Seasons Greetings Everyone!
12/04

Happy Holidays!

I wish you all a fantastic holiday season. And, here's the latest from my neck of the woods...Laura's turned into a nerd...glasses, scientists and the opera.

Work ­ I got a job! After two years without a full-time job-a little contracting here, a little substitute teaching there-I landed a job that still has me pinching myself.

I'm in the aerospace industry! Quite a launch from the natural products industry. On April 1st, I began working for the an edicational research facility. I'm the Webmaster, communications coordinator, and publication production manager for an international team of 32 scientists who developed one of the instruments on the Cassini spacecraft. I climbed on board at the perfect time; after seven years of cruising to Saturn, Cassini went into orbit on June 30th, so the good stuff starts now.

I work for one of the foremost experts on planetary rings, Larry Esposito. who even discovered Saturn's F ring. I've learned a lot. I'm helping Larry publish a book and I'm even acknowledged in a paper we just submitted to Science magazine for a special Cassini issue at the end of Jan. or early in Feb..

Everyone there is so nice. And, Larry's paying for me to get a certificate in Web design (I barely knew what I was doing when he hired me...still boggles the mind). As part of the university, there are great benefits including a retirement plan. I never thought I'd see one of those in my life. The pay isn't great, but I believe the opportunity for longevity is there. My boss has been there 27 years, and others 30 years and more! We have one main client, NASA, which in effect, is where my paycheck comes from. Check out our Web site (on back) Whew! Laura has landed.

So back to the filler work for a minute. I subbed mostly with special ed kids in elementary school and really enjoyed it. I also did some recipe development for White Wave's new meal-ready tofu products called Tofu Town. Boy, was I tired of tofu by the end of that. If you see the products in the stores, the recipes inside are mine.

Prior to arriving at Saturn, I helped John, my friend the dining critic from the Rocky Mt. News, produce his upcoming dining guide, to be published this fall. I enjoyed chatting with many of Denver's restaurant owners while I called to confirm details about hours, reservations, etc. I'm acknowledged in that publication too. Guess it was the year to get my name in print. (And, I'm supposed to be quoted in a food-trends article in December's Delicious Living (free at natural food stores).

Vacations and Trips ­ I was still on a tight budget this year, so I traveled very little. I did go home for the holidays, visiting Mom, my stepfather, Paul, and my brother, David in NY; then Dad and Armelde and the gang in CT. In NY, David and I drove up to my Mom's weekend house in Kent, CT. I had forgotten how much charm that historical old Colonial had. I saw some bear footprints in the snow by the outhouse as well as a bunch of antiques from my childhood inside. At Dad's, all we really did was cook and eat-bummer. We had goose, fois gras, lots of goodies from a huge Dean and Deluca shipment. We had a Revillon (a Canadian Christmas celebration), hosted a fancy holiday party, and had holiday dinner at Armelde's parents house. We drove into Queens, NY one day to spend some time with my great aunts Eve too.

Lisa and I did a local micro-vacation one day. We started with breakfast at the small, odd, Jefco airport in Broomfield, just to feel like we were going on vacation. Then we headed down to Colorado Springs, first stopping at the Air Force Academy to check out the famous chapel, then walk around a bit. We had lunch at Gertrude's in Old Colorado City and walked around that quaint shopping area. Afterwards, we went to one of the many tourist traps in town, the Cave of the Winds. And, last but not least, we stopped in Denver at Mao's for dinner (description later).

Georgina came out in June for Ray's raft trip. She rented a mustang convertible, and boy didn't we look good in it! As always, the raft trip was a blast. But, for the first time, I stayed in a cabin instead of a tent. Georgina twisted my arm...although not too hard. I can see doing that again. Our cabin was about five feet away from the Crystal River. And although it sounded like a washing machine all night, because we left the door open, I loved it.

I was truly disappointed that I missed Baya and Terry's wedding in Collioure, France, on the coast near Spain. But, I really wanted to get my finances back in order. At least I was able to celebrate with them back in Boulder in when they had a local party after the wedding.

Visitors ­ In January, Barbara flew out from Salt Lake for a long weekend. We went to a party for Peter's 45th birthday and invited her Dad and a few friends over one night for a cocktail party.

She came to Colorado again for another long weekend with the kids in July and stayed with her mother-in-law, Mabyn, in Golden. Barb and I went out to dinner Friday night in Denver. Then she and the kids drove up here on Saturday for an overnighter. Alison and James had a blast spending time with three adorable kittens that Susan was fostering for the Humane Society. Then, we went to the Pearl Street mall for lunch and walked around. Early the next morning, I woke Alison to take a walk with me and hangout with the hot air balloons (I'm under the flight path and close to the launch pad). Several landed across the street, so Alison was able to help pack up one of the balloons and carry the bag back to the truck.

Culture ­ Last December, Lisa took me to see an impressionists exhibit at the Denver Art Museum for my birthday. I was so excited because they had one of my all-time favorite paintings on display-Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party". If I was alive back then, and living in Paris, I would have been at that party in Chatou!

Judy and I went to see Firefall twice, both times at the Little Bear in Evergreen, the most fun bar in Colorado. I almost feel like a groupie. Remember their old songs? You are the Woman (that I've always dreamed of...), Just Remember I love You (and it will be all right...), Cinderella (can't you see...).

Now, here's where I get my operatic and classical culture...My next-door neighbor, Laima, is the marketing manager for CU's music department so she's given me tickets to a several shows: The operas The Turn of the Screw and Cosi fan Tutte; a few piano concerts; and an Evelyn Glennie concert, who I'd never heard of but she's a famous and amazing solo percussionist. I went to another CU opera In July, The HMS Pinnafore, with some co-workers. I think this is the most classical culture I've ever sucked up in one year.

I accidentally got to see an Otmar Leibert concert in July. Mozelle and I were passing the Boulder Theater when I stopped in to say "hi" to an old co-worker who now works at the ticket office. She gave us two free tickets, right up front.

In August, Jerome and I went to First Friday on Santa Fe Ave. in Denver. Every first friday of the month in Denver and Boulder, the art galleries open up for evening visitors. It was just like New Orleans with crowds walking up and down the street, in and out of doorways, with drinks in hand. Laura and I went to another art opening at a new museum in Longmont. And, the following weekend, Sue came down to do the related Open Studios tour. We usually do the Boulder tour, but this year decided to do Longmont's for something different.

In September, Susan and I went to a benefit for Boulder County Aids Project at the Boulder Dinner Theater. Lots of costumes and props for sale and a riotous evening of entertainment.

Parties and Holidays ­ Last holiday season started with Stephanie's cookie party, which was sweet as ever. Once again, Bruce did his Christgiving dinner in December. Then, I spent New Year's with Gye's husband Felipe's Mexican family again, which was a blast. Everyone dances and hugs at midnight, and is full of enthusiasm for the new year, much more-so than us gringos. Susan and Lonnie had their annual Valentines Day wine tasting, which was the beginning of my eyes' rebellion (more about this later). They also did Passover seder. Gye and Felipe had a housewarming shortly after moving into their new home in Frederick. There was a barbeque at my bosses house to celebrate Cassini's insertion into Saturn's orbit in June, where we imbibed in Cassini Martini's, which I invented for the occasion.

Lisa celebrated her birthday at Bradford's restaurant at Chautauqua and Mozelle celebrated hers at a great, out-of-the-way Mexican restaurant in Erie. John's 50th was a big bash at the Mason's lodge, and Bridgette's birthday was a "pimp and ho's" costume party. And, for Michael's, we indulged in my favorite-sushi.

In March, I invited a few friends over for a potluck to watch the video of the Food Network game show I was on last year. Mozelle's niece, Sarah, had her bat mitzvah at the Arvada Center, where I saw a number of old friends and Mozelle's family, who I've met throughout the years, I went to a fun party called a Hot Luck in July. Lots of spicy foods and drinks, but amazingly my mouth didn't burn. For the 4th of July, we started at Susan and Lonnie's then headed out to Longmont to watch the fireworks from Janet and David's RV, parked along the highway beside the fairgrounds....luxury accommodations, with our own bathroom. I didn't go to as many International Wine Society parties as usual, and the related dining parties seemed to have fizzled out. I did a break-the-fast dinner for Yom Kippur with Steph and Todd at a friend of theirs, Laurie's, house, and my neighbor, Laima, had two dinners to watch the first two presidential debates.

The best party ever was for Halloween! I had been wishy-washy all week, turning down invitations from friends to go to events at various places. I just wasn't in the mood (not like me), but I didn't want to pay for an event when I thought I'd be a bump on a log. Then, at the last minute, Janet got some tickets from a co-worker who couldn't go to this amazing party. Janet had been trying to get tickets to this thing for the last two years. The ad agency she works for designs the invitations. But although the tickets were free, they were as hard to come by as platinum. The party is hosted by the founder of Quark software. He printed 1500 tickets and spent $1 million on this party! It was held in a huge tent in the parking lot of Coors Field in Denver. Open bar, great food, Cirque du Soliel-style acrobatic performances, actors playing roles in the crowd, and decorations you wouldn't believe, based on the theme "fairy tales". Since the host is gay, there were tons of great looking men dressed in the most entertaining outfits-so many men, so few to date. He and his partner made a midnight grand entrance by flying in on a wire and landing in the middle of the dance floor, which was three times the size of my condo. No-one was allowed in without a costume and many were of professional theatrical quality. I could go on and on, but you get the picture. For an even better picture, you can check out the web site: www.hellywood.org. The next night, I got to relax with friends at Susan and Lonnie's Halloween dinner. Here it's quality not quantity. Only a few close friends, but boy does Susan go all out with the decorations and food!

In November, I went to my second Pie Night. For 25 years, a group of bluegrass musicians and NPR-types, keep up this delicious tradition at a local grange hall. Everyone brings a pie (savory or sweet), and after we're stuffed, the tables come down and the instruments come out. Good old fashioned fun. Later in November, I had my not-quite annual wine-tasting party. It's my opportunity to cook up a storm, and invite new and old friends to kick off the holiday season. This year, Thanksgiving was at Lisa's instead of John's. She put on a beautiful meal and I think John even enjoyed the reprive.

And, last night, I celebrated my birthday at what's become an annual tradition, the Sagittarius Ball. A dress-up party put on by a group of local sag's, with a band and hundreds of people. I invite whoever I want, we dance all night and someone else cleans up.

Other Fun Stuff ­ Pennie and I are in our second year of quarterly cooking adventures. In January we did Eastern European in honor of my heritage. We made a Latvian-inspired borscht, cholent (a Jewish stew with a history), and other interesting stuff. In April, Pennie wanted to find the perfect kabob recipe and technique. We did several variations, but the part of the meal I was most pleasantly surprised with was the spaghetti cooked in red wine. Very unique and almost addictive. In July, we did a Cuban dinner and in October, we did an Indonesian dinner, which ended up being one of our favorites so far.

I went out dancing for the first time in a long time, with Susan and Lonnie and other friends, to see a few local bands on "The Hill" (the college area) one night. I can't believe I used to do that several times a week in the old days. Gye and I did a hot springs afternoon in Idaho Springs one weekend, which I should do more often. I experienced the Colorado plains, when Lisa, Betsy and I went to an open house at Lasater Natural Beef Ranch near Limon in July. I drove my Subaru into a field full of huge bulls before I got a flat tire.

One of the most wonderful adventures of the year was celebrating Blue Moon Day (or Bloomoon Day as the girls are now calling it) on July 31st. Gye, Susan, Lisa, Leslie and Janet and I celebrated the second full moon in a month by doing things we've never done before, or only do "once in a blue moon". We did so many things, but here are the highlights: We filled my talking fireman cookie jar with Oreos and brought them to the Longmont fire station and offered some to the firefighters. They thought we were crazy, but got a real kick out of it. From that point on, the cookie jar, "Chief", became the mascot for our escapades. We took him to the Sweatsville Zoo in Fort Collins, which is a landscape of the most amazing collection of animals and other characters made out of scrap metal-so unique! On the way back to Boulder, we stopped at a big cemetery and ran through some huge sprinklers over and over until we were drenched. After that, we snuck into a virtually unknown, hidden, private, overgrown cemetery on top of a butte in Boulder that used to be an old Indian burial ground. Janet thought she had relatives buried there, and we looked around, but no luck. That evening, we went to Chautauqua to hear the Indigo Girls concert at the historic, round, wooden auditorium. It gets so hot in there during the summer that they lift up the panels on the sides and you can see and hear the concerts. It's become a Boulder tradition for people to sit on the grass around the building, bring wine and munchies and listen to concerts for free. And in the end, a few of us die-hards finished the night with a moonlight hike by a lake.

A rundown on a few other fun days: In mid-August, I joined the Colorado Mycological Society so I could learn to forage for porcini mushrooms. I went on a foray with them, but it was a bad year. Maybe next year. Also, that month, I went Jeeping with Janet, in the foothills of Boulder. Come September, I went to Lyons with Gye and Felipe for her birthday to hear one of her favorite local bands.

I'm still doing restaurant reviews with John and the Rocky Mt. News. This year, we may have been the cause of a longtime Denver restaurant closing. Although around forever, Jospephina's was awful! He gave them the worst grade ever. Among the 18 reviews I did, a few stand out: a really wild breakfast/lunch place called Bump and Grind, where you're served by men in drag and customers can put on funny hats. And, believe it or not, the food is really good and creative. We went to Mao, which has spectacular lighting with colors that change very slowly; some in the ceilings, and more in backlit marble tabletops and wall slabs. Another great find was Zengo, an Asian/South American fusion spot with lots of small plates and a large selection of creative seafood. And one of my favorites was Rioja, opened by a chef from another place I loved.

Sports and The Like ­ I only did a few hikes, including Apex Mountain in Golden with Janet in late September. I was a real lazy bum this year. Didn't ski again either. After watching the Olympics, I got inspired to get my splits back, and have been stretching and attempting splits ever since. Not quite there yet, but close.

Volunteering ­ My Slow Food group did an open house in January. We're still teaching the Cultiva kids how to cook. They are high-school-age kids who learn how to garden then sell their harvest at the farmer's market. We teach them to cook what they grow. This year we enlisted local chefs to help out. There was also a tea tasting, another cheese and wine tasting at Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy and our second annual heritage turkey tasting before Thanksgiving. We had a few dinners with some restaurateurs who really know food and wine. The master sommelier, a chef, and another kitchen staff member from The French Laundry opened a restaurant here in Boulder. The French Laundry, in Napa Valley, is considered to be one of-if not the-best restaurant in the country. While waiting to find their own space, they worked at a friend's restaurant, Mateo, where they put on two amazing dinners for Slow. I can't wait to check out their new restaurant, Frasca. I think we're doing a review in January.

The Taste of the Nation benefit in was in May. I can't believe I've been doing this for 13 years! I organized an on-air promotion with a chef at 9News again before the event and ended up in front of the camera this time. No problem, it was fun. This year I brought Celebrity Chefs on board. I invited nine local celebrities (TV news anchors, Radio DJs, Mayors and sports figures) to come stand with their favorite restaurant and help serve guests, and mingle.

I visited Rocky Mountain Wildlife Conservation Center in the spring and fall, bringing new friends who I hope someday may help support the lions, tigers and bears and more. And, last, but not least, I was a pie judge one day at the Boulder Farmer's Market to benefit September School.

Etc. ­ Susan and I went to an all-day, intensive, dog and cat first aid course at CSU. Among other things, I confirmed that not only is chocolate poisonous for dogs and cats, but learned onions and garlic are also (for dogs) and some natural remedies we wouldn't even think of being harmful, like tea tree oil, can be deadly.

Homeowners woes: Murphy's Law had my dryer break within six months of my washer while I was still out of work. Thankfully, it was after I got the job that there was a leak in my rental unit, damaging the unit below. And, I just decided to replace my 1988 water heater before it burst. I hope that's it for a while.

On the sadder side, a friend, Lou, passed away, and other friends family members have been getting sick or have died. I don't like this getting old stuff. I've been pretty healthy except two bouts of asthma-complicated bronchitis, one where I got so sick that I drove myself to the emergency room for an asthma attack two days after I started my new job...But, I didn't miss a day of work!

OK, so you want to know about the glasses? On Valentines Day I wore some old green contacts which was the catalyst for a condition called SLK (for short). I went to the eye doctor at least six times and exchanged glasses at least three. In my case, contacts aggravate the condition that will come-and-go throughout my life. There's no cure, but it doesn't make you blind either. Just gives you red, sore eyes, and a little blurred vision. So, I wear glasses most of the time, and only break out the contacts on special occasions. I think I got the job with the scientists because it was the first time I wore glasses to an interview.

Well, that's it for 2004. Cheers to a happy and healthy 2005!

Warmest wishes,

Laura