we were not born with this affliction. Have you ever heard that it’s all in your head? Ninety nine percent of our success whether professionally, personally,or athletically comes from inside us and our physical attributes are merely that, tangible aspects of us and that's all. Although, we could live truthfully, confident, secure in ourselves , and show all the beautiful colors that we came into this world with, these colors that have been ...

I'm going to keep this post sweat and short cause I am EXHAUSTED! I got a crazy case of food poisoning yesterday morning, (wont be eating at that place again) and today of all days we had a long hard day working in the rock yard filling an order. I had to sling rock all day, something I typically really enjoy doing but today it was miserable, but I got through it. I haven't been able to hold down any food since yesterday morning but I'm finally not having any more stomach cramps so I thinks it's gone! WOOT ! On a lighter note... we got 5 new baby chicks today. Stella spent all afternoon playing with them after school. It took everything I had to tear her away from them for homework, dinner and piano. It was adorable..... and now I'm done. Night-night! :)

I was looking through some pictures last night that my mom sent me, and it made me long for spring and summer, when the grass and trees are green and the flowers are fresh and colorful and the garden is booming with yummy vegetables. These pictures are of Stella's Art Studio. My mom sewed some red and white polka dot curtains for it and it looks fabulous. This is Stella's little space to create, play, imagine, and do anything else she can come up with. My parents made a spot for it above the house with it's own little retaining wall and right below it on another spot Stella has a swimming pool for the summer. Stella loves spending time in here little house. I go home for lunch in the sumers when Stella is at home for summer break and thanks to a little help from my mom Stella and I have lunch in her studio! I can't wait for those days to come back around. Thinking green... Happy St. Patty's Day!

This post is a big THANK YOU to Betsy, Connor's mama! Every holiday, Betsy sends Stella a new shirt. Stella LOVES getting them in the mail and of course the next day she has to wear them to school. Well guess what?....just in time for St. Patty's Day tomorrow, another shirt arrived today! Wishing you a fabulous trip to Alaska! Thanks again Betsy! :)

This weekend was filled full of sunshine, working out, playing outside, a birthday party and even some dancing. It's been a really long time since I got a good swim work out in but Connie and I hit the Wash Park gym on Saturday morning and hit the pool. I swam a pretty quick 1600 meters (considering the shape I'm in) and then we got a really hard ab routine in. Woo- hoo , it felt so good walking out of the gym felling like I just got my ass kicked by a good work out. Saturday night after spending the early evening at the Vossler's for Rich's birthday party, Connie and I met up with some friends down in the DTC for a little drinkin and dancin . What a great night! It was a house band playing and Conner and I got our groove on! Check out the lady behind us. That was one killer outfit! On a final note, my dad came home today and the Buffs ended up 2 nd this year at NCAA Champs, although my dad is disapointed , they pulled into second after being behind the day befor...