Wedding!

Well, Aaron and Laura are hitched. And they sure picked a lovely day to get that way!

We started off the day with a walk to Huckleberry, a great restaurant near Patrick's. After a leisurely breakfast, it was time to say our goodbyes to Jonathan. :( Kim took him to the airport and seven of us


took a hike up bear canyon. The morning started out misty and cool, so we slowly got to see more and more of the world around us as the fog drifted away. Catching up, exploring around, enjoying the beauty, and avoiding poison ivy - what could be better? Then it was time to get back and cleaned up and take off for the wedding.



They got married at a country club and the reception was there as well. And man was it lovely! The ceremony was simple and meaningful, and you could tell people were just happy for and with them. The weather couldn't have been better, and (at least from my perspective) there didn't seem to be anything that could have gone better. Hooray! (in picture: Terry, me, Patrick, and Kim)


And now, I'm on a plane headed back for Appleton. Aaron and Laura - so gosh-awfully nice of you to give such a lovely occasion for so much fun!

Birthday fun and friend convergence

Today was the day to turn our thoughts back toward the front range where the wedding festivities and our friends would be converging in a whirlwind of fun, catching up, and just plain ol' celebration.

But first, it was Sharon's birthday! We had a lovely breakfast of blueberry pancakes and grilled sausage (yum!) and headed to the hot springs for the morning. Tom engineered a pool in the side of the river that received just the right combination of frigid water from the river and scalding water from the hot springs. The five of us lounged there till the brightness of the sun drove us to the deck chairs where we munched birthday cake and sang "happy birthday" to Sharon. Then, after many "thank you"s, we bid them farewell and headed to Golden.

Golden saw the reunion of such far-flung friends as Patrick (Lewisville, CO), Kim (New York), Justin and Michelle (San Francisco), and Terry (Appleton). With Jonathan bring from Pasadena, CA and Tom from Raleigh, it felt like quite the long overdue convergence. We hung out, playing games, catching up, and later met up with Laura and Aaron for a bit.
After that, we piled in cars and headed to Patrick's place. He has a new Maine Coon kitten, Sam, so we talked and played with him till exhaustion won out and we called it a day. Well, most of us did. Michelle's flight had been scheduled to land at 10:00 pm, but was delayed by weather until 2:00 am Sat! Boo! So Justin hung out with us and then headed straight to the airport to pick her up. Jeepers!

Top of the world

Remember my mention of 14ers in my previous post? Well, today we made it to the top of one of the tallest peaks in the Rockies!


Here is Jonathan's account:
The day started with breakfast at Rick and Sharon's house, a delicious power smoothie, coffee, and granola. We sat in the morning sunshine, chatted cheerily, and enjoyed the broad view of the Colorado plains before us, the mighty mountains rising in the near distance. Then we piled into a red Jeep and headed toward Mt. Antero, drawn by that instinctive need to climb, conquer, and surmount!

The road led us into San Isabel National Forest, and then turned to gravel. After driving a while, Paul (Rick and Sharon's mountaineering friend who owned the Jeep) made a sharp turn from the relatively smooth dirt road onto Baldwin Gulch, a rock-strewn path that immediately launched us into the air and continued jolting us along for the next hour as the Jeep slowly crawled its way up the mountain. Paul must have seen a bit of consternation on our faces, because he assured us that Baldwin Gulch was practically a "highway" compared to the some of the tougher trails that the Jeep had handled in the past (although he did mention ripping loose an engine mount that time). And indeed, the Jeep handled the road just fine.


The scenery along the way was incredible. For a brief few days each year, Colorado's famous aspens salute the autumn with a brilliant golden show, and our trip happily coincided with this magnificent display.
(end Jonathan narrative)

We spent maybe a half hour at the top, taking pictures and absorbing the view. Then we climbed back down, hopped back into the Jeep, and jolted our way back down the mountain. After a brief detour in a ghost town, we landed in Coyote Grill in Buena Vista for Mexican food and great conversation. The evening wrapped up with Tom playing piano and a picture show for Sharon of the photos we'd captured from the day.

The Wards

Good evening from Buena Vista. I am delighted to report that Jonathan, Tom, and I are quite happily installed at the home of some friends that used to live in Appleton, Rick and Sharon. They moved here about a year ago, so it has been just great to catch up, explore their home and town a bit, and eat great food! We have some fantastic pictures of the aspens and the surrounding mountains - and others of the town and of our prowls therein, but unfortunately most of those pictures are on Tom's and Jonathan's SLR cameras, which I can't upload to my iPad. This picture will hopefully give you at least somewhat of an idea of what we're raving about as we drive and look out the windows here. I caught this one from my Blackberry when we stopped for Jonathan to give Tom a photography lesson on the way up here.


Highlights:
- lunch
- wandering around (and in!) the Arkansas River, a world class whitewater kayaking site
- wandering around Buena Vista - some trust fund kids are basically building a town and it's fascinating
- checking out a pottery shop and playing on some rock climbing structures they have in a park here
- having pretzels and drinks at the Eddy Line, a local restaurant
- dinner
- dinner conversation about future and finances
- they have a grand piano, so getting to hear Tom play
- learning to play Farkle. Except that Jonathan won both games...

We wound up the evening with some nice conversation and some planning for tomorrow's adventures - wait till you hear about them!

Mixing it up

14ers in Colorado are a big deal. There are 54 mountains in the state that rise above 14,000 feet, and folks here make it a goal to hike up all of them. We decided it would be fun to check one of them out, and thought why not try taking a train to do so?! The cog railway takes an hour and a half to climb from Colorado Springs to Pike's Peak at 14,110 feet above sea level.

We were given all sorts of information on the way up.

What Tom thought was interesting: that the reason for the cogs is to allow the train to climb a steeper grade - in this case up to 25% - where a grade of 2% is considered steep for a normal railroad.

What Linda thought was interesting: the house of the folks who live way up the mountain and who manage the water supply for the city of Colorado Springs. They live 17 miles from their mailbox and it takes them roughly an hour to get down into the Springs.

What Angela thought was interesting: there are a bunch of Bristlecone Pines on the way up, one of which is over 1000 years old, and another of which is over 2000 years old. Ok, so it isn't the most beautiful thing in the world, but man is it impressive!

The views from the top of the peak were simply fantastic, so the time until we were to re-board the train just flew. Once at the bottom, there was just time for a quick DQ stop before taking Linda to the airport. We bid her farewell and then Tom and I went our separate ways: he to meet up with his cousin Angie for dinner, and me to meet up with a high school friend Shane and his wife Jana for Cuban. Then Tom and I met up again and took off for the airport to pick up Jonathan, who got in from California around 11. A crazy day, but quite lovely!

Revenge of the badlands

Just to reassure you that there is some justice in the world... After posting that bit of sassiness in my previous post we calmly went to sleep - only to wake in the middle of the night to the sound of the whole state of South Dakota trying to blow us out of our tent and presumably the entire state. By 6:30 it added rain to the mix so we conceded and hightailed it outta there. The ride back was - I'll admit it - LONG! But we're back and recovering and (PRETTY sure Tammy would agree) very glad we did it!

Love on horseback

Well, we knew we had a ton of driving to get in today. It's roughly an 8-hour drive to get from Durango back to the Denver area. So Tom did some research and learned that Colorado is home to a huge collection of sand dunes - who knew?! - that were roughly on the way back. As we drove toward the dunes and started considering what else we might want to do, the subject of horseback riding came up, and (as no one turned green at the idea) we started making some calls. Turned out we could catch a sunset ride on our way toward Colorado Springs, so that became the plan.

(Tom has a different version of the above events).


The sand dunes were very delicious.

See picture.

Moving right along to the interesting part, a rustic cowhand captivated or attempted to captivate the heart of fair Angela.



As the the story goes, Angela, as the expert rider of the group, was assigned to Dawn, a horse with a mind of her own and a swift hoof. Linda was assigned to Phoenix, a hungry horse. A slow, unmotivated animal was relegated to Tom.

Off the intrepid party moseyed, winding up the side of the mountain, fording the Chalk River, and galloping up the trailhead. Along the route, Keith (name changed to protect identities), the aforementioned cowhand, who was serving as the party's guide, sidled up to Angela and mentioned, while demonstrating his manly horsemanship, that he, in fact, was no longer married. Angela maintained a noncommittal pose. At the conclusion of the ride, Tom asked for a restaurant recommendation, and Keith offered up Quincy's Steakhouse as a suggestion.


Monday night, it turns out, is filet mignon night at Quincy's, a dining establishment especially suited for the indecisive, as the menu choices consist of steak ounceages and potato toppings, period. The man knows how to do steak, and do it well.

Full from their dinner, the party drove back to the comfort suites at Comfort Suites of Colorado Springs.

5 points to the gentle reader who correctly guesses the point at which this blog's dictation was delegated (hijacked).

Mesa Verde National Park

You wouldn't believe all we learned today about what we DON'T know. We don't know why the pueblo people came to Mesa Verde, we don't know why they chose, after centuries of living on top of the Mesa, to move to the alcoves under the Mesa and build dwellings there. And that's only the beginning! We don't know why, after barely more than 100 years there, they left abruptly, leaving stores of food and an unfinished temple behind. We aren't sure about why they built the dwellings the way they did, or what all the towers and rooms were used for (communication? defense? status? religion?) We also can only extract a minimum of information about the people themselves from what they left behind, leaving us in the dark about much of their daily lives, religion, family life, and even population size. Of course, there are countless theories about each mystery, and some information can be correlated from tradition and practices of native peoples from the area today, but so little is known for certain that it pretty much became a joke between the three of us by the end of the day. It is kinda neat that even with all archeology and scientific research can tell us, there still are things that we may never find out about this area.



The day was just so full of one fascinating sight after another. All day long the views of the mesas, the views FROM the mesas, and the sky provided a continual, beautiful backdrop to everything else that we got to see and learn. On our way up to the Mesa in the morning, Linda spotted a coyote trotting alongside the road. We stopped the car to get a good photo of him, and he just kept trotting along without the least regard to us.

We spent some time in the visitor center, and then went on guided tours of 2 different sets of ruins: Cliff Palace and Balcony House. You could kind of tell that the guides had been giving the same tours all summer long, so while we definitely found them worthwhile, we had more fun pinging them with all sorts of questions after each tour. Then they came alive with their own interest in the history - the second guide stayed over an hour answering questions and telling us stories. It was neat to make our way through the ruins using ladders and (widened) stone-carved hand and toe holds. We were often reminded not to touch anything, but it really was just cool to a stick our heads into rooms and to look down into kivas and imagine what it must have been like to live there. In spite of the 800 years that have elapsed since people dwelt here,


there are still places where painted designs can still be seen in the plaster, and at one point there are petroglyphs carved into the cliff face.

We ended the day with a self guided tour around the top of the Mesa, where we could see even more ruins - both of the cliff dwellings and of the pit houses where folks lived prior to the cliff houses. As we were leaving the park we saw FOUR huge mule deer bucks, right by the side of the road. I've never seen anything like it. We got heaps of pictures on Tom's camera, so we're hoping they turn out. After a thrilling race against the gas tank all the way back to Durango, we decided to call it a day. Tomorrow? Sand dunes!





(and don't worry; I'm not actually touching the cliff face!)

Ride on

Well, guess I don't know how to quit while I'm ahead. Driving back and forth to South Dakota from Wisconsin last weekend just wasn't enough. So hi from southwest Colorado! I flew in yesterday and got the chance to hang out with my friends Aaron and Laura (they're gettin' married - the real reason I'm out here) for the evening before heading back to the airport to pick up my friend Tom.

This morning we all went for a lovely hike in the foothills before Tom and I bid them adieu for the time being and went back to the airport to pick up my friend Linda. And THAT was just so we could turn around and take the 8 hour drive to Southwest Colorado! We're pretty sick of being in the car at this point, but we did take time for some nice stops, which made it a tad more bearable. We took maybe a 2 mile hike on a dirt road through the hills, and once it was dark stopped to look at the stars for a while. We'll start exploring this part of the world and I'll try to keep you updated on what we discover!

how hard could it be?

Today we watched an introductory video to Badlands National Park, and they went on and on about how hard a time the first settlers had it. Bosh. Tammy and I could have shown them a thing or two.
We started today with a horseback ride into the hills. And it was so easy! I mean, as soon as you step off the platform to your saddled horse, it pretty much stops and goes when the horse in front of it does, and it just sticks to the trail. Since we weren’t allowed to trot them or anything, I can’t say for certain, but I’m pretty sure using horses for all your transportation and farming needs is no big deal.

And then they went on and on about the harsh Badlands country. Wah wah wah. All we could see from the boardwalk lookouts (with our binoculars and as we sipped fresh water from our camelbacks) was fantastic, rugged beauty. We didn’t see any of those rattlesnakes all the signs warn so much about. And as for the wind, well, I can say from the vantage point of my tent that has a laptop cord strung to the electric box outside, that the wind sounds just beautiful and is refreshing. Just take it from us, two newly-self-proclaimed experts: pioneering really couldn’t have been all that bad.

OK – I have to say that today was great. The horseback riding really was fun and wandering up and down through pine forests was, well, just lovely. And I think we both would say the Badlands are breathtaking. We’ll be sharing heaps o’ photos as soon as we’re reunited with Tammy’s camera’s cord. The heat and ruggedness are respect-inducing: you can’t but admire the native people who originally made this their home and fought to retain it, and then the European settlers who came for the promise of land only to find soil that would not support small-scale farming. Given the myriad conveniences that we surround ourselves with even as we visit places like this, it’s hard to imagine what life was like for those who fought for existence here. It makes me grateful – both for the opportunity to learn and for what I have!

stone

but harder than stone
is the flesh and bone
of a troll that sits
in the hills alone
as soon set your foot
to the mountain’s root
for the seat of the troll don’t feel it…


I like rocks. Can’t say I know much about them, of course. Wouldn’t be able to tell you the difference between limestone and granite if my life depended on it. But today I’ve had some time to appreciate stone on a whole new level.
First, of course, Mt. Rushmore in all it’s glory. So neat to read the story; so worth it to be so near to the actual icon. 60-foot-high heads are nothing to sneeze at, let me tell you! You could probably ask me or Tammy now all sorts of Mt. Rushmore trivia and we’d fill your cup of curiosity well past the “runneth over”!

Next up was Wind Cave. Fancy being 20 stories underground, hearing tales of the discovery and exploration of the 4th largest cave network in the world. Wind Caves are unusual for their box work limestone formations and hundreds of maze-like passages. I like thinking of the lacey formations growing slowly underground with no one but God knowing of their existence until the late 1800s. I couldn’t help recall the question God asks Job in the Bible: where, indeed, were we when He built the foundations of the earth?!

We wrapped up our stone explorations for the day by making our way back to Crazy Horse – another mind-boggling exhibition of mountain carving and human achievement. This monument dwarfs Mt. Rushmore – and every other monument in the world including the pyramids! It’s far from being complete and you can’t but admire the determination of the family that carries on the work, and their insistence on doing it all with private funds. They’ve turned down two ten million dollar federal grants because they believe in free enterprise and don’t think that tax dollars should go to it. Huh!

Old Tom’s lame
Since home he came
And his bootless foot
Is lasting lame
But troll don’t care
And he’s still there…(probably my favorite Tolkien poem!)

trippin. road style.

As I think of it, I should check the mileage on my car. This summer has been jam-pack-filled with road trips. While I haven’t faithfully blogged about them, they have made for an interesting and busy summer. Backpacking in the Porkies. The St. Louis trip. Paddle trips along the Fox River or up in Lake Superior. Blueberry festivals and county fairs. Boomerang tournaments and road trips with friends “up north”. Weddings and family reunions. And of course – South Dakota!

Yes, South Dakota. When Tammy and I figured out that no one else would be able to backpacking this weekend, we decided it was high time to do something spontaneous. Neither of us had seen Mt. Rushmore, and both of us already had Friday off. And since it’s “only” a 14-hour drive… well, you know the rest.

And here we are. We stayed in the Twin Cities at Aunt Corrine and Uncle Ron’s place last night to break up the driving a bit. After a lovely time and a filling breakfast, we found ourselves very, VERY much on the road. In spite of the sheer distance traveled on I-90, I could not say the trip was uneventful.

• We discussed cannibalism.
• We saw a tiny tumbleweed, cottonwoods, and sage brush.
• We crossed the Missouri river (ok, that really was interesting… I couldn’t get over how dramatically the land seemed to shift from “Midwest” to “West” right as we crossed the river)
• We listened to books on tape.
• We saw signs for Wall Drug.

I know, I know, pretty cool stuff.

I *think* it's a vacation

I'm in St. Louis with a bunch of High Schoolers! Wish me luck - and follow our adventures (if you like) at http://appletontruenorth.blogspot.com!

it’s never too late…

Angela: … to go backpacking this coming Memorial Day weekend! We’ve kicked around ideas here and there, but I think we’re going to aim for a Porcupine Mountains trip in UP Michigan. I know some of you already have conflicts (boo!), but for those who don’t – golly it will be fun!
Tammy: Yes.
Javier: the division 3 (ultimate frisbee) championships are in Appleton this weekend. I plan to go see that instead of the division 1 tournament. That opens me up for backpacking.
Andy: I think you know I’m in.
Jamie: awesome… out of my church commitments, so would be down. I would love to go – the porkies are awesome!
Patrick: enjoy the trip! and make sure you see some amazing rainbows (and avoid the stable flies!)
Ray: I’m pretty sure Becky and I are out, but our gear is up for grabs if anyone (even Jason) wants to borrow it.
Katie: As much as backpacking has always been my absolute favorite - I think at 37 weeks pregnant, the doc might frown on it :)
Javier: doctors don't know everything. We'll just bring a blanket we don't mind ruining. It'll be fine.
Angela: I'm pretty sure Becky AND Katie should go... like Javier said, we can always bring an old blanket. :)
Becky: Lol!  I think Katie and I would both also require a real mattress and at least 2-3 full sized pillows each.  I think we would need to bring a couple of pack mules on this trip! :)
Katie: Oh Becky, just wait... I'm up to 4 pillows now!! Two behind me (so I can sleep propped up), my body pillow, and one for my swollen feet!! :)
And the fact that it takes me half an hour to walk around the block - baby coming is probably the least of our worries!
Angela: Got that, Javier?
2 mules, 6 pillows, 2 mattresses, and a route that allows "flexibility" in terms of distance traveled per day.
Katie: Don't forget scheduled potty breaks every 30 minutes! :)
Am I forgetting anything Becky?
Javier: Good news. So far, these all seem like reasonable requests.  I think we can make a deal.
Friday: since Andy and Tammy were both able to leave early on Friday, we dubbed them “Team Shady” and sent them on ahead to secure a camp site. They were able to do so without a hitch, and set up the girls’ tent at a nice, bug-free site to kick off the weekend. Team “YesIAmAwesome” (Javier, Jamie & Angela) left later on Friday and after a few near misses (almost left food the flatbread and the salmon quinoa in the freezer – eep!) arrived at Lake of the Clouds in the dark. Before heading to the camp site we took time to enjoy the view; in the moonlight you could see the water and trees and just be happy to be in the north woods.
Saturday morning we skipped breakfast to get a halfway decent start on the trail. This would have stood us in good stead had we not found new and exciting off-trail ways to reach our destination. We were never lost, precisely, though the trail definitely was for quite a while. The picture is of a log “bridge” we crossed – the point where we THINK we parted ways with the trail!
It was on this part of the excursion that Jamie found a leg bone of some animal and thought it a humerus situation. Things started being less humorous toward the end of the day when we were getting tired, running low on water, and finding every potential site already taken. When we finally did find a site a mile from our original destination, Andy ripped off his shirt and did a happy dance. Unfortunately Tammy was the only one there to witness it, so we can only take her word for the awesomeness. The rest of us probably would have done happy dances too, but we were too tired to do much but focus on food and camp setup.
Javier still managed to plunge into Lake Superior. It was cold! So the rest of us didn’t get much more than our toes in. Jamie and I had found some leeks growing along the path, so it was fun to fry those up and try ‘em out. We ended up out on the Lake Superior shore, cooking dinner and watching the sunset, and just enjoying the waves and the beauty.
Sunday morning we got a bit of a slow start (but at least no skipping breakfast!!). Once we were on the trail we were able to make great time. Even with stops for wildflower identification and pauses for beautiful rocks on the shore, we made it to our next camp site by late afternoon. We ended up at the same site that the group had camped at five years earlier – where we first encountered the notorious stable flies! Thankfully not a single one showed up for our entire time on the shore. It’s a lovely site and it was great to have leisurely camp setup. I found time to hop into the water and get my Lake Superior fix for the weekend, Javier, Andy and Jamie got a lovely fire blazing, Andy and Tammy worked on getting us all drinkable water, and we all just enjoyed being comfortable on these stone slab chairs that had been set up at the site.

View Full Album

We had heard that it might rain, so we decided to set up the tents before cooking dinner. Good thinking, that! All five of us ended up crammed in the girls’ tent, devouring Andy’s family’s beef burgundy recipe (amazing!), and listening to the rain pound the tent walls. The rain cleared up right before sunset, though, so we were able to emerge and hit the beach just in time to watch the sun sink beneath the waves.

View Full Album

We headed back to the tent for some card playing and an ad hoc game of “Would you Rather” (“Would you rather be the most beautiful person in the world, or have gills?”) before calling it a night.
After the boys left, it is my sad duty to report that a small, innocent spider caused a ridiculous amount of furor (might have been less had the thing had the decency to die once it had been squished!) in the girls’ tent before its body was callously dropped outside the tent.
It ended up raining pretty hard for much of the night, but both tents stayed warm and dry enough to ensure no crabbiness that a warm cup of coffee the next morning couldn’t cure. Blueberry pancakes didn’t hurt either!  The lake was gorgeous after the rain, and only reluctantly did we find ourselves back on the trail walking away from it all. After a stop at Henry’s Never Inn for an authentic Yooper lunch of burgers, fish & pasties, the two teams made a successful run back to the Fox Valley.

View Full Album

Things Lost

I’m guessing we generally lose a thing or two on any trip, but on this one for some reason we really racked ‘em up. If you run across any of our long-lost things – well, you know where to find us!

• Saturday we lost the trail for 2-3 hours. We stuck close to the Big Carp River, but the trail went far afield before returning to the river, and to us. Devious!
• Saturday night, Jamie lost her head lamp. We looked all over the tent, only to have her find it the next morning. It was under her sleeping pad. Of course!
• Sunday morning our nearly empty camp garbage bag disappeared. It had been in the bear bag the night before, but we looked through everything and never found it. Strange!
• Javier lost two new shiny carabiners at that same site – maybe a crow found the site while we were down by the Lake? Odd!
• Sunday night Tammy (who has the same headlamp as Jamie, and presumably didn’t want to be outdone) lost her headlamp. It too was found later, but the pattern raised some questions. Suspicious!
• Monday night, Jamie, Javier and I set up the tents at Javier's place so they could be hosed off and dried thoroughly. By the next morning, the tent stuff sack had completely disappeared and has yet to resurface. Dang!

Things Found

OK, so we FOUND a bunch of things too! Michigan really put on a wildflower show for us. In spite of counting ounces on most things I lug along on the trail, this is the second trip for which I brought a flower identification book – and was so glad I did! Here are the most exciting finds (and notice, please, that they are listed at the end and so can be skipped by the uninterested!):

	Swamp Buttercup (which I had mistakenly been calling a Marsh Marigold! Good catch, Jamie!)
	Canada Anemone – This is one I was really excited to see as I hadn’t identified one before!
	Canada Mayflower/Wild Lily-of-the-Valley These were everywhere: tiny, delicate, beautiful.
	Everlasting pea? Or some other kind of pea? We weren’t sure, but saw quite a few of these – and assuming the purple and white are just variations of the same plant??
	Columbine – and a bunch of swamp buttercups. We saw lots of columbine our hike out.
	Starflower! These were everywhere, and beautiful, and I love this picture Jamie got of this one
	False Soloman’s Seal – ok, all this “false” nonsense kinda throws me – it’s still beautiful and exciting to find and identify! :)
	Thimbleberry – These were big and everywhere. We stumbled across the fruit on our last day at Lake Superior Provincial Park and gorged on the fruit – so it was fun to identify the flowers!
	Orange Hawkweed
	Pussytoes! This was one I found in the book, thought odd, but then recognized when we passed some on the trail heading out – crazy!

Also found – lots of bluebead lilies, wild strawberries, bunchberries, daisies & Canada hawkweed! Hooray!

how to hem your jeans

I can't believe how many "how to" sites have you chopping off the bottoms of your jeans to shorten them. Some even having you sewing the bottom edge back on after you've chopped it! Eee-yuck! It's a pain, and it never looks right.
I just spent the last 45 minutes trying to find a good description of the easy way to do it, and I give up. Actually - this girl does an ok job, but the video goes too slowly & skims the important bits. So here you go!

1. decide/measure the length you want to shorten, and divide that amount by 2. (so, if you want to shorten by 2 inches, remember "1"). Good so far?
2. fold up the jeans in a cuff until the existing hem is half the distance you want to shorten from the fold. (in the above example, measure 1 inch of doubled fabric from the fold to where the fabric touches the existing hem).
3. pin in place, lining up the side hems (it will look like you've pinned the jeans in a cuffed look).
4. sew as close as you can to the existing hem. It's counter-intuitive: you're essentially taking in a loop of fabric all the way around the hem.
5. iron the fold of the fabric so it will lie flat.
6. fold it up into the pant leg and iron again, this time along the hem, so the original hemmed edge points down, and the taken in fabric is hidden inside the pant leg.

You're done! If you're sure that your jeans won't shrink any more, and that you'll always want 'em this length, you can cut off that loop of fabric about a half-inch from your sewn line.

Actually - I'm pretty sure you'll have so much fun doing this that you'll run through the steps every time you feel like switching from flats to heels and back again.

somebody please feel sorry for me

What are the major activities of strategic management? How are they linked together?

Explain and illustrate the possible benefits of strategic management. What types of health care institutions may benefit most from strategic management?

At what organizational level(s) may a strategy be developed? If at more than one level, how are these levels linked by the planning process?

How has the role of the strategic planner changed over the past several decades? What new skills will be essential for the strategic planner?

What is meant by the statement, "strategic leaders should try to create the future"?

What are the specific goals of environmental analysis?

How does the scanning process create a "window" to the external environment?

How does the window concept help in understanding organizations and the types of information they produce?

Why is the process of environmental analysis as important as the product?

What are some important technological, social, political, regulatory, economic, and competitive issues that are affecting health care today?

What are an organization's strategic assumptions? How may the strategic assumptions be evaluated as part of managing the strategic momentum? 

And this is only Assignment 1!

I'm really tempted to go on a rant about this - but I'd best just get over it and get started.... I hope I appreciate my MBA properly, once I've finally earned it!

Colorado (or, “Snow, Skiing, and Super People”!)

It seems to  be a pattern. I arrive in Colorado where the weather is beautiful and in the 70s, and the next day a major snow storm hits. Not sure if the state is trying to welcome me or keep me out, but either way, it sure makes things interesting.
Javier and I arrived in Colorado Thursday night. Patrick and his girlfriend Kim picked us up from the airport and we went to a march-madness-showing :) microbrewery for dinner. Friday morning Javier and I headed to Golden to pick up rental gear and run some errands, and we ended up at a sports bar that was showing the Wisconsin-Wofford game. (Wisconsin won – hooray! We won’t talk about Sunday’s loss to Cornell… ).  Patrick finished work and joined us in watching the end of the game, and then we met up with Aaron, who had just picked up Justin from the airport. We went out for Mexican and had a great time catching up, drinking margaritas, and catching snowflakes with our tongues.
Saturday morning we all met up and headed out of town. A few hours later we arrived at our launch point in the Never Summer mountain range. We unloaded our gear, tested our avalanche beacons, and headed in. On the yurt trip were (left to right): me, Patrick, David, Javier, Laura, Aaron, Andy, and Justin.
(Background: Patrick, Aaron, Justin and I were part of “game night” in Appleton several years ago – before Aaron and Patrick ended up out in the Boulder/Denver area and Justin ended up in San Francisco. Laura is Aaron’s fiancée, and Javier is a current Appletonian game nighter. David is Laura’s brother and Andy is Aaron’s brother).
Our stay this year was in the Clark Peak Yurt – a tad bigger than last year’s. We settled in a bit Saturday night, with some of the guys chopping all the wood we would need (and more!)

View Full Album

and the rest of us enjoying the break from schlepping packs up the mountainside and a general release from access to the outside world and the gajillion things we all have going on in our “real” lives.  Laura and Aaron made shepherd’s pie for dinner (yum!) and we all played Up and Down the River (aka Oh Heck… or other names). Javier won.
After a half-way decent night’s sleep for most of us, we headed further up the mountain – this time with lighter packs. Here is the view from the yurt of where we went – to the right side of that “V” of trees at the top of the photo. We wanted to visit Ruby Jewel Lake, but due to concerns about avalanche safety, ended up taking a different route to a beautiful overlook. Visibility was great, and we ended up eating lunch, hanging out, and generally having a lovely time. From there, some of us headed further up the mountain (actually made it to the tree line at around 11,000 feet!), and others opted to start heading back. 

View Full Album

All in all, the day included time to “play” (at least - that’s what it would be if we weren’t too grown up for such nonsense) including Andy and Aaron trying to start an avalanche from above, with (unfortunately?) small success, a few blisters, a sprained thumb (Aaron had to ski the rest of the trip with only one pole :( not an easy feat), a few near encounters with trees in the big fluffy snow, snowball fights, random flips in the snow, exploration of a promising snow cave, some fun photography, and all around good times. Oh – and some exhaustion!

View Full Album

Sunday ended with Patrick’s delicious ratatouille, more hanging out, and more card games – this time Up and Down the River and two simultaneous games of Euchre.

View Full Album

What Javier Wrote in the Yurt Journal
3/20/2010
Today is the 20th day of our discontent. Andy has eaten most of Aaron and no one can convince David to wear pants. The women have escaped to the outhouse. I smuggle them food when able, but I’m afraid Patrick has discovered my occasional absence. It’s been three days since anything has been heard from them. Our plan to catch dinner by running after it really fast has met little success. Justin has finally captured the rock that has tormented him for nearly a week, but the operation suffered several casualties. Rafael, Bruce, and Dean performed heroically during our entire ordeal. Their sacrifice has given some hope to those of us that remain. I’ve asked everyone to meet at the table for “Up and Down the River.” Hopefully, it reminds us of the civilization we left behind, and brings some sanity back to this god-forsaken camp.
Tell my kids that they’ve always been a disappointment to me. Alfalfa, Ripple, Twinkle-toes, Javier.
Monday morning was head-out-and-down day. We packed, cleaned up, set things in order, and headed down the mountain. It was great fun to have the skins off our skis and enjoy (except for the uphill bits) the fun part of all the hard work going uphill earlier. After re-loading everything in the vehicles, and piling our smelly selves in as well, we headed out of the mountains.

View Full Album

The fun in the snow wasn’t done (for everyone but Andy & David) - Tuesday was downhill skiing day! After showering at our respective places Monday night, we packed up again and headed for an overnighter in Breckenridge. 
Laura’s mom Pat has a home there, and graciously allowed us to crash at their place for the night. We were within ski-boot-walking distance of the lifts, and were able to get an early start on the beautiful slopes. Pat’s boyfriend Lance volunteers as a ski instructor for skiers with all sorts of disablities, and not only did he get free lift tickets for the out-of-state-ers (me, Javier and Justin), but he also volunteered to instruct me 1:1 in the fine art of downhilling! His friend Joe is apparently a world-class ski instructor, and by the end of the morning, I felt heaps more confident on the slopes. No more “purple flurry” for me :)  It was Aaron’s birthday, so we all had lunch together and sang to him before hitting the slopes again. Hooray for another year of Aaron being around! Yippeee!
After lunch, I was ready to be with the “big kids”! Well – sort of. Aaron, Justin and Javier took on the Imperial (a crazy bowl-skiing adventure which requires using the highest ski lift in the country – it’s above the tree line!). It wasn’t made any easier by the complete lack of visibility and quantities of ice on the run – they came back with big eyes and wide smiles. Laura had decided to snowboard for the day so she would have fun on the same slopes that the “newbie” would be on, and Patrick was working on some slower telemark skiing moves, so the three of us stuck to blue (intermediate) runs until we met up with the other three.
Justin had to get back to the airport Tues. night, so we said our goodbyes to him, Laura and Aaron around 2:00. Such awesome fun people… hope it’s not too long till we get to hang out again. Patrick, Javier and I decided to stick around till the lifts closed at 4. Both of them were willing to play around on the easy stuff, so we stuck to blue runs for the rest of the day and (from my perspective anyway!) had a fantastic time. Downhill is so fun – and even more so when you half-way know what you’re doing!
The day ended in a rather unfortunate manner. It had been snowing pretty heavily at times throughout the day and traffic out of the mountains was so backed up that we didn’t get back to Patrick’s place till 11 when we (in normal conditions) would have made it by 7:30. Boo!! Javier had to be at the bus stop by 3 AM to head back to Appleton, and I had to be out before 8, so it would have been nice to have a relaxed evening to regroup and pack – but somehow everything got pulled together and we both made the shuttle bus back to the airport by the times we needed to be there.
I’m now on my way to North Carolina for the next bit of adventures, but if Colorado wants to keep me out in the future, it’s going to have to do better than a few snow storms to keep me away!

View Full Album

Full set of pictures, just in case this wasn't enough!