Post-Unicorn Cookie Bliss

1.11.2009

kissing ponies

Here is the "post" part:
Ed had to literally drag me out of the house today. Lazy crept into my psyche and body and completely took over the system.

It's a good thing I listen to Ed most of the time ... because today ended up being quite the satisfying and wonderful day out on the bike, out in January, out on singletrack, out feeling aLive in the body, out on the ponies!



We got a really late start to the day, seeing as we didn't crawl out of bed until an absurdly late hour in the morning. Ah-well. Such is life, eh?

Why were we so tired this morning? Well, I don't know about Ed, but as for myself:
The "Unicorn Cookie" part (look at the unicorn pix to understand):

THANK you, to the most inspired, inspiring, powerful and full-of-LIFE women I know. I'm lucky to be in your presence.

Sometimes I just wonder.....

And most of the time I just think: My girlfriends kick some serious bootay -- and I'm the luckiest woman on earth to be included in their fantastic world. Gratitude in inexplicable amounts.

Jj

What the?

What's this?



Why, it's a whole heard of Unicorns, running through my kitchen! Unicorn COOKIES that is!!

And, I know you're all wondering what Tonka is up to today. Ready? he's up to this:


Which leads to this:


Hope everyone is having a great day!

Jj

All BooBoo All The Time

I know you're all just dying to know how Tonka (aka BooBoo) spends his winter hours.

Are you ready for this?


His most common state of being. BooBoo says: "Shhhh. I'm sleeping. I can hear you taking pictures. Go AWAY!" ... as he SNORES.

And, apparently, he's moved IN... INTO my down coat!

BooBoo says: "It's MY HOUSE." He rarely leaves this space now ... in the down coat, next to the heater.... Is he COLD with all that fur he has on? I mean... really?

For pure entertainment purposes, he seems to like the Dryer -- after we've dried the clothing.

BooBoo says: "You turn this thing On and Off for a reason right?"
Is he trying to tell us something?

How about this?

He says: "Mom, you can't see me. I'm hiding in the box, sleeping. No, I didn't bust the seams of the box ... it came like that. Mom, you can't see me. Go away!"



BooBoo says: "I am a BIRD! I am a Magpie!! Ma, go away! I am a BIRD!"


BooBoo says: "I am the prince. Take more pictures of me."

And last but not least:
BooBoo says: "Look at me, I'm dancing! I'm flying! I'm dancing! Ma ... go away!"

There. BooBoo's world.

Jj

Days 15 and 16!

Day 15:
Many of you will be disappointed to know that I spent the 15th day of my vacation actually working, ALL DAY, from home... in my pj's, coffee in hand. After thinking about the deadline looming for Monday afternoon, I decided that I would have a better first day back at work if I could get a real handle on everything I needed to have done for my first day back. So, since it was bitter-ffin' cold and I was tired and slow and feeling very still inside, I just sat down and got at least 2 days worth of work DONE. And you know what, that was VERY satisfying.


The same mountains that I've been taking pictures of all week ... ghostly today, beautiful today.

So on to Day 16, the LAST day of vacation ... this vacation ;-)
Having sat at the desk all day yesterday, my last thought of the day as I started to fall asleep last night was this: "I want to get up in the morning, hopefully it's snowed a bunch, get on the bike and go bike to breakfast downtown Evergreen, then go to the bakery and be outside on the pony, in the cold and snow and whatever else the universe brings." That was my thought. And then I passed out cold.

So what did Ed and I do today?

Tonka wondering what he did in his previous life to be placed in a family like ours.

We got up, and it had snowed only an inch or so; it was bitter cold ... and we saddled up the ponies and rode to breakfast!


We took another route down into town, and ended up at the One World Cafe for breakfast! It was a bit of a cold ride down, and I certainly didn't wear the correct mittens.

Ed at breakfast, drinking coffee, discussing with me our plan for the ride after we eat... which was difficult, by the way, with a FULL belly.

After breakfast we kept on riding, uphill, away from home ;-) We explored a few more back-roads in hopes of finding the base/start of a long forgotten (never even used?) road that we happened to 'accidentally' stumble upon in the woods the other day. It shows up on maps (faintly), but the bottom of the road is a bit invisible.

See Ed ride the Pony. See, also, the saddle between the big mtn and the littler mtn? There is a Ghost Road (dirt and not maintained) in there --- that I WANT -- and I want to ride on it, and I want to know where it starts. We already know where it ends ... and I like it there!

So, up we went, in the freezing cold. We searched and explored and dead-ended ourselves on private property once again. ARGH! So we rode back home, up the hills, through the video store, through the liquor store (again) and back up the last hill, in the sunshine, to our home. And that was the last ride of my vacation.

Then I took a nap in front of the fire.

Jj
And the fire burns inside like never before.
See the Ghost Kitty and Ghost Jeny? It was a very mysteriously lit day.

Day 14!!

Well, my current thoughts sound like this: "I only have 2 more days left? I have to go into the o f f i c e (and actually hit a rather big deadline Monday afternoon) in 2 more days?" Oh-man.

So. In light of that thought (which I started to have this morning), Ed and I made the most of the brilliantly warm day, January 2, 2009.

One of the higher moments, both Inside MyMtbSelf and Out:

I'm noticing that truthfully, this mountain and it's surrounding grandeur are showing up in pretty much ALL of my pictures. Same set of massive objects and mind-blowing views ... different perspective each time. And, each time I think to myself: not a bad view to revisit on a daily basis. Not a bad view at all.


We started the day with an enormous breakfast. I will not go into details, but consider our adventures for the rest of the day an effort to compensate for that breakfast. It was LOVELY. (Super interesting stuff to read about, eh? I'm sure this is why you visit ;-0).

After brekki Ed and I scoped out previous exploratory routes in-around-through-above Evergreen proper, and decided upon ONE goal: to hook up: Home, Downtown, some random stupid-steep far-away roads, ONE PRIME PIECE OF UNmtbTRAVELED SINGLE TRACK, figure it out from there, then home from the other direction. One Big Loop.

CHECK. ;-) Done, and in spades, with very, very few pictures ... and I'm sure only a few seconds worth of "sneakyness"-attack.

Somewhere in the the first 1/3 of our exploration, we found (to our very deeply merry surprise), at the 'end' of an otherwise dirty and steep road, the following:

a.) COWGIRLS: hehehehe...... even SpaceCowgirls!!
b.) How many people do we know who would jump with glee and giddyness at such a sign? Oooohhhyeah....

While this lit me on absolute FIRE, we are till trying to figure out what, exactly, they were being so open to sharing. That said, it still allowed us to complete the Giant Hookup and we were blessed with some very, very special (all downhill) this:


and this:

Note: The single track was NOT right behind that lovely sign. There was some pretty confusing, sneaky, convoluted, typically EdandJeny-style MtbAction getting from there to there... but still: It's possible. And THAT made my day ;-)

The snow looks... soft and slippery. The cool thing was: it wasn't. It was tacky, and only in small sections. How odd!!! LOVELY little sneak attack to our day -- one of 3 ;-)

At the bottom of the Sneaky Trail, which I have now named Windless Cove, we bombed down to a familiar little town, and climbed our slow ponies up, up, up (passed by 4 roadies no less) to the top ... whereupon we snuck across the Big Road and delighted ourselves with another little dirty single track connector trail. Ohmygawd. It's just too perfect of a thing to do. No pictures, sorry.

Then the liquor store and the bike shop (just to say hi) on the way to our third little sneak attack (no pictures).... and then the climb home -- from the opposite direction from when we left.

Perfect.

All in all, it was just a LOVELY day to be outside wandering and exploring around in the sunshine and warmth ... in shorts. I think we hit a measly 23 miles, 3,500' up ... quite a bit of 'back roads', a solid amount of 'untraveled' old dirt roads, and a luscious amount of single track just as icing on the cake ... and in the middle of the cake ;-)

Siiiigggghhhh!!!!

Jj

Days 12 and 13 -- one big, long 2 days

Oohhhhboy.

Day 12, last day of 2008:
Nice, late sleep in (again).
Lovely breakfast.
Lots of kitty time.
Then...... ON with the riding clothes, saddle up the ponies, and off to the bakery!!!!!!! I simply cannot think of a better way to motivate myself to get on my bike when I am feeling lazy... riding to the bakery is just such a perfect crime ... since there is a significant amount of required climbing to get back up out of Evergreen and back up to the house. I swear... this might be my training regimen for this winter.

The view from the apex of the ride:


The view in the other direction (so beautiful):


Never mind that the bakery was actually CLOSED when we got there (ugh -- no UNICORN COOKIES!!!) ... we had to make do with another bakery that was slightly unsatisfying. The climb home was lovely, tho!

So, of course, this day was New Years EVE! So, what did we do for NYE? We went and hung out with the crew in Golden ... such a lovely evening, complete with missing dogs, ridiculous amounts of wine and scotch (ew), and delicious food. Pix of most of the crew here: (I somehow managed to fail to get a picture of Anthony, our gracious host and organizer)



Day 13, New Years Day!
I slept.
We hiked.
We talked.
Life is good and we're off to a good start for 2009.

Jj

Day 11!

What a wonderful day!

Nice, late sleep in.
Nice, late breakfast with Mom in Boulder.
A matineeeee at the big theater.
Cookies and Tea and a 15-minute nap.
And then... a little VELODROME action!!!!!!


pic courtesy of CYN!


Thank you mom and cyn for a wonderful day!

jj

Day 10!

Today...

Today was a Nap Day!

Below you will find random pix of the weekend in Aspen with our gracious and wonderful hosts, Eben, Jean, SkyBunny Captain of the Universe and Milo.

Thank you Jean and Eben!



jj

Days 8 and 9!!

Yesterday, day 8 ----- I think we went for a walllllkkkkk with the puppies.... We Went up to Ashcroft for a little recon.... We ate and drank and smiled a LOT.

Today, day 9 ----- Up in the morning ... a little indecision as to the what/when/where for the day, then OUT THE DOOR, blazing back up to Ashcroft. Jean and Eb were on the super-speedy nordic gear. Ed and I took our time on our full back-country gear ... and up we went.



However ... as we all know (and if 'we' don't, 'we' should), Avalanche conditions are high. Ed and I turned around early, and decided to work on a little transceiver practice in the basin. Jean and Eb continued up the skin path, dug a snow pit ... and confirmed the questionable nature of those early, deep layers (can we say S U G A R?).


ahhhh.... feeling right at home ;-)



2 of at least 10 slide paths from the last 2 days.


jj

days 5, 6 and 7!!

Slacker Poster, Jeny!

Day 5: spent the day casually breezing around Boulder with my mama... and enjoyed a LOVELY Christmas Eve present-session with my darling partner, Ed, in front of the Christmas tree. Dreamy.

Day 6, Christmas Day: We awoke to not-so-stellar snow reports. So, we stayed home and indulged in succulent coffee, breakfast, and more present sessions ;-) We then loaded the buggy and hauled our spoiled little selves to Aspen to visit Jean and Eben, and hopefully align ourselves with another 17+ inches of the BigWhiteFluffyStuff ;-). We spent a lovely night in a snow-pounded Glenwood Springs. We enjoyed a delightful and romantic Christmas dinner at a sweet little French restaurant in Glenwood.

From 12.26.2008

Day 7, today: Aspen Highlands reported 17 inches. By the time we got there (after meeting Jean and Eb at their place, and eating brekki, and bouncing off the walls), I think all those 17 inches were tracked out and gone by the time we got there.... Such a bummer.... BUT, we had a BLAST!

Photo credit to Ed, of course:-)

Now: Wine. Fire. Dogs. Jean. Eben. Sweetness and love all around.

Tomorrow: some pre-day skinning. Then, some major hiking in the Highlands bowl. One goal: complete and utter exhaustion. Period.

;-)


Jj

vacation day #4!!

Oh Holy WinterBliss!

Never, never in my life have I experienced this much SnowBliss, in quite this way:


Glory Be to the Snow Angles spreading blankets of WhiteFluffy all over our playground.

In this current moment, after all that WhiteWinterBliss, it is far easier to get into a tele-turn than it is to walk down even 2 steps in a stair case.

All is well in Vacation land. WhiteBliss has turned into ComaBliss. Thank you EdE and thank you PAPA for a wonderful day out playing like MAD in our crazy-little universe.

PS: Ed will post more pix soon

Jj
(frank, how's "killy" treatin' ya!?!?! ;-)

day #3!

OUUUCCHHHH.... I cannot walk. Tele-love (tele-skiing) is too much fun, and I am paying dearly for not primping (training) properly for it. One would think that MTB fitness would translate. But it really, truly doesn't. It's too bad ;-)

And, today is Ed's BIRTHDAY! Tonka loves Eds birthday because he gets to crawl into EVERY gift box to see which one fits the best. And which one fits my enormous kitty the best? The smallest box, of course!

And, we are prepping for what we hope to be a really, really, BigSoft day on the slopes tomorrow! Yea!!!

Jj

2nd day!

Ohmygoodness.

I'm so flippin' tired it's really not even funny!

Wonderful day in Vail. Juuuuussstttt spectacular.

jj

day #1!

Day One, and what did I do today?

So I completely woke up today with all the right energy, and the completely right attitude and motivation towards my 16 days of vacation. So, straight out of the luscious, sleepy basket, I completely prepped and made Beef Bourguignonne (made = prepped and in the pot for the next 9 hours). And, in the process, I whipped up some killer Portabello and Parmesan omelets. Gotta start vacation off right, right? Riiiiiigggghhht.

Then. Then I was required, by Universal Law, to listen to my inner yearnings (screamings), and go get a Christmas Tree. Yes. I did this. And you know what, Ed was a complete sweetheart about it. He placated my every Christmas Tree Whim, and we ended up with a beautiful, beautiful (if not slightly lop-sided) Christmas Tree. I didn't even know how badly I wanted one until I found myself literally BOUNDING off the ground with the energy of the whole ordeal. Goodness ... yes, lots and lots of goodness!!! Poor Ed. He maintained calm and stability the entire time. I am so impressed.

Behold, Christmas Tree #1 for Ed and Jeny (for Christmas #2;-):

This is the top 10th of our tree. Click the picture for more complete, and more detail photos ;-)

Then. Then it was nap time. Tonka did not disagree. Ed has, apparently, post pix of that.

THEN........ I was required, by Universal Law, to listen to my inner yearnings (flat-out-beltings), and HAD to go ride in my bike in the bitter-sweet cold.


While it was likely a balmy 20 degrees F outside (freezing windchill not included), I was still reluctant to leave the house without bundling up to an almost in-movable state;-) And, I was required, by Universal Law, to NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT MY CHRISTMAS BELL ON THE PONY! Yes, that was so, so sweet.

I must say that I did not ride a very long distance, and I did complete some christmas shopping along the way, but sheesh, all of the billions of hills I had to climb to get home had me in my little ring, spinning away in some desperately slow and depleted day. I really felt pathetic. But, more-so, I fell SO damn glad that I got out on the pony today.

And, I must admit this: the apex of my ride found me at the BAKERY (duuuhhh). And what did I find at the bakery today? I found UNICORN COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!! (ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmygod.)



Uhm... what happened after the bakery? I'm trying to remember...

OHYEAH!! I rode home. Uphill the whole way. S L O W L Y. I find this totally amusing.

Then home to my beautiful man, my beautiful Christmas Tree, our slightly-freaky Kitty... and FOOD. I think I made the best Mashers I've ever made! Yehaw!!!


The view from home sweet home.

And now, over many glasses of wine, I am prepped and stoked for tomorrows big adventure to Vail to ski some of the super-sweet white stuff.

That's it for day one ;-) As far as I know.

Jj

bbbrrrrrrrrr!!!!

Nice early-ish start today!!!

-1 to start, made it to 11,750'!

It was only warm enough going up hill. Going downhill ... I froze.

BURRR! I'm really, truly trying to get 'winterized'.

(click for more pix)


jj