it's hard to believe i was enjoying the sunrise from the train in brooklyn this morning, overlooking the city from my window seat, searching for coffee in the minneapolis airport midday, and skiing beneath sunny skies in the steamboat this afternoon. sad, as always, to part with those i love... but pleasantly welcomed back with a nice boyfriend, a few slushy slope runs and a beer with friends new and old.

“Friendship, love, health, energy, enthusiasm, and joy are the things that make life worth living and exploring.”

― Denise Austin

"My friends and I greet each other in a wild profusion of words

And wave farewell amidst the wonderment of air

And in the laughing times we know that we are lucky

And in the quiet times we know we are blessed."

-Dar

I am grateful for many incredible friends in my life. Perhaps one of greatest, and most longstanding, blessings has been my sweet friend Jenna. I am in the midst of enjoying a cheerful and brief visit with her. After five emotional, bittersweet days in West Hartford saying my goodbyes to my sweet grandmother (and of course, enjoying nice time with my folks and family), it is such a pleasure to enjoy a couple of days filled with chatting and laughing with Jenna. We've made the best of ugly weather with delicious food (eating is our speciality), heavenly yoga practice, walks, shopping, watching movies, getting manicures & pedicures, and simply enjoying each other's all-too-infrequent company. Love you Jen!

(heading off to college, 2002)

today:

• the foundation's spring grant deadline. roughly $250,000 worth of applications. endless phone calls, emails, last minute folks running in the door.
• a long to-do-before-wednesday list. half of it crossed off today!
• i'm in love with daylight savings. it is 7:30 and it's just now dark.
• bootcamp. whoa. my quads are starting to refuse to move.
• a step in the right direction.
• one really awesome landlord that fixed my front closet door immediately.
• a father and son sitting in the coffee shop sounding like my father and myself.
• two cups of tea.
• looking forward to salad, grilled cheese & tomato soup.

my life has been brightened by flowers recently. in a post 2 weeks ago i mentioned buying myself some tulips while they were on sale. they were pink and bright and cheery.

last tuesday was the northwest colorado visiting nurse's association's daffodil day. one day each year they sell bundles of daffodils as a fundraiser for their hospice programs. i always try to buy a bunch or two. this year it felt even more appropriate, with the assistance from the visiting nurses & hospice that my family recently received. i'm still feeling very sad over the passing of my grandmother, but enjoying many marvelous memories as well. i'll be heading to connecticut on wednesday to spend a few days on waterside lane with my parents before the service on saturday.

Lauren is here and we are back at Amante. Tea and photo uploading. I love it.

My grandfather would have been 92 today. My grandmother left us on Saturday to spend his birthday with him. My heart is heavy, but I am thankful that the final months of her life were peaceful and full of love. We had a wonderful Christmas together, and enjoyed great correspondence up until several days before her death.

A lovely late afternoon snowshoe at the ski area yesterday with Faith. Ridiculously warm, sunny and beautiful. I am blessed to live in such a gorgeous place.

yesterday:

• sunshine
• ab lab & kickboxing
• salmon & squash (i'm really trying to create 'real food' for myself in what often becomes lazy-cooking-for-one routine)
• tulips. every time i go to the store, i want to buy tulips. finally, they are on sale. now, they are on my table. i love them.
• watching 'the philadelphia story'...it's a 1940's movie that my sweet grandmommy adores and recommended to me. i enjoyed the first half before dozing off.

today:

• an early morning workout. i've been really into yoga recently, as well as spin and kickboxing. i've had few individual workouts, and it was nice to get back into it for an hour.
• salmon and eggs
• excel spreadsheet chaos
• a poorly attended meeting, which was frustrating...
• but allowed for a plethora of "chick pizza" for me. yum.
• good news that the potentially malignant mole i had removed was in fact a benign "cyst or ruptured hair follicle."
• 24 hours until my dear cousin lauren arrives for a fun weekend. yippee!