It might be...

...a good night. Especially since we hit up the old ARC Thrift Store for some new old duds. Especially since we can bring our own champagne to the Rockbar. Especially since I have dubbed 2008 "The Year of Kevin." Especially since I am walking out the door right now to get a beer at Wynkoop. Especially since I might go to Great Divide after that. Especially since I am going to dinner at Mezcal for Steak and Lobster. Especially since a few top shelf margaritas are included in the price. Especially since the only thing I have to do tomorrow is watch college football. Especially since I am going to party like its 1999.

Well, reality isnt...

...all that bad afterall. I mean, I DO live in Denver. But rather than giving you a complete lowdown of the crazy life that I was living in Aspen for the last few days, Ill just give you a few lists.

Things I'll probably never hear again:
1. Our next Leer Jet will be a little wider.
2. We took a long lunch up top. I had a kobe burger topped with foie gras.
3. We started making a little money...so I bought 922 bottles of vintage wine.

Things I'll probably never say again:
1. The car is here.
2. I'll stick with wine, thanks.
3. Sure, I'll have another cornish game hen.
4. Here is $33 for our three Fat Tires.

It was a...

...memorable night filled with booze and funny gifts. We celebrated the big family Christmas last night. The big family is becoming the really big family - as the cousins get married the pre-meal-prayer circle gets bigger and bigger. And since our schedules are getting crazy with our collective success, I am really thankful that we were all able to find a night to get together.

And as much as we like to celebrate together when we can, usually the "celebration solution" is imbibed, not necessarily gifted (with the exception of Craig, of course, who always gives his target a nice bottle of rare beer). But last night for some reason we found a bottle in more than one package, and leave it to my older brother Chris to try to swap out his bottle of tequila. But have no fear, Grandpa immediately offered a crisp $10 bill for a piece of the action. Actually, he handed his whole wallet to Chris.

Amongst other gifts...

Jim got a Hillary Clinton nutcracker.

Blake got an "Entrepeneurship for Dummies" book (he he, from me)

Blake also ended up with a remote-controlled dragonfly.

Chris got a bottle of tequila.

Tyler got a Jack Daniels gift set (what he has always wanted...)

A few of the girls ended up with clothes from Paige's new clothing line - Aviator Nation.

And Jordan got an incredible shirt from Freestylewalking.org.

Overall a great time. Lots of laughs, lots of love. Perhaps one of the greatest joys in my life has been growing older with my family, watching the dynamics change and our bonds/friendship grow stronger. Merry Early Christmas.

Free your heel...

...free your soul. All that shit. Its my birthday, which I normally dont care that much about - but today it gave me the excuse to skip out on responsibility and go skiing. So JD, Lindsey, and myself headed up to Keystone to make some tele turns.

Turns out that Lindsey was WAY better than the two of us, so we got to take a free lesson. But the kicker was that we were on top of Outback (the mountain BEHIND keystone) when I got a phone call from Denver Health saying that they needed me. Now. Well, it took me two and a half hours to get there...but I did walk into the OR in my ski pants. First time for everything...

But when I got back from the fiasco, I topped the tree in the Traditional American Way. Or at least, the way it should be. Feliz cumpleanos a mi.

These boots are...

...made for walking. And hunting. And going to school. And lounging. Basically, theve done everything. I have a pair of Red Wing Sidewinders (I remember the name because there is a huge freaking snake on the sole...very classy) that I got when I was 16. Im turning 27 this week, thus mis botas are 11 years old this week too. And I actually havent worn them much for the last few years. They got so beat up that my dad bought me a new pair 3 or 4 years ago. They were too hard to break in, so they are sitting in my closet in pristine shape.
But last time I was back home, I saw the old pair in the closet. Put them on. Sighed. They have been reintroduced into my wardrobe.
Ode to My Boots:
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways?
One...left foot.
Two...right.

Just another day...

...in the life of me. Surprise, surprise - we went over to the Great Divide for a beer or two. Delicious and delicious. Not only is the beer fantastic, and the Tap Room a great place to sit and spend some time, but also my boy Patrick - he runs the Tap Room and is a good dude. He makes our Fridays and Saturdays (or Wednesdays, Thursdays...whatever day...) so much more enjoyable. Prost for Patrick.

So, we went to GD for a beer and a talk on Friday before party time, then we migrated over to Marion St. to put on our party digs, consolidate cars, and head to the party on Garfield.

Funny thing as always, we were a little loud (and obnoxious??) when we rolled into the party. But hey, thats how we do things. My favorite point of the party went like this:

Me: Bueno, it smells like those little smoky sausages that are in that jelly-barbeque sauce. I love those.

Bueno: Look behind you.

Me: [looking behind me] Oh snap. Little smokies. Im going to eat the shit out of those. You want some?

Bueno: Yeah, get one of those bowls.

I love little smokies.

The thing that sucked for Craig is that he forgot his contacts, so he had to wear his glasses.

Despite this, we had a good time. And I beat the hell out of Bueno and Dan at Golden Tee at Don's Mixed Drinks. So that doesnt suck either.

I can't stay...

...awake on airplanes. I try. I drink coffee, Ill get a book out, Ill start a conversation with a new friend. Nope, out like a fat kid in dodge ball. That made for a funny day today, too. I had to fly to Phoenix - basically to get a piece of equipment out of my car (I keep a work vehicle in PHX). So got to the airport at 7, took a 2 hour nap on the plane, got lunch, took another 2 hour nap on a plane. Lots of sleeping and I wasnt even tired. If I were still involved in the Neuroscience world, perhaps Id invent a new disorder called "Flight Narcolepsy."

The good news is that I got to watch this guy dance at the luggage carousel. I really wanted to ask him what he was listening to...Oh, and another funny airport sighting: there was a guy puking in the stall next to me. Not airsick...drunk. His buddy was standing outside the stall saying "Bro, your a professional. Shake it off, bro. Lets go smoke a cigarette, thatll make you feel better, bro. If youre not coming with me, give me your f***ing cigarettes bro, Im gonna smoke one. Fine, bro, we will be in the bar waiting for your ass. You've got ten minutes, bro."

Man, I hope they really are brothers - or I just heard the word "bro" used far too many times out of context. Happy travels.

For the first...

...time since Craig moved to Denver, we skiied together. Actually, Ive never made turns with JD (the other roomie) either - so we decided to take a little roomie vacation to Breck.

It was pretty good timing for everyone: I had been working a lot and needed to get out of town. Craig is new here and needed to get the ski-bug out. JD could find somebody to cover his Sunday morning coffee shift. And there was SNOW. We've had a pretty dry early season, and finally it started dumping. ALSO, last weekend was considered the last off-weekend before the holidays, so we got a good deal on a room.



Both days had good snow on the ground, bluebird skies. But Monday, I think I accidentally reserved the whole mountain or something, 'cause we hardly saw anybody all day.

It was a great time for a few reasons: 1) We got to ski a couple of days without all the driving. 2) For the most part, ski-in/ski-out that only cost us a few dollars each. 3) Craig was able to do some beer-bartering at Great Divide and we were sipping on the finest Hibernation and Yeti that money can buy. 4) But we didnt have to buy it, free beer. 5) Hot tubs. I actually soaked twice on Sunday. 5) I alpined with Craig all day Sunday, then make tele-turns with JD on Monday - and tele is starting to make sense. 6) If you arent a skiier, that probably made no sense to you. 7) Our final adventure: Craig wanted Starbucks, JD and I wanted beer (and to stick it to Starbucks), so we compromised: Craig got a latte, and the other two scoundrels drank beer in coffee mugs. The perfect end.

When it gets...

...cold, its party time. I mean, we go to parties in the summer - but the winter time brings on another round of fun parties: sweater parties, winter formals, white elephant gift exchanges. This particular Friday, we went to a little winter formal. Our neighbor girls invited us, and we didnt know too many people. So I decided to don my cheapest suit and the most hideous shirt that I own (actually gifted to me). THEN I made Erik wear a tie with freakin' snowmen on it.

We found a problem, then created a solution at a liquor store across the street from the bar that was hosting the party. It was cash only, there were no specials, and the bartenders werent pouring friendly. So we cheated the system like a couple of college freshman. Best $5 Ive ever spent.

When Erik drinks, he does funny things. He thought that standing next to this sign was hilarious. I was cold, so I took the picture. Nice tie...is that a flask in your pocket?

The night carried on. My stash went from full, to lighter, to empty. I began to dance. Everyone began to dance. Somebody (not to be named) began cornering and isolating Erik from the rest of the party. And somehow we ended up at home.

I learned a few things Saturday night: 1) Never leave the party without taking a bunch of lunchmeat wrapped in a napkin. 2) Always convince your neighbor to do things that he will probably regret. 3) If you are going skiing at 6:30am Sunday morning, make sure somebody else drives and you can sleep in the back. 4) Whiskey makes me dance really well.

We had a...

..."beery" day yesterday. And really, it started off for me a little differently: I was skiing in 7 inches of Vail powder just hours earlier. Here is how my day went:

7:30am - Woke up at the Vail Cascade, and decided to ski a little before coming home.

8:30am - Hopped the Cascade shuttle to Lionshead.

9:30am-11:30am - Skiied fresh pow all day with Brad and Krista.

11:45-3:00pm - Drove back to Denver on (mostly) empty roads.

3:30pm - Went to Wynkoop Brewery with Erik the neighbor to hang out with Craig...and have a free beer or two.

4:00pm - Decided it was a good idea to go to the Great Divide Brewery, for "one beer".

7:00pm- One beer turns to many beers. I buy a t-shirt.

7:30pm- Go to neighbor girls' house and insist that they make us dinner.

7:31pm- Eat delicious sandwiches.

7:40pm- Walk back to our house to watch football.

8:00pm- I try to convince many people that we need to go out for dinner. Again.

8:15pm- Deciding that 2nd dinner was a lost cause, I open an Old Chub.

10:00pm- In bed.

All in all, the day couldnt be beat. Except I maybe could have convinced people to eat a 2nd dinner. Or perhaps made love to a supermodel...that has connections at another brewery. Buy given my current circumstances, yesterday was just fine.