Colorado was excellent. got to the airport and through security pretty quickly after work, pretty stress free. KTP and BOB(!) picked us up from DIA (which is especially awesome considering you had to work so early...) and took us back to my gma's house where ktp got to giggle at FAT ASS baby pictures of myself. there's one where i'm like 9 months old and i'm squeezed into a christmas dress and tights and my fat little legs look like sausages squeezed into festive red casings. ugh. but my brother is precious in that picture because he's all 4 years old and angelic looking. anyway. then the gossiping and hair twirling commenced. twas a good evening.

the next day we went to go visit my grandpa. he had a stroke a couple of weeks ago so he's in a rehab facility for right now. my grandma caught it pretty early and they were able to get him some medication to reverse some of the stroke's effects. He's got his speech back but he has trouble swallowing so they have to have someone sit with him when he eats. he was feisty though. i was glad it was a good day. whenever we moved him in his wheelchair he would pulled his feet up and raise his hands and say "wheeeee!". it was cute. it's just startling to see these people who were always "old" in my head start to look legitimately elderly. everything's so much greyer and more fragile on them. le sigh.

we stayed in avon, right outside of vail and there was NO SNOW! I was so bitter. all of that snow they got melted away. it was a really chill weekend. lots of wine (or cherry coke in a wineglass if you're me), chocolate, and chatting. Watched a bunch of girly movies over the weekend and lamented the loss of the hotness that was Patrick Swayze during our viewing of Dirty Dancing. So sad. My aunts (including my mother!) even got sucked into watching "The Lost Boys" on Saturday night while a group of us went to the jacuzzi on the roof. My mom insisted on finishing it in the bedroom once we headed to bed because she "wanted to see how it turned out". Apparently my Aunt Kathy also woke up my Aunt Eileen when she was "battling vampires in her sleep". There was apparently lots of hissing involved. As for the jacuzzi, they had one really big one on the roof out in the open and then a second one enclosed in windows that was much smaller. That walk from the outdoor one to the indoor one was one of the coldest moments of my life. there was much shrieking. all in all it was really nice to see everyone and spend some time with family members i rarely see. my cousin peri said if i come back in the next couple months they'll take me to copper mountain and teach me how to ski or snowboard. i'm so tempted to take them up on that. perhaps i will.

my head is a little fuzzy today. elevation changes are already kind of gross for me, but flying, then spending time at a mile high, driving to 2 miles high, and then flying again in a three day period was a bit much for my poor sinuses. lots of sudafed was consumed. not thrilled to be at work, but i'm already trying to figure out my next trip. i'm thinking that either mlk jr weekend or pres weekend (which is also valentine's day, blech) i might try to go to colorado (if ktp will have me), boston, or nyc. anyone want to go?

anyway, below is a picture of my 88 year old grandmother when we were doing luggage cart races in the parking garage. my aunt mary beth is the one pushing. we're an exciting people. also, my grandparents are precious.