A Very Special Spring Break

Last year, Spring Break came and went, and my husband and I didn't even notice.  When you are retired, who cares about Spring Break?  This year, with both of us working again, we wondered if we would make it until we had a week off.

My husband has never liked going anywhere for Spring Break.  He's always liked to stay home and rest.  I usually go visit my mom or the kids.  This year, I just wanted to stay home and catch up on my rest.  I had also hoped to clean out the flower beds, organize the basement, clean out some closets, and wash the windows.  Funny how ambitious my mind is.  In reality, I am just hoping not to get behind on the laundry and not mess up the house too much while we are off from work and relaxing.  I also hoped to get out of Dodge (Pueblo) for at least one day.

So, about two weeks ago, my husband told me he had decided that he would surprise me with a minication.  [translation:  very small vacation]  He said he had booked us a room at the Brown Palace in Denver for the first Saturday night of Spring Break.  He also booked reservations for tea at the Brown and for Sunday brunch at the Brown.

Little did I know that the best was yet to come.  He had booked a suite for us.  Just before we reached the  door of the room, I had said, "Oh look, I think we are staying in the same room as we did last time."  He responded with, "No, I guarantee you we are not staying in the same room."  Then, the attendant approached the door to our room, a corner room, and opened the door.   I was literally shocked when I looked inside.  "Why, this looks like a suite."  Sure enough, before my unbelieving eyes was his well kept surprise for me.

This was what I saw first.

During the Eisenhower Administration, when I was growing up in Colorado, The Brown Palace was often in the news.  It was called the Western White House.  I clearly remember when Eisenhower would be visiting Denver and staying at this wonderful old hotel.  Built in 1892, it opened its doors just one month before my paternal grandmother was born in Florence, Colorado.  It has been open every day since.  Few things, say Colorado to me quite as much as The Brown Palace.  It links me to my family's long tenure in this state, and is a major part of the proud history of the state I love.  It is uniquely Colorado.  (For those of you who are interested, click fun facts about The Brown Palace to read more about this historical spot.)

It has always been one of my favorite places to visit whenever I am in the neighborhood, even if it has just meant walking through the lobby and making my way up the wonderful wrought iron lined staircases to the seventh floor.   Once, when just walking through the place on a tour, a friend and I searched for the two upside down panels of the iron grill work that "ring the lobby."

I love the "wrought iron panels that ring the lobby from the third to the seventh floor."

I love the unique shaped walls covered with rose themed wallpaper

So, this past weekend, I could really barely believe that we were actually staying in one of her grand old suites.   I loved the stately, old look of our room.  Note the curved walls that speak to the location of the room.  It is a corner room  on the Tremont and 17th Street side of the building.

Jim, looking quite presidential, tried out the desk.

The bed was very comfortable.

The bathroom was very nice.

Jim practiced using his camera while I tried out the desk.  I'd like to have this room to write in on a regular basis!

My thank you note to my dear sweet husband...

My teacher look...

Here is a shot of the lobby where tea is held.

Before long, it was time for tea.  So we made our way downstairs.

Tea time...

When we got back up to the room, I heard bag pipes.  Finally, I thought to look out the window.  Sure enough, a bride and groom had just walked from The Trinity United Methodist Church across the street to a reception to be held at the hotel.  A bag piper was heralding their arrival.  "Oh how romantic and exciting," I thought.

 I missed being able to get a photo of the bride and groom and the bag piper, but I did get a photo of the bridal party.

Our weekend did not end with tea, but my husband said, "Enough with the camera already."  So, the photo log stops here.

We walked down the Sixteenth Street Mall to the movie theater where we watched, The Lincoln Lawyer.  I loved the movie and highly recommend it.  My husband is a real fan of Michael Connelly's books.  Based on the movie, I may have to start reading his books.

We had dinner in the Ship Tavern at the Brown.  The hamburger was wonderful!

We walked to Larimer Square and back to the hotel in the moonlight of the Super Moon.

We then got up Sunday morning for the amazing Brown Palace Sunday Brunch.  We actually had free tickets for the brunch which is why we had decided to go to Denver during Spring Break.  I just didn't expect my husband to also book the 'sweet' room that he did.   I wish I had photos of the brunch, but my husband nixed the idea.  Just trust me; it was really, really good and beautifully prepared.

Sitting at brunch, listening to the jazz quartet, watching the people from various stages of life enjoy a special Sunday Brunch, I couldn't help but reflect on the past year.  With tears in my eyes, I felt I needed to thank my husband for being by my side during the worst year of my life.  I know I would not have made it without him.

He has sat and watched over me as I have grieved.  He has given me space to grieve with the knowledge that he was always just a few steps away,  He has made sure my every need was met.  His quiet, solid strength, his wise counsel in all matters surrounding my daughter's death, his willingness to take care of those legal matters that I just couldn't deal with in the beginning, his constant support, his love, his ability to try and make special memories for me have all caused me to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I was greatly blessed by a provident God when He gave me this man for a husband.

Sometimes, I feel such regret that he has had to suffer along with me.  I guess I feel guilt also.  He did nothing to deserve this tragedy.  I know none of us did, but it hurts to know that the actions of others hurt  those around them so deeply.

I said to him, "Jim, I really must say this.  You didn't deserve to go through all that you have had to go through in the past year.  Thank you for being there.  Thank you for being you.  I'm sorry you have had to suffer with me this past year."  He said, "I'm sorry too, dear, not for my sake, but for yours."

Do you see why I love him?  I am truly greatly blessed to call this man my husband.

Remembering Past Saint Patrick's Days and A Dear Friend's Birthday

This holiday also holds another special memory for me. Fifty years ago today, on March 17, 1961, I had my first date with the young man who would one day become my husband. Yes, Jim Wessely and Sally French had their first date on this day many years ago.

We went to the Sweet Sixteenth Birthday Party for Dove, the girl who actually introduced us, and set us up. I was a very shy, skinny sophomore in high school. He was a very popular senior who played football, was a class officer, and king of the girls' sock hop.

Now, I'm not sure I should kiss and tell, but he did kiss me on our very first date. Shocking, isn't it? I was a bit mortified. We went to the prom together about a month later.

Jim & Sally Prom 1961

At about the same time as our first date, the following quote by him appeared in the school newspaper: "The perfect date for the prom for me must be cute, sweet and short." I fit the short part...I guess that is how I made the cut!

Here we are, fifty years later.  This photo was taken at a 50 year class reunion this past year.  Now  please note, I did not graduate 50 years ago.  I am much younger than my husband.  Remember, he dated me when I was just a sophomore and he was a senior.

Dove & Sally EHS Reunion 2010

So, on this Saint Patrick's Day, I want to thank that dear friend who introduced me to the love of my life.  Thank you, Dove.  You know how much this man means to me.  He is a treasure.  Who knows if I ever would have met him if it were not for you.

  Today, is Dove's birthday.  I hope it is a happy one.  Perhaps she will go skiing in Vermont with her dear husband.  I will be thinking of her.  I never forget her sweet sixteen birthday.  We were all so young back then, but we made friendships and relationships that grow more valuable with passing day.

 Dove, the years have taken all of us down roads we never expected to travel back in 1961.  I guess that between the two of us, we could write quite a book.  We've been separated by years and by miles, but you have always been such a dear friend to me.  Happy birthday!  I hope you have many more.

My World is Smaller and Much Wider Because I Teach and I Blog

I have been struck by how small our world has come.  We hear of disasters almost in real time because of the internet, and social networking.  I first read of the earthquake in Japan and the subsequent tsunami warnings as soon as I got up on Friday.  A dear friend and former colleague who now lives in her native Hawaii posted on Facebook that there was a tsunami warning in Hawaii.  Before I even knew why there was a tsunami, I was concerned for both my former teaching buddy and my blogging friend who both live in Hawaii.  When I say concerned, I mean, I really was worried.  They both are a part of my daily life these days, almost as if we were teaching in the same building or living on the same block, because of social networking.  I connect with them more than I connect with my next door neighbors!  I know more about them than I do about my next door neighbors.

So, once I heard about the tsunami warning, I immediately went to my Hawaiian blogger friend Kay's blog (click to link to her blog) to see if she was ok.  She is such a dear person.  I read her blog daily,  and, even though we have never really 'met,' I've really grown fond her and her husband and her mother.  Her mother, originally from Japan, lives with her.  They still have family in Japan.  Kay is always so kind in her words when she comments on my blog posts.  Yes, I think, it is amazing.  I am connected to people a great distance from me because of my blog, and I am genuinely concerned about their safety and well being.

I wasn't able to see a posting by Kay until later in the morning on Friday, March 1l.   While I was work at the University and on a break, I finally was able to read her most recent blog assuring us that they were safe.

Being able to read a blog on my iPhone also amazes me.  Technology has made my world not only bigger but also smaller.  It is bigger because I have access to people I never would have met otherwise.  It is smaller because the miles that separate us mean little in cyber land.

While I was reading about Kay's situation, I was still worried about the family of one of my student Junichi who is from Tokyo, Japan.  He had not yet come to class at 9:30 on Friday.  Junichi never misses class, and he usually the second to arrive in the morning.  We were all concerned.  Was he trying to reach his family?  Were they ok?  Had they suffered any kind of harm or damage?  Yes, because I teach international students, my world is smaller. After all the years that I have been teaching second language learners,  I am connected to students who come from many countries and speak many languages.

Sally with Junichi using iPhone to photograph cake Woo Huck on far left

Finally, just before 10:00, Junichi arrives.  He is noticeably shaken, but he also seems greatly relieved.  He has been able to finally reach his mother by phone.  She had safely arrived home.  Her apartment was still standing.  He said that she had left her job at 5:00 in the evening on the day of the earthquake.  Public transportation was not working.  She had to walk for seven hours to get home, but she did it.  She made it home safely.

I can't even imagine what she saw on her long journey.  I can't even imagine the fear that must have gone through her mind.  I wonder if she worried how she would find her home once she reached it.  I keep thinking of this woman and wonder at her stamina and determination.  I feel privileged to be able to teach her son.  He works hard.  He studies hard.  He is a son for whom she can feel great pride.  I am grateful that his life has not been touched by the loss of his mother while he is in the United States.  I am sure he must be devastated as he sees the photos coming out of Japan.  He will need a great deal of support from others in the days and weeks ahead.

Just a few weeks ago, we in the International Program at CSU-Pueblo, were worried about our former student who was from Libya.  Several had tried to call him or email him to see how his family was doing in Libya.  That very afternoon after we had been discussing our worries about his family, I came home and saw an article about him and other Libyan students in the United States in The Denver Post.  In fact, I was very shocked when I saw our former student's picture posted in the newspaper.   (Photo from The Denver Post)

Yes, indeed, my world in smaller and much wider because I teach. It is also much enriched with friendships that span many countries and many languages.  My heart is open to the struggles that other nations and their people are going through.  I have worked with, taught,  grown to respect, and to care deeply about their youth.  My mind is broader, and my soul is enriched because I understand how connected we all are no matter what we believe or what languages we speak.

 I am grateful to be part of a profession that allows me to link my life to lives of so many who have come from all over the world.  It has been a blessing.  My life is much richer because my path has crossed the path of many students from many lands.  These students have touched my heart as we labor together in the classroom.  Their families are never far from their minds.  For that reason, their struggles, their heartbreaks, and the devastation that touches those they left behind at home touch my heart deeply.

Birthday Celebrations - Part I

As I approached my birthday this year, I found that I was experiencing conflicting emotions.  Last year's celebration had been so special.  Turning 65 had seemed like a milestone that deserved special recognition. Since I'd written about the celebration on my blog (linked) last year,  I decided to look back and see what I'd written.  The feelings of excitement that I felt that day all came flooding back.  I love entertaining, and my favorite group of ladies were all coming to my house to celebrate.  During the celebration, I received flowers from my son and my sister.  Now, looking at the photo from last year, I am again reminded that one of our dear classmates, seated in the center of the photo that I included in last year's post, lost her battle with cancer in the year since we all gathered at my house a year ago.

Birthday Lunch Garden Room Broadmoor Hotel

In the past year, my life has also been forever changed.  I am not the same lively, outgoing, cheery person who loved nothing more than being with my friends and family.  I have experienced that which I feared most, the loss of a child.  The shock, the pain, the sorrow, and the loss that I have suffered have greatly changed me and the way I see and experience the world around me.  I certainly no longer take anything or anyone for granted.  

I also know that life is to be celebrated, and on my birthday,  I chose to celebrate that I have survived the events of this past year.  At first, I could think of no way to celebrate.  Then, on Sunday morning last week, the day before my actual birthday which falls on the 28th of February, I suggested that my husband and I drive up to Colorado Springs for brunch at the Broadmoor. (See the link here.)  We couldn't get reservations for brunch.  (No surprise here because I know that the waiting list is always long.)  So, instead, we made reservations for a late lunch at my second favorite place to go at that dear old hotel:  The Garden Room.

We left a little early so we could walk around the Broadmoor Lake a few times.  I love this place.  So many wonderful memories of childhood and my years as a single mom are associated with the Broadmoor.  As a child, we learned to swim in the pool here, or we ice skated in the old ice arena.  The same arena where Peggy Fleming trained.

 During the 80's, when I was a single mom, I worked at Cheyenne Mountain School District which is located just a few blocks from the hotel.  Many times after work, or during my lunch hour, I would walk around this lake with friends.  Or we would go for lunches and special dates in the evenings at one of the great restaurants in the hotel.  

I've never been to the Broadmoor that I didn't feel like the time and the place was special.  It seemed like the perfect place to celebrate my birthday this year.

As we walked around the lake, I had my first bona fide sighting of a robin for the season.  It seemed fitting that I should be blessed with this sight on this day.  I had heard what I thought were robins singing when I awoke that morning.  Yes, my day was being blessed.  I recalled that last year, my first sighting had been the weekend after my birthday when I went for a run with Amy and Julie.  I teared up at the memory, but was also deeply touched by how much I needed to see that red-breasted signaler of spring.

Jim and Sally Birthday at the Broadmoor

Lunch in the Garden Room was also just what I needed.  I love going to this special restaurant in February for Valentine's Day or my birthday because the setting of lush greenery always uplifts the spirit.  It is the perfect place for a short respite from winter. 

After lunch, we of course had to visit the shops.  I always hesitate to admire something in a gift shop when I am with my dear husband because the next thing I know, he is buying it for me.  My eye was caught by the most beautiful tea pot and cup and saucers to match.  I loved the rose pattern, and noticed that daffodils, my favorite flower and symbol for my life, was also featured on china.  I really did try to dissuade my generous husband from purchasing the two sets for me because I knew he had already ordered my birthday gift.  He bought it anyway, and I do love it!  Even the boxes the china came in, deserved to be on display in my favorite red hutch. Thanks again, Jim for this beautiful gift.

Jung Hee puts candles on cake

Thinking my celebrations for the year were over, I got up on Monday morning, my actual birthday, and grumbled about having to work on my birthday.  When it came time for our morning break, my dear, wonderful students surprised me with a party.  I couldn't believe it when Jung Hee pulled tulips in a vase out of a bag.  Soon, Shin pulled a cake out of her bag.  Then, she began to pour orange juice in to small plastic cups.  It looked like they were getting a great party together!

Shin lights candles

Sure enough, there was a wonderful cake, flowers, colorful napkins, fresh organic strawberries and oranges, and wonderful little chocolate cookies spread out before me on what was our classroom work table.  My students even produced candles for the cake and matches to light the candles.  Shin is quite the party planner!

Birthday Spread

Before we all ate the wonderful birthday food, we gathered for a group photo.

English Language Institute Students CSU-Pueblo

Here I am surrounded by my five wonderful students.  They gave me permission to post this photo of them. I am blessed to work with these five international students this semester.  Each one is very special. They will never know how much this party meant to me.  The gratitude that I feel for being able to teach these students will never be forgotten. 

 As I teach them, I am reminded that life is greatly enriched when we are able to do what we love most.  For me that is teaching and being involved with young adult who are just beginning their journeys through life.  My passion has long been wound up in teaching English to speakers of other languages.  I admire my students' fortitude in coming to a foreign land to attend college.  I celebrate their growth as individuals as they risk learning a new language, a new culture, and meeting new people who do not share their language and culture.  I also marvel how human connections transcend language and culture and how love and respect grow when we all learn together.  

For so many reasons, my birthday was indeed special this year.  I've learned that even after unspeakable loss, life is beautiful, and it should be celebrated.  Thank you, dear students, for making my day so special.  Your kindness will never be forgotten.

A Cousin Is A Ready Made Friend for Life

"A cousin is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost."

Author: Marion C. Garretty

I spent most of the late morning today on the phone with my cousin Donna.  We hadn't had a long conversation for several months.  She'd been out of state, and I'd been working.  There hasn't been time for lunch or a long chat.  We had a lot to catch up on, and so we did.  I am so reminded of the quote above whenever we are together.  She truly is a little bit of my childhood that can never be lost.

Donna, my cousin who is and was my ready made friend for life,was born in the same hospital, the old Bethel Hospital in Colorado Springs, just days after I was.  She says that her mother took over the same room my mother had just vacated to take me home when she was born.  Our earliest days were spent together.  We learned to walk, to talk, to ride bikes, to fix our hair, to cook, to do just about everything together.  I barely have a childhood memory that does not have her in it.  Most early photos of me include her in the photo.

We lived within a few blocks from each other.  Our church, our school, our grandmother, the grocery store and the drugstore were all located in that four block sphere of our early existence.

The photo above was taken on our first Easter.  My mother and I are on the left side of the photo.  My brother is in the center.  My Aunt Katherine and my cousin Donna are on the right side.  The photo is taken in the front yard of my grandmother house.  Across the street (you can't see it) is the church where our parents were married and where we went to church.  Next to the church was the school where we attended just as our parents had done before us.

I remember many birthday parties, and family trips to the mountains together.  We picnicked  in the Garden of the Gods together, and scurried up the side of sandstone bluffs together on childhood picnics to Austin Bluffs.  We played for hours in the stream where we built dams when we went camping to our favorite camping spot in the Colorado Mountains.  We called this place, "The Green Spot."  Oh how we loved this idyllic spot where we slept under a beautiful canopy of a sky filled with millions of beautiful stars.  It was here where we tried to pick up the radio station KOMA 101 out of Oklahoma City from the car radio parked at our family camping spot when we were teenagers.

We spent endless summer days playing at our grandparents summer house in Victor, Colorado.  That was a magical place that fed our childhood play acting where we pretended to be pioneers.  All the cousins slept together in the back bedroom where we giggled ourselves to sleep at night.  Or, other times we would try to scare each other with ghost stories.

Other long summer afternoons were spent swinging on the front porch of her house watching the rain come down while we told stories or talked.  Other times, we would go to the library to check our beloved Little House on the Prairie books.  Or, we would play kick the can at night at my house.  Our summer night treats would be homemade root beer that my father would make.  He would bottle his root beer in old beer bottles.  We loved sitting on the front porch drinking from those bottles in hopes we would shock the neighbors!  Or, we would make ourselves wonderful root beer floats and decorate them with olives.  (Yuk!)  We even ate off the same cookie the day before she came down with the chicken pox.  For some reason, I didn't get sick.

When we were in junior high, we walked to school together.  Those were the days when girls wore bouffant skirts.  Our nylon net slips were starched in sugar water and layered under our full skirts.  We suffered for beauty's sake at school.  Those slips were scratchy!  Then, we'd slip them off and carry them home because we couldn't bear walking the long distance in those uncomfortable things.  Perhaps, we only did this once because when our mother's found out, we weren't allowed to do such a thing again.

We experimented with make up, drooled over Seventeen magazine's fashionable clothes, checked the top ten pop tunes every week, or watch American Bandstand together during our early teen years.  We wore our first formals together when we joined Rainbow Girls.

On the way home from junior high, there was a drugstore with an old-fashioned soda fountain.  We'd stop in there to buy a fountain made cherry coke on our home so we could ogle the handsome, soda jerk who had beautiful blue eyes as he prepared our drinks for us.  Later in life, my cousin took me to a pharmacy in town so I could see our childhood crush.  Now, a pharmacist, he was still working in a drug store, but I wondered what we had seen in him back then.

We went to kindergarten through ninth grade together.  We went to college together.  We married and both had five children.  In our early adult years we did not live near each other.  Nearly twenty-five years ago, I returned to Colorado Springs where she was still living.  She found me a house to live in just about a block from her house.  Our Uncle Charles was just a block away.  Our children went to school together.  Then she moved to Phoenix shortly after.

Now, we live near each other again.  We now do such things as talk about how to apply for medicare or adjust to retirement.  I guess you can say we've come full circle.  Only my mother and an aunt remain of the old guard.  All our aunts and uncles and grandparents are gone.  I think at this juncture in life,  we tend to treasure our cousins more than ever because they join us in keeping a part of our childhood alive.

Donna & Sally's First Family Christmas 1945

Donna is held by my Aunt Katherine and her father Uncle Don is holding Aunt K.  My grandmother is is beside my mother who holds me.  My Uncle Charles, home on leave from being a paratrooper in WWII, is holding his wife Betty.  In front are my Aunt Carolyn and Aunt Phyllis.  Phyllis is holding my brother Rell.  My father, serving in the Army and my Uncle Bob serving in the Marines, were not home on leave when the photo was taken.

A few years ago we went to San Diego together for a week.  We had such fun.  I'm so glad we did that.  New memories were made.  Just the two of us were able to have some new adventures and recall the old ones.

Donna and Sally San Diego

Donna, though technically a cousin, is not just a dear friend, she is like a sister to me.  She is now walking through the difficult task of helping to care for her daughter who is fighting a two-year long battle with melanoma.  She listens to me as I talk about my daughter's death and illness.  We are navigating difficult waters together.  We are in places we never could have imagined in our carefree childhoods, but I am grateful we forged those bonds long ago because they seem even more priceless than ever before as we get older.

Challenges of Motherhood

I hate the helpless feeling that I sometimes get as a mother and grandmother.  My children are grown.  That doesn't stop me from being a mom.  I hate feeling helpless when I know that my children are going through struggles.  I hate to hear that a grandchild has had a serious earache or a lingering cough or a high fever.  I hate to hear the voice of a child, who is an adult but still my child, who is sick and just not feeling up to snuff.

I hate to see what I consider to be bad choices being made.  I want to point out every pitfall that I see.  Yet, I don't want to encourage adult behavior that is more juvenile than adult.  After all, how did I learn?  I learned from my mistakes.

As a family, we've all been through so much emotionally.   I can barely handle it when my children also are physically ill with colds or the flu.  I think of those women during the flu epidemic who lost children, spouses or fought the flu themselves without antibiotics.  I marvel at their fortitude.  I wonder how I would have handled it.

I've often said that I tried to give my children roots and wings.  I have to admit that I have a very hard time with the wings bit.  I know that children must leave the nest and establish their own nests.  I celebrate that, but way down deep inside, I also have a very hard time not being a mother hen.

I used to joke that I wanted to hand in my mom badge.  I really don't feel that way.  I just wonder if a mom ever stops being a mom?  Is this a good thing, or is it really over the top to worry and feel helpless when we see our children suffer?

Life is real.  Sickness hits.  Serious illness causes great pain.  Divorce happens.  Financial problems can strike.  Jobs are lost.  This is all a part of life.  As a mom, I hope I have prepared all my children for the adversity they will face, but oh how I hate to watch it happen.  It makes me feel helpless.

I also know that they are capable and able to solve their own problems, seek their own medical care, and build their own support systems, make their own choices.  I am here for them, and they know it.  I know I also have to be careful not to be too much of a mom.  I sometimes have to step back in order not to cross the line and act like the mother hen that I am.  Do you ever struggle with this?

Best of Pueblo ~ Coyote Grille

The Nature Center

One of my favorite places to go has always been the Pueblo Raptor and Nature Center down by the Arkansas River.  I fell in love with The Nature Center when Jim and I were dating.  Early in our dating life, I was still living in Colorado Springs, when he took me for a romantic stroll along the Arkansas River one Sunday afternoon in late fall of 1991.  After our stroll, I remember sitting in the warm sun on a log under the beautiful gold colored cottonwood trees and watching people enjoy biking, running, and walking along the path next to the river.  In other spots, people were fishing either from the shore or in the river itself.   I found myself thinking, I like this place.  No, really, I love this place.  I can see me living in Pueblo and enjoying this setting for many years to come.

Now, the Nature Center just got better.  Have any of you been down to the cafe/restaurant since it is now under the management of Jim Beatty?  If not, you should enjoy a wonderful meal at Coyote Grille as soon you can.  I guarantee you will put it at the top of your list of "places to go" for good food, ambiance, and friendly service.  I don't want to sound like I work for Jim Beatty, or the Chamber of Commerce, but really, I just don't know where you can go for a better setting that offers fabulous than the Coyote Grille.

Jim Beatty

Chips & Salsa from Coyote Grille

Let me tell you just a little bit about the owner/operator of this venture first.  We were first introduced to Jim Beatty's food at a graduation party four or five years ago.  Actually, my husband Jim fell in love with Jim B's food when he first bit into a tortilla chip that he had dipped in amazing salsa.  Before long, he was also raving about the guacamole. Now in Pueblo, there are a lot of places to buy great chips and salsa, but in my husband's mind (and mine) you can't beat Jim Beatty's.  These chips are served hot and fresh and are made from homemade flour tortillas.  The salsa is also made from scratch.  I honestly don't know where you can get better chips and salsa.

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Jim Beatty's Catering Company

Classic Catering

Jim enjoying a taste of the good food

Jim serving food to the grandkids

When it became time to have Jim's retirement party, we decided to have Jim Beatty's catering company, Classic Catering,  cater the family party.  When you have a blended family of eight children, their spouses, and seventeen grandchildren, you cater.  Anyway, I do.

 The food that was served that day was a huge hit with everyone!  We were thrilled with the food, the cost and service.  All these things helped make our day special.  We didn't have to worry about anything except enjoying our family and celebrating the milestone of Jim's retirement.

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Coyote Grille

5220 Nature Center Rd.

Pueblo, CO 81003

We were thrilled when we heard that Jim Beatty had taken over the management of the Coyote Grille.  Yesterday, my husband suggested that we go to the Nature Center so we could check out Jim's new venture, eat some lunch, and go for a walk.  As soon as we arrived at my favorite dining location, I was excited to see so much life.  Folks were sitting outside on the patio of the cafe enjoying the sun, the view, and the food.  Many were dressed as if they had just stopped in to eat after a bike ride or a walk.  

  

After entering Coyote Grille, we noticed that a number of people were also enjoying their dining experience inside.  Once inside of the Grille, we saw friends and stopped to chat before selecting a perfectly situated table in front of the large windows.  This allowed us to feel connected to the patio and look out to the river.  This particular table was also placed next to the warm, inviting fire that was burning the southwestern style fireplace.  Talk about great ambiance!

We had a hard time selecting from the menu because there were so many delicious sounding items.

We both decided on the dish above.  This was no ordinary burger!  The meat was good, as good as I've ever had anywhere.  The bun is homemade.  The burger is topped with onions, Pueblo peppers, and cream cheese.  (I passed on the cream cheese.)  The chips are hand sliced and made fresh.  The side relish featured some sort of wonderful tasting pickled red onion.  (I think that is what it is.)  Just as we'd been warned by our friends who were eating there, we found the servings to be large.  We both ate every last bite despite the size!

Jim with the manager A former SHS student and daughter of a faculty member

We decided to go back to Coyote Grille for lunch today.  I didn't have a camera yesterday, and I wanted to get some pictures for my blog.  When I asked Jim Beatty if he minded if I wrote about his new venture in my blog, he said, "I'll have to think about that...for about two seconds. Yes, feel free to write away."  

While studying the menu yesterday, we both wanted to try the quiche and the three bean soup.  Guess what we ordered today?  Those who know me, know that my favorite place for quiche is at Wooglins in Colorado Springs.  I have long maintained that Wooglins has the best quiche around.  That is, until I tasted the quiche at Coyote Grille.  I now have a new favorite place for quiche.

Jim had the spinach quiche and the three bean soup.  I tasted it, and it was very good.  I had the green salad which was also very good.  The salad was set apart from ordinary green salads by the addition of those yummy red onions and rye bread croutons.  

If you are looking for a great spot for some delicious food, remember to stop by and see Jim Beatty and his great staff at Coyote Grille.  Tell him I sent you.

For my friends who don't live in Pueblo, I'm attaching some photos shot at the Nature Center and the cafe this past December when we took our international students there for a Christmas Party.  (The cafe was under different management then.)  I want you to see the setting that I enjoy so much.  As you can see it is dry in this part of the country, but I think it has its own unique beauty.

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Photo's of Previous Visits

Some of the international students, staff and tutors Nature Center - Arkansas River in background

International Program Christmas Lunch Nature Center - 2010

Jeanne & Sally in front of cafe at Nature Center

Wind swept xeriscape grass at the Nature Center Garden

Backside of Coyote Grille

Structure near Coyote Grille

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Bringing Home a Bit of Pueblo's Best

Coyote Grille

Before we left the Coyote Grille today, we bought a homemade cookie and a cherry turnover for our snack for this evening.  I think I'll go make a cup of tea for hubby and me and enjoy the treat we brought home.  

Civil Service Exams

Did you know there are books to study for everything these days?  My students want to study for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language).  They also want to read children's books in English to practice reading, so today I stopped by the local branch of the library to set up a visit for my class.

On my way into the building, I passed a woman walking out of the library with a pile of books that were study guides for the civil service exams.  I had no idea there were study guides for those exams.

I took the Federal Government Civil Service Exam in January of 1966.  I had just left college before completing my degree in teaching.  I needed a job.  Since we lived in a highly impacted Federal employment area, my father's assistant suggested that I go to the post office and sign up to take a civil service exam.  Desperate to get a good paying job in order to earn enough money to return to college, I took her advice.  I remember getting a notice that several registers were open for hiring, and those interested in getting a placement on the hiring register should report on a given date to the post office to take the exam.  I showed up for the exam without ever giving a thought about preparing to take it.  I don't even know if there were any sort of study guides back in those days.

I do remember that the test was given in a large room filled with people.  We were told that there were few slots available for jobs.  We were then told that our scores would be listed on the registers for those jobs that we qualified for that were available.  Hiring would be done according to score.  The highest scoring applicants would be called first.

A few weeks later, on February 14, 1966, I was called and asked to report to work for the IRS.  I had passed the test, and there was a position within the Internal Revenue Service in Ogden, Utah, where I was living at the time, that I qualified for.  I reported to work just as I was requested to do.  It took several days to sign papers and take some basic training before I actually found out where I would be assigned.

Then, exactly 45 years ago today, on February 16, 1966, I was finally working in my new department. I was assigned to work in the batching and receiving department.  It wasn't very glamorous.  In fact, I wonder why I had take an exam to get the job.  My title was:  numbering clerk.  Yes, I, and about four or five others,  had to stamp every page of every tax return that we received through the mail with a DLN (document locator number).  This was all done by hand!  And, we had to stamp a certain number an hour and batch them into batches to be sent to tax examiners.  I think we were working on stamping and batching 1040A forms on this particular day.

The job would have made a young girl who had a few years of college under her belt and a dream of being a teacher in her heart crazy except that on that particular day, all these years ago, a young, good-looking, charming, and funny guy was also hired to work beside me.  It turns out that we had tied for the top score on the exam.  We both had to be placed before any other additional hiring could be done.  Yep, we tied for first place on the civil service exam.

Six months later,  this same new hire became my first husband.  I guess it was fate that we both took the test on the same day, got the same score, and were hired on the same day.  If it were not fate, it at least makes a good story.

We both went on to leave the civil service world a few years later.  In time, we both became teachers.  We also gave birth to five very bright and beautiful children.  We had many good years together and some bad.  We later divorced.

Who could ever have known what would come from taking a civil service exam and scoring the exact same score as another person.  I wonder what would have happened if one of us would have studied.

Small Mementos

The time spent in my classroom teaching international students is truly priceless.  No price tag can be attached to the healing that I experience as I teach.  Even when I am teaching grammar, I am happy.  I get excited teaching such topics as the one we covered today:  past progressive.  I'm in my element when I do this.  I explain.  I draw charts to show the concept.  I give examples.  I ask for the students to give examples.  I wear myself out.  It feels good to teach again.

When I am teaching, I laugh a lot.  I listen to my students making their first few sentences in a classroom that is taught in a language that is not their first language.  I learn about their cultures.  I learn about each student as an individual.  I see growth.  I experience healing.

My mind is not on my loss.  My heart does not feel quite as broken.  I see the future that is in my students' eyes.  I am a part of something that is bigger than I and my sorrows.  It does feel good to teach again.

On a day like today, I leave my classroom feeling upbeat and happy.   I walk across campus to my car grateful for times of peace, joy, and accomplishment .  Our class had just had a small Valentine's Day Party.  As I walk to car,  I see a young mother approaching me.  She has her darling sleeping daughter in her arms.  The young toddler is dressed so cute in a little hat, coat and boots.  I wonder if she can even walk in those cute boots.  She seems so small.  Suddenly, I find I am weeping.  Babies still do that to me.

I think of my darling Julie.  I see her in her dressed in her cute little pink coat and her Raggedy Ann hat.  I see her impish little smile.  I think of how many nights I walked the floor with her because of her persistent earaches as a toddler.  I remember her finally falling asleep in my arms only to wake when I put her down because of the pain in her ears.  I remember what a sweet baby and child she was.  How could I have ever imagined that one day she would take her life.   She was a such a sweet, fun-filled, vibrant, loving child. I want to go back to those days when I could hold her in my arms and make whatever was bothering her all better.  I want to hold her.  I want to carry her.  I want to have her curly head tucked on my shoulder.

After the wave of sorrow washed over me today, I came home and made a hot cup of tea.  I drank the warm comforting brew from a tea cup that Julie gave me a number of years back.  I have not been able to use that cup since her death.  I have been afraid that I would somehow break it.

I've always loved that cup.  Julie knew that I like to drink my tea from china mugs.  She found the perfect one for me.  I always think of her when I use it.  After losing her, I just couldn't risk losing the cup that I loved using.  It is the special tea cup that she had picked out just for me.  Today, I knew I had to use this small memento.  It seemed that the only comforting thing I could do was drink some hot tea from the cup that had been a gift from Julie.

I brought the tea up to my study, settled into my favorite chair, and sipped the tea.  I looked at the rainbow rock that has always been on my reading table.  Julie painted the rock when she was about four or five years old.  She would paint rocks and try to sell them to the neighbors.  She gave her rainbow rock to me.  It has been one of my favorite treasures ever since.  It has always kept its place of honor beside my favorite chair that I have used for reading.  My Julie rock painted with rainbow colors always makes me smile.

My favorite family photos, books and keepsakes are found in my study.  That is where I also have my favorite chair.  This place is the place where I go for relaxation, reading, and reflection.

Julie smiles at me from the photo made on Amy's wedding day.  She smiles at me again from the photo of her, Amy and me that was taken just before a Christmas season parade in Lafayette, Colorado a number of years back.

I then looked at one of Julie's small wallet sized senior pictures.  The photo shows my dear eighteen year old Julie.  She looks so happy.  The truth is, by then she was already suffering from depression.  Usually she was the life of the party.  She had loads of friends who adored her.  She was successful in school.  She ran track and cross country.  She also was just beginning the long, difficult struggle with a disease that would haunt her until her death.

Not long after Julie's death, I decided to reframe this particular photo, one of several that were her senior pictures.  The old frame had become tarnished.  I found a frame that I thought the photo would fit.  It had hearts on it.  The photo was just a bit bigger than the frame, so I trimmed a small amount from each side.  That is when I noticed writing.  Quickly, I turned the photo over and realized she had written on the back.   She had written:

Mom,

This is one to show my happiness & I would like you

to show it to me when I'm down

to show me that a smile

lights the world.

Even though you make me feel better just being around.

Love,

Julie

Thankfully, I have these small mementos.  I can pick them up and remember the beautiful child that gave them to me.  I won't ever have new photos of Julie.  I won't ever receive another card with her sweet message written inside.  I won't ever be able to make it all better for her like I tried to do for so long.   I won't ever see that smile again, but I promise you, that beautiful smile did light up my world. 

All I have now, are those mementos, many photos, lots of cards, and my precious memories.

Weighty Issues

My weight is an issue.  I'm not terribly overweight, but I need to lose about 30 or 35 pounds.  My health is the issue here.  I recently learned that I am pre-diabetic.  Also, my BMI and my waist measurement is not within the healthy guidelines.  I would love to look better in my clothes.  I would love to wear a smaller size again.  I would love to get rid of my muffin top.  The bottom line is:  my weight is something I need to address seriously.

Weight was never an issue with me.  I had five children and always was down to my pre-pregnancy weight without even trying within six weeks after the birth of each child.  I guess in my twenties and thirties I was way too busy chasing toddlers, and carrying babies around in my arms to gain any weight.  I cooked heathy meals.  I grew much of our food, and I canned what I grew.  I made homemade wheat bread.  I was very conscious about feeding my family the required servings of fruit and vegetables every day.  We could not afford junk food.  We did not drink pop.  I never even gave weight gain a second thought.

When I went through a divorce in my late 30's, I was so upset by the divorce that I lost 14 pounds in 14 days.  I didn't have 14 pounds to lose at the time.  I simply was too upset to eat.  In the beginning couple of years of being a single mom, I was extremely thin.  I finally put on enough weight that I looked heathy, but thin, when I attended my 20th class reunion.  (I am the brunette on the left in this photo.)

For the next ten years or so, I never worried about weight.  I walked a great deal.  I went dancing.  I hiked occasionally.  I worked a full-time job, went to school full-time, and I was a single mom.  Who had time to worry about weight?

My sis and I went on a road trip to California when we were in our 40's.  We had great fun driving her husband's Jaguar from Colorado to California to visit our younger sister.  We could still turn some heads on that trip.  I kept telling my sister that it was the car that we were in.  Still, we looked pretty good, slim and trim, way into our 40's.  (Sis is on the left, and I am on the right in the photo.)

In my late 40's I married my wonderful husband.  All of a sudden a few things happened.  I developed thyroid problems, I started menopause,  I married Mr. Candy/Cookie King, and we began to eat out a lot.  I immediately gained 30 pounds.

About seven years ago, I joined Weight Watchers.  I successfully lost the 30 pounds and reached my goal weight.  Slowly the weight crept back on.  Even a few years ago, my weight was reasonable.  I wanted to get back to my WW goal, but I was not concerned about my health...yet.

Now, I am concerned.  The doctors say I really must lose the weight.  They are right.  I don't like not feeling good.  I don't want diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and all those other things that I am racing towards.  I want to be healthy more than I want to fit into those size 8 pants.  Ok, I really want to wear size 8 pants too!

DJan, a blogger friend, is writing about her goals to work on making a slight weight adjustment.  She's inspired me.  Now, I have made my decision public.  I hate that I have done this!  I will join the fight.  I will go back to Weight Watchers.  I know this works for me.  I will do it again.  Hold me accountable, please!