Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Holiday Houseguests

Most of you know that I have been playing host this holiday season. My family was generous and loving enough to visit me up in cold Colorado while I work through Christmas week. My sister came out on the 19th and spent a week here.

She really is one of my best friends...I love spending time with her. Many times we found ourselves laughing so hard we were crying. I got her up on the mountain, not that I saw proof of that. She had some major pain from her ski boots, so I never actually go to ski with her. She might try it again some day, but I must say I am not holding my breath. She was my only hope of familial skiing fun, but what can you do? She did end up loving snowshoeing though. That is also another sport I will be taking up (since I got a pair of snowshoes for Christmas!), so we can bond over that instead!

We ate at some great restaurants and some not so great ones. But at least I got to hit the town with her. We went to the Tennessee Pass Cookhouse for dinner and an adventure one night. It is about 45 minutes from home and is in the middle of the mountains...in other words, in the middle of nowhere. You get your snowshoes or your cross country skis and you set out for the yurt (a nice big tent in the middle of the woods). It was about a one-mile climb to get there. No electricity or running water (yup, outhouses are available for your convenience!). The atmosphere might be more rustic, but the food is far from it. Very tasty and unique! My sis and I had elk with a blueberry sage sauce...yummy! After the 4 course meal, you strap on the snowshoes again and hike it back to your car. It really is a great time and amazing food.

My parents were supposed to come in last Thursday, but if you hadn't heard (yeah, right!), there was a little blizzard that hit Denver. So, their flights were cancelled and then were rebooked to come in Christmas Eve evening. My sis and had some more quality time together before they came, but were glad to see the parentals on Sunday night. We had a great Christmas. I spent the majority of it in the kitchen (shocker!) and then had to work that night. The fam came to the show and they loved the Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats. I was just looking forward to my bed at the end of that one! I am very grateful that I wasn't alone for the holiday!

My parents are still in town and we are just having some quiet time at home and my parents coming to our shows at night. We did have a little adventure when my mom tripped and fell in my condo and needed to get 5 stitches in her chin. Never a dull moment at my house! And the leftovers...oh my. I went from having only one small shelf in a side-by-side refrigerator to a full fridge and let me tell you, not a single bit of shelf space is not being used right now. I really need to keep my cooking in check! Ok, most of you don't complain about the cheesecake or the holiday candies that are in the fridge right now...but yeah, need to cut down!

I am really looking forward to a bit of respite next week. I am flying back to the DC area on Sunday for some rest and relaxation and some friend time. I am getting a bit lonely (minus the company which I have had my fair share of, really!), so I want to be amongst friends for a few days. I really am quite lucky with the visitors and I get another in January when my friend Dave is up here with friends for a ski vacation!

Hope everyone else's holiday season has been merry and bright...I love being where it actually looks and feels like Christmas...I even saw reindeer on Christmas Eve...who else can say that?!

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