Happy Holidays from the Foothills of the Rockies
12/01

I hope the this holiday season finds you and your family and friends well and safe. With all that's gone on this year, I'm feeling very sentimental this holiday season and wish I could spend some quality time with all my distant friends, and do some old-fashioned, authentic visiting. A form letter's no substitute, but must do for now. You never know who I'll get to visit this coming year?

Other than the national challenges, 2001 has been more upbeat, and includes one big change for the better.

Work ­ It's finally over. I was laid off from the natural products industry publisher/trade show producer in February. It was a shock, but took me about five minutes to get used to the idea when they said they'd give me six months severance-yippee! I took three months off, did very little, and loved it. I had only sent out one resume when I spoke to a friend in PR who said her new company could use help two days a week, with potential to go full time in August. Sounded perfect-more long weekends and a job waiting at the end. Well, I am now a full time member of the small PR/Marketing firm. I'll never have such an easy job transition again. And even better, I focus on food accounts. Lately, I've even been doing recipe development and testing with a client, who plans to be the new "Healthy Choice" of organic foods.

Vacations and Trips ­ I went home last year for the holidays. As well as spending quality time with the families, I got to see my earliest childhood friend, Lisa and drove into Queens to see my great aunt, Eve. Of course, I spent a day eating my way around Little Italy and Chinatown (even trying a plate full of duck tounges...I've always had an adventurous palette.)

But, this year I chickened out and I'm not going back East. In October, when my company made vacation plans, I wasn't quite ready to see NY or fly into the city during the holidays. I feel a little guilty now, but I'll enjoy the holidays here and will spend them with my two "surrogate" families: John, Betsy and Lisa; and Susan and Lonnie and their gang.

I didn't have any big vacations this year either, just little ones.

In January, a few of us went to Peter's ranch in Glenwood for a snowmobiling weekend. What fun. I hadn't done that in over 20 years. I got the darn thing stuck several times. Thank goodness for big, strong men.

Since I was laid off, I didn't make the trade shows in Anaheim and Baltimore this year. But, because I'm still in the industry, I should start going again next year, this time as an attendee, not a host.

In March, I went to Salt Lake City to visit Barbara. This time I drove, since I had all the time in the world. We went to a University of Utah gymnastic meet (shades of my childhood acrobatic days.) We also went to the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge in Park City to watch dog sledding and pet puppies. We also skied Alta one day, but bugged out early and went to the spa at Snowbird-much more my speed lately. Then there was the World Cup Speed Skating championships in the new Olympic Oval stadium...we saw a few world records broken and watched folks who will be in the Olympics next February. Speaking of that, I'm going! I've got tickets for a men's hockey playoff. I'm a little nervous about flying and being at a large event, but I'm going to enjoy it fully. I may get to go to some other events too, but we'll see.

I took a mini-vacation with Lisa at Cottonwood Hot Springs one winter weekend and spent a few weekends with Stephanie and Todd at their cabin in Grand Lake-where I want to build a log cabin someday.

Finally! Ray's raft trip was resurrected with a vengeance. Ray is healthy again and put together a doozie after a two year hiatus. There were about 100 people and it was a blast. We had most of the campground, perfect weather, great gourmet BBQ's, and too much fun on the Colorado River. Huge water fights, tube running and tube stands (you've got to experience it to understand it). Ray even let me guide the raft for a little while. I went to Santa Fe and Taos with a man I was dating in July. He had never been there, so we did typical tourist things. We shopped, gallery-hopped, enjoyed the marvelous food and even had time to visit with my friend's Linda and Norm.

In August I flew home for my step sister, Jennifer's, wedding. We had a casual rehearsal dinner, a clam and lobster bake dinner, enjoyed a very beautiful wedding and great reception, and had a big brunch the day after.

Once again, in August, I helped Peter and Kathe cook for their fourth annual ranch party at his family's place in Glenwood Springs. This year there were about 90 people, staying on the ranch and at nearby hotels and B&B's. The weekend was filled with food, fun, walks and the traditional Saturday night BBQ, up the mountain at the caretaker's log cabin. Fun as always.

In October, I took a business trip to a little town in Iowa to produce an open house event for a new baking plant for a Boulder organic bakery. I'd never been to the heartland, and found it lovely...I even saw real, multicolored foliage for the first time in 20 years (we only get yellow out here with the aspen's)

My friend, Donna, from CT, came out to celebrate our birthdays together in Steamboat Springs last week (hers is the day after mine). We skied in powder; swam around Strawberry Hot Springs-outside, at night, in the surrealistic misty darkness; bought ourselves birthday gifts and ate several expensive, wonderful dinners. We finished our celebrating at a Moroccan restaurant in Boulder the night before she left.

Visitors ­ My brother, David, came out to visit in May. We went to the zoo, stopped at the llama farm, and went to the local goat cheese dairy to see some day-old baby goats-how cute!

My friend, Susie visited from Hawaii. She used to live here, so we went to some old haunts as well as some new ones. We drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park and explored Grand Lake.

Culture ­ This year, I saw even fewer concerts than last. I enjoyed David Wilcox at E-Town, the local radio show, recorded live and aired around the US. Then saw the resurrection of an old Boulder group, Dusty Drapes and the Dusters, accompanied by a film about the Boulder music scene over the last 30 years. That brought back memories (foggy ones) from my partying days in the early 80's. In October, I went to a Michael Tomlinson concert-his music is so grounding and inspiring it was the perfect breather after the sadness of September.

I took Lisa to the local aquarium for her birthday...imagine that, an aquarium at 5280' altitude with no water in sight. She and I also went to Denver's first Dragon Festival, where teams race dragon boats around a lake and celebrate Asian culture. It was unique and refreshing.

I got my theater fix at the Denver production of the Broadway play Contact in October. Very entertaining, and the dance was great.

Parties and Holidays ­ The first big party was New Year's Eve; and was it fun! Since Denver cancelled it's 2000 celebration, they decided to make up for it for 2001 with a huge fireworks display off the tall downtown buildings. I rented a hotel room with a view of the clock tower at the center of the display. I was so excited to get the room, I forgot that my flight from NY arrived the evening of December 31st. So, I had a few friends check in and set up for the party and invited a bunch of others. I prayed my flight got in on time. Well, I missed my connecting flight but in the end, I got to the room at 11:40 p.m., with 20 minutes to spare! I jumped up and down on the bed, grabbed some champagne, screamed out the window then and headed down into the crowds with my friends. What a blast-literally.

Susan and Loni had several parties including a Superbowl party; a Valentines day party, Passover and Rosh Hashana dinners; a birthday party for Loni; a summer BBQ for Susan's birthday; and a summer blast for their 10th anniversary. I had two wine tastings parties this year-one in February and another in November for the 20th anniversary of my living in Boulder. (Wow, can you believe it's been that long?!) Christiann had a 50th birthday party, there were a couple parties at Marty's (I'm a poet) and I went to Red Wine Monday a few times. My friend, Leslie, put on a 50th birthday party for one of our ex-coworkers, Art. And a friend of John's, Roma, who's from India and a wonderful cook and farmer, had a pig roast.

In October, I went to Denver to celebrate my step-niece, Alexis's, first birthday. Her Korean grandmother hosted the event and cooked up a huge feast. Lexi was adorable in her traditional Korean celebration costume. It was nice to see my ex-stepmother-and also her ex-husband (Hugh's dad)-after many years.

A group of girls, who I worked with, had a party in October to celebrate the fact that we didn't work there anymore and weren't at the trade show.

Halloween was at the Elks Lodge and it was pretty empty, probably because people were hunkering down and partying less. I went home early too.

I enjoyed another delicious Thanksgiving with John's family. A dozen neighbors came to the door with bells, drums and costumes and walked around our dinner table to bless it...only in Boulder.

Last Sunday, I went to a "Christgiving" dinner at Bruce's, to celebrate the in-between weeks.

Other Fun Events ­ I made it to Kinetics this year, finally. First, Susan and Loni had a champagne-with-sherbet brunch, then we all walked over to the reservoir to watch the hordes of people watch the home-built crafts move across land, water and mud, powered by groups of costumed crazies.

Food events included: a Chef's Collaborative dinner in Denver (a group of food pros that support sustainable agriculture and organics); a "Star Chef's" benefit dinner in Denver; and a benefit dinner for our local public radio station at John's house with dessert at Chautatuqua, a local gathering place.

I went out dancing with friends a few times, including a disco night when we all dressed up.

In April, I attended a few sessions at the World Affairs Conference at the CU. Speakers from all over the world, and from all disciplines, come to speak for the week-long event. I went to "Origins of Creative Thought", a Jazz concert with the Brubecks, a screenwriting symposium, and a screening and discussion of the movie "Fight Club" hosted by Roger Ebert.

I spent Fourth of July, with a date, up at my friend Peter's property, overlooking Boulder and the Front Range. We enjoyed a view of about 12 different fireworks displays up and down the valley.

There were a couple festivals: The Greek festival in Denver, with good food and retsina wine; The Taste of Colorado festival where we ate and shopped our way through the crowds-I met Wolfgang Puck (for the second time) and saw The Fix play many oldies that I forgot about; I also made it to Boulder's annual Creek Festival.

On September 8th, I went to Loni's daughter's wedding. She got married up on Flagstaff Mountain at the outdoor amphitheater, overlooking Boulder. During the ceremony, it started to snow!

In November I subjected myself to The Worlds Largest Office Party, a kind of singles extravaganza in Denver. I felt old, but had fun getting my palm read and running into a guy I dated about 16 years ago.

On November 18th, at 2:00 a.m., I drove out to the plains with Gye and her family to watch the Leonids meteor shower. We counted 700 in two hours!!! It was incredible. I've never seen anything like that and don't expect to again. A few weeks later, I saw a fireball of Russian space junk turn green and fall toward earth.

I continue to be the luckiest foodie on earth and join my friend the restaurant critic on reviews for the local Denver paper. I love getting to know new restaurants, trying lots of items, and having it paid for by Scripps-Howard. I even enjoy following-up with feedback and sometimes getting quoted. I've savored 12 restaurants so far this year.

Sports and The Like ­ I skied in Salt Lake for the first time in three years this March...I wasn't a happy camper either. But last week in Steamboat, I did have fun. So maybe I'm back on the horse. I tried working out again, for about three months, at a small woman's gym-Ha! In April, I went to the driving range with Lisa and got another golf injury. And during the summer I spent an evening with Susan, Loni, Meghan and Rod and a few others "sailing" on their canopy party boat at the Boulder Reservoir.

Volunteering ­ I did the Taste of the Nation Benefit again last year to raise money for the hungry, chairing the restaurant committee and organizing the chefs. We lost our chairperson, so there's some doubt whether it will happen this year.

The Slow Food group I belong to (a movement out of Italy) had a few events this year, and the new Denver group is hopping and includes us Boulder folks in their events. I put on a honey-tasting and mead-tasting picnic. Also, there have been a few dinners at restaurants and a couple ranch picnics. My friend, James the chef, is taking over the Boulder group, with me as a sidekick, and we hope to breathe some more life into the group. To see if there's a Slow Food convivia (group) in your area go to www.slowfood.com.

Etc. ­ Chef James and I have explored some of Denver's gourmet stores. He's also had some nice dinners at his place. I also took a couple cooking classes at the local culinary school.

I made my almost annual trek to Mile High Flea Market and spent a day in Ft. Collins with my old high-school buddy, Sue.

I'm not going to say much about the weeks after September 11th, or what I felt during that time, except to say that there were a handful of friends in NY and DC (you know who you are) that I was worried about...and I was thrilled to find out you were all OK!

My new cat, Coal, is the most lovable, friendly pet in the world. He comes out at parties and everyone loves him. I take him for walks on a leash too. He's quite the perfect pet. However, I'm cursed with expensive vet bills again. Eight months after adopting him, I found out he had a diaphragmatic hernia. That means most of his organs had slipped through a hole in his diaphragm and were in his chest pressing against his lungs and heart. A fatal condition...just a matter of time. He had probably been hit by a car before I adopted him.

Back to the CSU veterinary training hospital in Fort Collins. $1,500 later, I had a healthy cat. It was risky (my vet down here didn't want to attempt it) but those guys up there are miracle workers. Then, this fall he had a urinary blockage (common in young male cats), and my vet gave me a quote of $1,700 and said he'd have to stay three days! (I've must find a new vet.) But since I have the perfect cat, he peed before I left, unblocking himself, and I got to take him home for only $300-that sure was a valuable pee. He's worth every dime.

Coal had a buddy for a month, when my upstairs neighbor, Mike, moved and couldn't have his cat, Jake, at his interim place. Jake looks exactly like Coal. One minute they were chasing each other and fighting, the next they were sleeping side-by side.

I had a few homeowner challenges this year. The tile in the tub of my rental fell off and we found some very soggy drywall behind it. Luckily, my ex-neighbor, Mike, felt he owed me for taking care of Jake, and did the labor for free. Later in the year, my washing machine valve corroded and flooded some of the stuff stored in my garage loft. I was very lucky no-one lives below me and it was only my own stuff that got damaged. So, now that we're down to the really boring stuff ...

That's all for 2001. If you get a chance, I'd love to hear how things are going for you too.

Warmest Wishes,

Laura