Hmm. I seem to have fallen off the blogwagon for a few days.

Winter seems to have fallen onto Routt County. Well, it's fallen onto Colorado in general- with more snow (18 inches i heard?) falling on the Front Range (Colorado Springs-Denver-Boulder-Ft Collins corridor for those who aren't familiar). We actually escaped with only a few inches of snow, but had some damage from severe winds. The temperature is now settled at a brisk 25 degrees.
I walked to work this morning and had this strange feeling of "this is what my life might be like in a city." It was chilly & breezy, with only a thin crusty layer of snow on the grass and rooftops. I've always thought I probably couldn't stand a city in the winter, because it is just cold and no fun. Snowfalls don't mean skiing, and storms mostly mean bad driving conditions. Anyway, I walked along wearing my skinny jeans with my target boots (very city-esque. or horse-jockey-esque....), a big sweater and my better sweater, stopped at Safeway for a Starbucks coffee, and talked on my cell phone to my mother while trying to avoid the icy patches (stylish boots = no tread). If I ever live in a city, is that what my life might look like?

In the meantime I am ever thankful that I don't live in a city, and that we weren't hit too hard by this storm. I am feeling particularly unenthusiastic towards WINTER at this point. But I'm hopeful that the snow will hold off until closer to ski season, and that I'll enjoy an epic winter of skiing and playing and enjoying snow.

In other news, my beautiful friend Jenna turned 26 this past weekend. I didn't post a cute little post like I did last year (http://catchthetruth.blogspot.com/2008/10/very-special-day.html) but I did get to have a wonderful phone chat with her, and I'm hoping for a little city playtime in March.

Alysha graduated from her Police Academy on Friday, which is a huge huge huge accomplishment. I'm super proud of her for completing a really rigorous 6 month program and excited for her job to really get started.

Oh, you didn't come here for an update on my friends? Well, life in Steamboat is going well. Work is continuing to be time-consuming and exhausting, but I'm also trying some new and exciting things. I'm writing my first grant proposal for the El Pomar Foundation grant round. I've been on the other side of the table, giving out grants, so far, so it's interesting to try my hand at the other side. Thankfully I've hired someone to help me out, because I'm short on time and experience. I'm sitting on the City of Steamboat Springs Human Resource Allocation Committee, so last weekend I read 20 grant proposals, attended a meeting on Monday, and next Friday have all-day Hearings from the Health and Human Service organizations that are applying. I'm gaining new experience (and puffing up that resume!) and it's exciting, for the most part. I'm honestly not sure that I ever shared the big news that my boss (Betsey) is no longer with the Foundation. It was nearly a month ago, but she and the Board had different visions of success, and she parted the day before my parents arrived for their visit. The Board is in the process of hiring a new Executive Director (no, I'm not interested), but in the meantime I'm filling that role in some ways, as well as executing my current role as Program Manager, as well as maintaining some of the duties of my old position as Office Manager. So that may explain to you why my highs & lows have been so work-oriented on many days. Phew!

Speaking of work, this has been a nice little break but it's time to get back to the El Pomar proposal. Being faced with a blank word document has brought me back to my college days in a big way- and procrastination/distraction is still hard to avoid!

Warm hugs & lots of love to all.