Fly Ball Frenzy!!! And Brian Fuentes

Wednesday night was quite the night for me--it wasn't just any Wednesday night Ladies' Night game at Coors Field, oh no no no. It was a night where I made it onto the field. Oh yes, I was chosen as the participant for the Fly Ball Frenzy.

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about or have not attended a Rockies game this season, or never even been to Denver for that matter, let me clarify. Fly Ball Frenzy is an activity that takes place between I believe the 4th and 5th innings of most Rockies games. A fan is chosen to run onto left field, have two pop flys launched at them via slingshot (not simultaneously, don't worry) and if they catch them both, they win a free Frontier airlines flight.

So, I was "randomly chosen" as the lucky fan (not due to any connections I have in the Rockies system, of course not). Wearing my trusty Brian Fuentes number 40 T-shirt and my Chuck Taylor's, I took the field, with all the glory and valor of Larry Walker, Vinny Castilla, Todd Helton, Yorvit Torrealba, RayKing and every other Rockies player that has graced the lawn at Coors Field. Giving the thumbs up, I watched the first one launch--only to slightly overrun the ball, and to my dismay, have it fall behind me. Though I heard the disappointing "awww" of the crowd, I could hear my ladies along the right field line cheering me on, and I gave the thumbs up for ball #2.

Launched high in the air, I waited more patiently this time, and made quite the graceful snag, proceeding to jump high up in the air, fists pumped in elation, and forget to even look at the jumbotron--but rest assured, dear friends, I was on the jumbotron, smiling broadly. If I had ever learned how to do a cartwheel in adolescene, this would have been the time to bust it out.

Trotting off the field, smiling and 7500 Frontier Airline miles richer, I was given high fives by grown men and cheered on by thousands of fans (no joke). It was kind of like those dreams I had as a kid of hitting a homerun in the Metrodome and giving Kirby Puckett a high five afterwards. My only regret is not sprinting toward the infield, touching all the bases and diving head-first into home plate. Now THAT would have garnered me some real applause.

The pix are far away but funny, and Choo Freeman is in them, on the field with me. He asked me to stay and play center for the rest of the game but I was like, nah Choo, you got it baby.

Not only was this a shining moment in time for me, but those of us in attendance all had our number 40 Fuentes t-shirts on. Though we got whipped by the Mets 11-3, Fuentes did come in in the 9th to retire batters handily. Oh Brian Fuentes, how we do love you and your big, gold chains. Bling Bling baby.

Up, Up and Away

Kate, Liz, Big John and I got up super early Sunday morning (we're talking 5:30ish) and drove south from Denver to Chatfield to see the Rocky Mountain Hot Air Balloon Festival. Highlights included: posing with the Cowboy balloon; hugging a soft, brown cow; the big pink pig; and I heard Smoky the Bear got caught in the trees, but I had left before he got all up in there. I highly recommend attending! Though terribly early for a Sunday, it was pretty spectacular. Take a look.

Sassy Shower

Sunday we had a bridal shower for my good friend Kate, who is getting hitched to her fiance, Adam, on September 30th. We had an abundance of fabulous food, and she was the Princess for a Day (after all, no party is complete without the guest of honor wearing a tiara).
It was such a great time at Annie's house--and of course we had mimosas, too.



It's hard to believe we can get so many hot chicks in one place, but see it and believe it, and four people are not pictured because they had left by the time the group pic was taken. Rest assured, those ladies are hot, too.

Red Roxxin It

Who can guess what is happening here?

Oh Right, it's just me bringing my boyfriend Jim Beam into Red Rocks with me to hang out with Ben Harper and Damien Marley.

Just another day in the life, after all.

Ch-ch-ch-chia T

That's just me, petting Mr. T's chia-hawk.

Amos and Tweedy

Alice and I headed up to the Folks Music Fest in Lyons, Colorado on Friday where we saw our future husband, Amos Lee, play. It is yet to be determined which of us will be the first to marry and divorce him, but I think I have a better shot because I could take his name and be Leah Lee, and that is a fantastic name. Could be in the biz with a name like that.

Here is a picture of Amos jamming out.




We also saw Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, the pic of him though is sadly red and blurry, but you get the idea. He sang Shot in the Arm and Passenger Side. Excellent.

The red boots were in full effect, and I also found a burrito in my bag! Who woulda thought. Madness.

Saturday is Allllllright

On Saturday, Stacy, John and I went on a REALLY long hike, which was super hard, at least for me. My camera batteries died however, so I just have pics of Saturday night, and since Saturday was Liz's 30th B-Day and BBQ/party, that is just fine.

Here are some fun pix illustrating that we did indeed have quite the sassy night!

Liz Turned 30!
Me being Sassy
Stacy and I, reunited and fly
Kate, twisting and shouting

CHAMPIONS!!!

The co-ed slowpitch softball team I am on WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP TONITE! And not just league, fools, we won the tournament too! That means not one, but two trophies. Can I get a booyeah?
Booyeah.
I forgot my camera, sadly, but I did get this pic taken when I got home, and we took some sweet pics at the bar with my camera phone, and the bartender lady swore to us that our pic would be on their website (we shall see if that materializes). We also had some fabulous fried cheese at the bar after the game.
Anyway, we won, 14-7 and 15-6, at least I think so, and it's my rendition of the championship now, so I should really just say that it was a no-hitter and we scored 33 runs.
Long live the Telecom Junkies! (OK so Friends of the Poudre was a better name, but we gotta work with what we got).
HOLLA!

Rockies, te quiero uniforme cuando usted perder (Rockies, I love you, even when you lose)

It's Thursday, and since Sunday I've gone to three Rockies games, because I like baseball, and that's what I do, in the summer. Don't hate, appreciate. A short recap:

Sunday vs. Chicago Cubs: Rox 7, Cubbies 8

Tuesday vs. Arizona Diamondbacks: Rox 1, D-Backs 2. An aside: This game last 18 innings. We stayed til the start of the 15th. And then we LOST!

Wednesday vs. D-Backs: Rox 5, D-Backs 9.

As you can tell, they lost all three games I went to. Then what did they have the AUDACITY to do?!?! Win today!

Thursday vs. D-Backs: Rox 8, Cubic Zirconia Backs 4

So they gotta go and looooooose when I go, and win when I am a slave to the man, at my desk, at work?!?! There is no justice. Rockies, I give you love, you give me none in return. And I love you, even when you lose.

Stacy, Katie and James were at the lonnnnnnnnng game with me on Tuesday. Here is some proof. Notice my big hair. Even when I do my hair all big, the Rox still don't win for me! And I thought we had a relationship. Also, Stacy has been back less than a month, and has already been to four Rox games. This is proof she is a good woman. I think I am up to 15 or 16 this season. I think Kaite is up to 356. She is harder core than me.

Bounty

Laura and I have a garden plot in a community garden in the 'hood. And when I say that we have a garden, it mostly means she does all the work and I eat everything, and I maybe water the garden once in awhile. Works out well.

Yesterday Laura harvested several fabulous vegetables and some flowers that grew from the fruits of our labor. They are quite tasty. The vegetables I mean, not the flowers. Though I should try the flowers, they might taste really good, too.

She also discovered that some evil soul stole two big peppers from our plot! That's sad, stealing from fellow community gardeners.

Please enjoy the pix of our massive zucchini, pretty pink cosmos, tasty scallions, red red tomatoes, and hot! hot! hot! jalepenos.

Bowl-ero: Bowling and Beyond

Last night I went bowling in Lakewood. It was great fun. Karoline joined me (notice modeling of the sign), as did Senor Misterioso (he had quite the night of staring with his confident gaze down the lane, and diving head first into bowling balls), and James and Brian (not pictured).

The wonderful bowling establishment is called Bowl-ero, and it is very Big Lebowski-esque. On Mondays, pitchers of beer are $5, single beers are $1, games are $1 as are shoes. It is fantastic. They also usually have the Rockies games on TV, and of course, tons of bad bad bad music.

As I prophesized before the game, I won two of 3, scoring 132 and 142. Oh yes. I should join a league! Though the main reason I want to join a league is to get a bowling shirt with my name on it. But is that such a bad thing?

Also, Bowl-ero is right next to the Omlet House. I have not been there yet, but I bet it is grand.

Assssssssspen

This past weekend I went camping outside of Asssssspen (whisper it, will you) with my friends Annie, Lloyd and Maggie, and Maggie's brother Greg and his girlfriend Kelly.

Hazel the pup was also along for the ride, as was Senor Misterioso.

Though it rained some, we still had a lot of fun hiking at Maroon Bells, listening to the bus driver Russell tell hilarious jokes about beavers: "Did you know that beavers are the best damn builders around?" (hahhahaa), eating dogs and baked beans and of course, lots of S'Mores.

Minus Annie, Llloyd and my four points of failure driving to Aspen, we did eventually manage to get there after about 5 hours and over a dozen deer spottings, and one raccoon.

For those of you wondering, this is where they went in Dumb and Dumber.

Some pictures here for your enjoyment. The hold Hazel is sleeping in is one she dug herself! Most talented. We also have me being all outdoorsy, the four of us being all outdoorsy, and don't forget, the beans.

Ghost Baby and the Mouth Trumpet

On Sunday, on scarcely four hours of sleep, I ventured up to a quaint little place outside Evergreen, CO for a nice morning hike. Karoline accompanied me, along with Annie, Randy, baby Cozy and pups Bijou and Bodin.

Well, we thought Cozy was coming, but as you can tell from this picture of Annie, it was really just Ghost Baby that was along.

Once we got to the summit of our hike, it was time to take
a nice family pic of the Kinney's. Which pic do you like better? I can't decide if it is the Kinney's watching the pup drink out of the puddle, or the more stoic Colorado outdoorsy family pic:




Oh yes and Karoline and I were hiking it up too, be assured. She comes off completely sane here, while I am being attacked by dogs. Maybe they are attracted to the orange?!?!



After our hike we went to Cactus Jack's Saloon in Evergreen, for some killer burgers. Karoline and I stuck around and were treated to some fabulous, free bluegrass music. And I kid you not, one of the guys played the Mouth Trumpet! Seriously he was still playing guitar, but was playing the mouth trumpet amazingly well. I never knew such talent existed. Totally and completely impressed that a trumpet sound could come out of someone's mouth unassisted like that. Sadly, I had left my camera in the car. Quite the great day overall though--hiking, eating, bluegrass music, and beers outside in the sun in a mountain town! Ahhhh. Wonderful. Makes you all far away want to come visit I do imagine ?! :)

Daily Show Social Networking Bit

My friend Peeps sent me this link to a Daily Show bit, and it is pretty darn funny if you have ever used any social networking sites. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmEd-aNEh0&NR