Free Museums, Warren Miller, and Birthday Recap

November has been a busy month for Erin and I which is one of the reasons I haven't written recently.  Both of us have been battling a cold which has made me even less excited about writing.  As I turn one year older and feel like I'm getting over this cold I feel like it's time to catch up.  Most of my time has been spent programming a new water gate program for local and international distribution.  Fortunately, Erin and I have found time on the weekends for some fun activities.

On the 7th, Denver museums we're having a free night and shuttles to help people get around.  Erin and I started out at the Museum of Contemporary Art around 5pm.  The art was okay, but the best part was that the bar on the roof was open allowing us to get a drink while looking over the city.  Before long our friends, Brian, Cassie, and Neil joined us on the roof and with the Autumn sun set we watched fireworks being shot from a nearby roof.  We ended up getting some dinner at a pub near Neil's place before heading over to the Molly Brown House Museum.  The main draw was to see my aunt Janet dressed up as Margaret Brown in traditional clothes and a bonnet.  Unfortunately, the line was so long to get in the house that by the time we we're finished and had taken photos the museums were closing so we ended up at a nearby bar before heading home.

The following weekend Erin's school was showing the latest Warren Miller film with a lift ticket to one of the ski resorts included in the movie ticket price.  My friend Andres and his friend Joe joined us for the night as we enjoyed the ski film, vied for fabulous door prizes, and finished the night back at our place playing video games.  It was a fun night, but by the next morning I had finally come down with the cold Erin had been battling for a week already and I wasn't feeling like doing anything but staying home on the couch.

Fortunately by Thursday of this week I was feeling better for my birthday.  Erin and I joined our friends at a supper club that we've been holding for the past few months.  This month found us at the Budapest Bistro on Pearl St.  While the food was a little salty it was good and I enjoyed the change.  I especially enjoyed the chocolate crepe my friend Erich got me.  What was really surprising was when we saw Erin's parents walk by the window and waved them in.  We had a nice chat with them before returning to our meal and being pleasantly surprised when the check came to find that they had paid for Erin and my dinner.  Of course, the best gift of my birthday were tickets to the U2 concert this summer that Erin got us.

We were fortunate to see Erin's parents again on Saturday as we went out to lunch at their favorite Vietnamese restaurant.  It reminded me of going to a great Vietnamese place with my friend Matt back in college when we got a whole fish.  Upon hearing this Erin and her parents insisted that we get the same dish.  The food was delicious and it was funny to watch Erin's dad make the fish talk.

Saturday night was when we had planned to celebrate my birthday with some "shady" activities.  We started the night at the Green Mountain Family Shooting Center.  While Erin was hesitant about shooting she soon got the feel of it and we all had a good time.  We followed shooting with dinner at a nearby Chinese restaurant in a sketchy-looking part of Lakewood.  While the neighborhood doesn't look good the food was delicious and we were soon on to our next stop at a nearby bar with billiards tables.

It felt appropriate for the theme of the night that as we were pulling into the parking lot for the bar we were following two police cars that seemed to be heading for the same place.  In the end the cops just seemed to be making sure nothing bad went on and we had a great time drinking, playing pool, and talking.  All in all I had a great time and was glad my friends could come out and share in the activities.

Snow Daze and Halloween Fun

This past week has been an interesting one as we got our first major snow storm.  What was remarkable was that because of it Erin got, not one, not two, but three snow days where she didn't have to go in to work.  On Wednesday she was absolutely ecstatic and while I was happy for her I wished at the time (6am) that she would stop jumping up and down on the bed so I could get my last hour of sleep.  On Thursday, as the storm worsened and Erin learned the night before that there wouldn't be school for a second day we were both happy.  By Friday though, as Erin learned that she would have a third snow day, her feelings were mixed.  Having been cooped up inside for the past three days we were starting to get a little stir crazy.  Erin's also worried now that she'll have to make up some of those days on Saturdays or in the summer.  Still, I'm happy for the extra time we got to spend with each other (even if I still had to do my work).

By the time Halloween came on Saturday night we were excited to get dressed up and head out.  We were having dinner and doing pumpkin carving at our friend's Rachel and Cameron's house.  The party was a lot of fun as we had some delicious chilli and enjoyed carving our pumpkin.  While our pumpkin was very soft and kind of frozen from sitting out in the snow storm we were still able to carve a decent Frankenstein monster in it.  By the end of the night we were exhausted though and happy to sleep in Rachel and Cameron's guest bedroom. 

 For our costumes Erin had seen a Halloween costume news piece with a picture of a guy with a golf ball sticking out of his head so we re-created the costumes of an unfortunate golfing accident.  The great part is that we were able to get most of our costumes at a Goodwill store for very little money.  Of course as we were taking the photo Erin asked, "So how do I hold this golf club?"...It may be awhile before I take her golfing.