Labor Day Weekend

My Labor Day weekend was how it should be...Labor free.

Sean's, on the other hand, was not.

While I was shopping, relaxing, reading, cleaning and enjoying the sunshine, he was building decks and laying a roof. Even still we managed to find the time to enjoy ourselves.



The weekend began with some awesome (spicy!) Jamaican smoked pork made by Sean's amazing cook of a roommate, Jason. We drank Red Stripe on the roof and just chilled.


Saturday was my day to myself followed by dinner with Sean's roommates at an old favorite...the Old Blinking Light...and bowling. I am too embarrassed to share my score, but it was over 100. Two games. Combined.

Sunday was a great day! I got to experience the Colorado Springs Mega Church, New Life, then had lunch downtown with none other than Mr. Bosch. I know all the Gordon folk out there are jealous.


While Sean labored in the sun and wind on his sister's roof, I got to hang out with these two (mom and son...dad was on the roof too) all afternoon:


Sean's sister, Erin, and her adorable, happy son, Logan. We made dinner and shortcake with CO Western Slope peaches (using my daddy's secret recipe).


Monday, Sean finally got a labor-free day. We rode bikes around downtown, checked out the Taste of Colorado, attempted to get Rockies tickets (damn scalpers...just because it's a holiday doesn't mean you can charge 17x the normal ticket price), played volleyball with Sean's friends - well I went on a Powerade/watermelon run for the players, but that's still important - had a lovely dinner date then crashed by 9:30. Every weekend should be three days.

Filler Post

I am seriously due for a new post. The problem is the lack of camera. We are a visual society and, let's face it, people love blogs with pictures. And I am certainly not philosophical (or, dare I say, interesting) enough to entertain the public with my musings. So, I shall focus for a moment on one of my greatest loves in life:

dogs.

(Said in a Mattt Damon-Good Will Hunting fashion) There have been Max, Domino, Peggy, Mister, Jamie, Willie, Oodles, Diesel and Rocky. All of them special in their own way. Oodles may take the Most Special award, despite Domino's love for electrical wires, Peggy's love for playing tag with automobiles (2 broken legs later), Mister's love for the neighbor's dog (RIP), Jamie's love for raw sewage, Willie's love for all things edible (including rocks, all of our Christmas candy and small plastic objects) and the 95 lb Diesel's fear of random things like partially open doors. They all hold a special place in my heart and individually formed me into someone who can't help but grin like a fool every time I see a furry friend walk by.

Where has this love gotten me in life? you may ask.

Other than the joy simply being around a dog brings me, I am proud to boast that I am a (almost) certified Animal Behavior College professional dog trainer. I still have to take my final exam. I've only put it off for a year...no biggie.


I have had the privileged to work with lots of shelter and rescue dogs and the people that love them.


I have turned many a once-indifferent-friend into a dog lover.


I have trained those around me to not only point out dogs in the area, but to also attempt to determine the breed.

I have spread the "doggie voice."

I look forward to having and loving my very own dog someday (a rescue, of course), but for now this will help to fill that void in my life.

In closing, shelter dogs rule, pitbulls get a bad rap (kinda like NJ), everyone should spay/neuter and, in the words of Mishka, I ruuuuhvvvoooo.

I made it!

I have officially been a Denver resident for just over 2 days now. And I LOVE it!!

The apartment is fantastic. The neighborhood is fantastic. The location is fantastic. The roommates are fantastic. The puppy is fantastic. And, of course, the boyfriend is fantastic.

Sean and I decided to buckle down and do the drive in 2 days: NJ to Chicago (13 hours) then Chicago to Denver (16 hours). Neither of us had a camera to document our trip (work took my blackberry back when I left...sad), but I will share a few things I learned on the journey:

Sean is a very good driver and can go 8 hour stretches at a time without stopping. (If it weren't for my multiple bathroom stops.)

The GPS is a wonderful invention. Thank you mom!

You will be fined $10,000 and could serve up to 2 years of jail time for hitting a road-side worker.

Corn does not get any more exciting at hour 12 than it was at hour 1.

Sean does not have the same appreciation for show tunes that I do. But come on, you'd sing too if you saw about 20 signs for Gary, Indiana (Not Louisiana, Paris, France New York or Rome...).

Natural Rice Crackers with Wasabi Peas is a great traveling snack. Also good for clearing the sinuses.

The South Skunk River levee in Iowa broke last Wed leaving many square miles completely flooded. Saturated, rotting corn fields smell terrible.

New favorite road sign: Buckle up the next million miles.

The World's Largest Truck Stop is in Walcott, IA and it has it's own website (and catalog).

Sharing the road with hundreds of semis and large trucks is NOT fun.

Bug juice cannot be removed with a simple spritz and swipe of the wipers.

The Amish use rest stops too. How they got there, I am not sure.

Good friends can be found all over the country, even if you've only met them twice. Thank you, Gretchen, for your hospitality.

When stuck behind a truck transporting cows, keep your distance.

This is it!

This day has finally come. Today is my last day in Boston. After months of planning and prepping it's almost hard to believe I will be saying goodbye to this city and people that I love to embark on a new and exciting journey. But I am ready.

The last two weeks + have been some of the most draining days of my life - physically (late nights with friends, early work mornings), mentally (training someone for your job is much more difficult than just doing your job), and emotionally (as I am sure you can imagine). However, I have never been more confident or at peace with a decision. As my good friend, Payal, spoke to me:

"When something is meant to be, the path will be cleared."

This experience has proven that to me over and over again. From an amazing apartment in my price range, to the opportunity to live once again with good friends from college, to our landlords leaving behind their guest bedroom furniture for me to use, to my step-mom getting a new car and selling me her old one, to the car insurance not expiring until the end of the month, to getting a job before I even move out there (with a raise), to Sean flying back from Africa through NYC so he'll be able to do the 2000 mile drive with me. But more than anything, I have never felt more loved and supported by those in my life. God is good and I am undeservedly blessed.

Among the many things I have already stated that I will miss, here are a few more:

The love of my life. My handsome man. We shall be reunited again.

This building and all of the people in it.

Yes, there are a LOT more people than just these two, but I am really going to miss seeing their faces everyday.

No, I will NOT miss the whipping winds and icy rain.

So many things to look forward to though....

More Colorado Photos

Here are some more pictures from our family camping trip out West. These were all taken by Savanah:

An Evening on the River

Yesterday, I got to go sailing on the Charles. Check one off the bucket list! Good friends Chris and Phil are wicked smaht and they are getting their phd's at this little school called MIT. With that comes a membership to the MIT Sailing Club. Chris (aka Captain Kirby) was nice enough to take Sherri and I out for a lovely evening on the water.

The Captain himself

First Mate Philly Phil

Over sized life vest - Over sized red ball

Can you tell we love each other?

I Told You I Would

It's been a long time coming (I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by regular work, preparing for my replacement, tying up loose ends, packing, getting things straightened out with HR (you will be happy to know I passed my background and drug tests), selling stuff on craigs list, collecting my medical files, trying to figure out the name/ID dilemma that has haunted me for my entire life and is preventing me from getting a CO driver's license, etc. all while trying to spend as much time with my roommates and friends doing FUN Bostony things), but I am finally going to tell you about my new job.

It began with a conversation with a contact my current boss has in CO. She works for CBRE and, as it turns out, is an awesome person. She hooked me up with a phone interview a while back. Long story short, they offered me the job then 2 days later took it back. Bummer. But I was not going to give up!

I took the initiative and reached out to the head of Asset Services (a fancy name for Property Management) - let's call him Mr. B- and arranged to meet him the Friday before I trekked into the mountains with the fam. Two days after agreeing to a conversation, Mr. B sent me an exciting email asking me to call him to discuss a potential opportunity. Long story once again shortened, I would meet with him and then have a real live interview immediately afterwards.

Conversation with Mr. B went well. Until the time for the interview was nearing...

"Melody, I have some disconcerting news. Just yesterday I received a phone call from the owners of the properties we were hoping to send you to. The have decided to renegotiate their loan with the bank, and more than likely the whole complex will be foreclosed by Fall."

Dagger to my heart.

We proceeded with the interview, but the whole time it felt as though we were all thinking Why am I even here if the buildings are going to be closed in a few months?

I left the whole process fairly downtrodden.

As a wonderful pick-me-up, Sean took me to a REAL Mexican Restaurant (Boston may know seafood, but we have it all wrong when it comes to a good chimichanga). Half way through my enchilada, my phone rang.
It was Mr. B!

"Melody, we think you're great. We want to keep you with CBRE. But it's going to require some flexibility on your part. We'll start you at the aforementioned-soon-to-be-foreclosed complex with plans to move you over to some newly acquired medical buildings in October. And the best part, we're going to pay you more than you make in super expensive Boston. Are you on board?"

CBRE...guess we're stickin together for a bit longer!