Colorado

Vacation time is almost here!! There are few things in life as enjoyable as the anticipation of vacation. No matter if a person is planning a transatlantic voyage, a journey along old Route 66 or simply staying at home and doing all the "puttering around the house" stuff that piles up on a homeowner before they even blink, the phrase vacation inevitably draws sighs of envy from those less fortunate than the soon to be vacationer.

My vacation is not a European adventure or a surf, sun and sand relaxation trip. Rather my vacation is taking place in Ft. Collins/Denver Colorado. Why Denver -you ask? "Well, why not!" would be my response. Denver has some of the most beautiful hiking areas, whitewater rafting, botanical gardens and history that a person could hope to indulge themselves within.

In addition, the Denver area is home to some of the worlds best microbreweries and large corporate breweries such as New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins Brewery, Coors and Anhauser-Bush. So after a delightful afternoon of viewing the scenery a person could sip on a delightfully refreshing drink and just enjoy the sunshine and relaxed atmosphere for which Denver is so famous.

Is it July 1st yet?!? I'm ready to go!!

Crazy Things

Strange sighting on the way into work. A VW Beetle (an original one) with the area usually reserved for the engine (in the back trunk) removed and a flat bed installed upon it. They must have restructured the car so the engine could then be placed under the hood.

Would that make it a VW Beetlerailer (Beetle and trailer)?

Tick-Tock

There is a fantastic song called "Night and Day" by Cole Porter that goes something like this

"like the beat, beat, beat of the tom tom when the jungle shadows fall like the tick,tick, tock of the stately clock as it stands against the wall like the drip, drip drip of the rain drops when the summer showers through a voice within me keeps repeating you, you, you"

Anyhow, in my situation the tick, tick, tick of the stately clock for me is counting down the hours to the time when I had a lovely 3 day weekend in Corpus. I am so excited to be wearing sandles, capris and tanks for three whole days! Yeah!!

Frugality

So my vacation to Denver is coming up. The plane ticket purchased for the amazingly low price of $7.50 - thank goodness for frequent flier miles and the rental car held for under $200.00. So the purpose of this is that I would like to be able to enjoy this vacation for about $200.00 including meals and sightseeing. I have 8 days in Denver but do not / can not blow my bank account while out there. Vacationing on a budget is a new concept for me. As many know my personal finances are not something that I ever give a lot of thought to aside from is there enough there to put gas in the car. Others finances I can watch like a hawk and at times offer excellent advice on ways to economize and to properly manage the flow of debits and credits on a consistent basis. But for me vacationing on a budget is just a foreign concept. But in the interest of still going on this vacation and not cancelling and sitting at home for two weeks I am going to try to vacation on a budget.

So if anyone has any suggestions on how to have fun on a very limited dollar amount I would appreciate any and all comments. Luckily my hotel room does have a fridge and microwave so I can probably do meals really cheap - breakfast in my room, lunch for under $10.00 and dinner for under $20.00 but even that just by itself is $240.00 and I haven't even driven anywhere, put gas in the rental car or paid for any park fees! This sucks.

Is it possible to vacation for $200.00 or should I stay home?

Bored

Not that I don't have a million and one things to do but right now, at this moment I am so bored to death with financials that I could just scream. Actually, I would really like a piece of key lime pie but that is another whole story.

So here is a question for the masses. My drive to work is usually an 60 minutes to 80 minutes each morning. And just for kicks I timed out the miles this morning as I was driving to work in a daze due to no coffee. I realized that the first 14 miles go by very quickly (around 75mph) then the next 5 miles are brought to a slower pace due to traffic (around 40-45 mph). Following that slowdown the pace picks up again for 4 miles (around 60 mph) but right at that moment (at exit 33 on hwy 75) things grind to a screeching halt for the next 5 exits or until I turn onto George Bush Turnpike. So as I was thinking as I was driving -- and as I was juggling the shifting from first to second to third, down to first, back to second, back to first gear, that we have to be the most foolish people on the planet. I spend an average of 30-45 minutes everyday attempting to go 5 miles (that stretch from exit 33 to exit 28). We drive like crazy people just so we can watch the brake lights ahead of us for ages, all the while hoping that traffic isn't also backed up on the turnpike. Literally amazing. Texas needs a "good" mass transit system. I looked the other day at the DART. but the stops are limited and the pick up locations are right at that nasty slow spot of exits 33-28, so I would have to drive, through that mess anyhow just to take the DART.

So there really isn't a solution to this situation but I thought it was kind of interesting. One thing is guaranteed. I am thrilled that I don't have to drive into downtown Dallas everyday. That drive is brutal both on the way into work and on the way out.

Busy

Time flies when you are working very hard!! So much to do and so little time. This week is filled with preparations for the big conference meeting at the end of the month. In addition, I am learning a new aspect of the auditing process. Renovation audits. They are rather interesting (cost accounting and all that jazz).

I had a wonderful talk on Sunday eve (although it was a struggle to keep my eyes open from being up way to many hours) with Mary, John, Ryan and Sarah about my future career path plans. They were so supportive and didn't think it was an odd career path for me to embark upon, which I had been a little worried about. Sometimes it is amazing what information (names, contacts etc) others have just at their fingertips. Thus rather than becoming frustrated and disheartened by the process I now have some people to talk with about the "realities" of the path I am going to take and some excellent information with which to move forward. So now it becomes a process of studying for the GRE and choosing the school where I want to go. I'm thinking UNT, TWU and a couple of other options. It will be a balancing act of the finances and the quality of the Master's Program. So thank you to all who helped with the "thought process" last Sunday! I really, really appreciated it! :)

Chocolate Churros

The delectable dessert of Tuesday - Chocolate Churros

The tasty treats are made to order here at the Sofitel Washington DC. The combination of slightly crunchy, sweet chocolate churro and granulated sugar outside is guaranteed to make every fan of regular churros sit up and take notice. The treats were served with a caramelized mango dipping sauce that provided an excellent contrast to the sweetness of the churros.

As a fan of slightly tart things (key lime pie, lemon meringue, lemon drop martinis, cranberries and rhubarb pie) these were not my favorite but when in the right mood and paired with the right food they could provide the desired moments of sweet bliss.

So for those who love churros and if you love chocolate this dessert is for you!

Wednesday

The sun is shining, the weather delightful and we are working indoors! But there is hope for lunch and dinner on the terrace. We are still enjoying the hospitality of the Sofitel Washington DC and have reached the midway point of our time in this great city. The Paris Team will be leaving very late Friday night for their trip back to Paris and I will be leaving that evening for a short taxi ride to Springfield, VA to perform one additional audit in the DC area.

Looking back on the trip it really has not been so bad. Of course I would not like to do 12-16 hour days every week but for a two week stretch it was bearable. Of course, the team members have been wonderful and I have learned an incredible amount from them and they in turn have been a delight with which to work (not at all the horrible experience which I had been anticipating).

But while this has been a good experience I must admit to being ready to come home and see all my friends again. There has been so much going on that I have missed out on that I want to rush home, catch up on the news, become part of the gang again and take part of the fun.

Just out of curiosity--does anyone feel like sushi this weekend? It has been WEEKS since I have indulged in the wonderful freshness of salmon, wasabi and rice---yummy, yummy.

Dessert and coffe

Ok, when things get stressful what do you do? The Paris Team and I do dessert and coffee. This is probably the best part of my day. While Geraldine remains true to her size 0 and only has coffee, she is ever so polite while Julien and I indulge in the non-size 0 delights of dessert and coffee. So in the interest of keeping this as entertaining as possible I will tantalize the tastebuds of my few but dear readers. Picture a delightful mini-dessert with a crushed graham cracker crust, a lemon cream cheese filling with just enough bite to make you pucker-up, a dollop of real whipped cream and a touch of lemon zest. That would be my delectable confections for the afternoon and when paired with a cafe au lait and the sunshine from eating al fresco on the sidewalk outside the hotel it was a moment to relax and forget about all cares, worries and the hours of work still waiting for me. "Superb" to say the least.