Wanted: Good Vibes

Please send good vibes this way, Dan is calling about this house!!!

Update: Sounds good but there are 2 problems. No washer and dryer would have to go into town to do it, 5 minutes away and NO KITCHEN!!!!! Just a kitchenette. Can I learn to cook all of our meals on a grill? We could get one with a burner. After all it's grilling weather all year round. No baking though. Dara, what would you do? Live beachside and have your cooking compromised or find something else?

Before and After

Before

After

1/3 of the move is paid for!

Late Night...Early Morning

I have to make a correction on my earlier post. The Assistant Editors do want the edit jobs, even if that does mean working weekends. Kris got some time in this week when several editors called in sick and Annie has been coming in on her own time to cut a spot. So, the race is on. Also, I heard that as of now there have been 100 applicants. Wow!

Last night was the Christmas party for work. They have been doing it at Invesco Field for the past 5 years or so but this was the first time Dan and I went. Really nice, first class! Dinner and open bar, tours, and a photo booth was set up with all kinds of cool costumes. Dan and I aren't really diggin the way the camera portrays us now a days so we declined.

Dyanne making the most of the open bar, outside having a smoke.

We got there around 6;45 after braving the I-25 traffic. Waiting in the parking line we learned that there was free valet parking for everyone. The night was really cold and as we headed up the colossal entry we could see our breath. I decided to be warm and comfortable so I wore my wool sweater and Uggs boots. Not really the proper attire for a party like this, but, it was either that or buy something new and I didnt want to do that. Seems I have out grown my fancy clothes! We checked in at the registration booth and decided not to check our coats. Up a flight of stairs and into a huge, warm, golden, softly lit ballroom. Drinks were in order so we got ourselves some Guiness and looked about. There was a wall length gas fireplace with the Broncos logo emblazoned above. Chandelieers spilling out a soft light making everyone, so dressed up, look fantastic, and people were walking around serving appetizers. We met Ted Intorcio's girlfriend, a beautiful and interesting young lady who used to live in Denmark. John and Athena, were at the end of the bar so we caught up with them. Athena looking lovely in her all black dress, faux fur lined coat and really cool 6" heals with big, fat soles. I don't know how she walks in those things! Dinner was being served so we headed over to the other side of the ballroom, past 2 bars, to find a table. We ran into Gail whose date was Shane's girlfriend Hadley. Our table filled up with Gail, Hadley, Dyanne, Brandon and his wife, Dyanne's friend from work and John and Athena. The dinner was buffet style, always a bummer, with salad, creamed pasta and broccoli, BBQ chicken, roasted (dry) taters, prime rib and a whole dessert bar. Good enough to absorb all the alcohol! Happy, warm and full we headed out to smoke. It took about a half hour to get out there because we saw Adam Dempsy who was a producer before we got married! Catching up with him Kent Wallace and Orin Levy came by. It was great, like a little reunion, we have worked together for many years and Orin was Dan's best man. Ah, how time flys, relationships are timeless and you don't realize the impact people have on your life until you see them again after a long time. Finally, out for a post dinner smoke.

Drunken, blurry, iPhone photos of Annie and Jon and Dan and I.

The rest of the night was drinking and dancing and talking and having a really great time. Seth and his girlfriend were there, Bill and Carol (the hosts of our going away party next weekend),

Tramazzo, Bryan and Cheryl. We talked a long time with Jessica, Les, Chi Chi and his beautiful wife. We met Molly's boyfriend and hung out with crazy Wes Bane. Karen Lannus, her sister and Greg Larson were there and funny as always. I'm really going to miss everyone. Good times. I missed the unmentionables, but, they are "coming out" at our party next weekend, then I'll be able to mention them by name! Next weekend should be a great time! We got home around 1am and decided MacDonalds would have been good to pick up so we loaded up the dogs and got them some burgers too! To bed at 2ish, up a 6. Snuggling up with Baxter, revving up my good vibrations, I decided that I wanted to feel pretty darn good today and sell a lot of stuff! Dan is still in bed and that is a good thing. He has a busy, laborious day ahead of him. A couple are coming by at 8:30am to pick up the bedroom set and home gym. Also scheduled for pick up; a lady who owns a used book store said she may buy all of my cookbooks, our books, DVDs and CDs, someone wants a painting, someone else wants some speakers and a lady is coming by to get my stamping stuff. Busy weekend ahead of us!

Passing the Editing Torch

Seth Witzel and Bryan Ganek

There are 2 postings for editors, they went up last week. About 4 years ago, Seth decided he wanted to be an editor after doing a video for a high school project. While working here as a tape operator, he has been going to The Colorado Film School. There is a perfect storm here for him. The assistant editors don't want to work weekends so they're out of the race (unless they change their mind) and there are two "entry level" positions posted. Double the odds? So, he's in my session today, cutting. I'm really impressed, not only is he passionate about editing and driven to get the job (he doesn't care if he has to work weekends, he just wants to edit) but he is expressing himself creatively. For such a newb, he is confident on the platform, a great communicator and in it for the long haul. Even though he is tired, he is not giving up. Editing can be exhausting. Full on brain work for 10 hours sitting in a small, dark, windowless room. Just you and your producer. Bryan is the prefect producer for Seth to cut his teeth with. He is encouraging, supportive and patient. We are 6 hours into our 10 hour day and Seth is not abandoning the process, in fact, he's an active member of the session, driving the content, getting it into the timeline. So much so that I can blog! I can tell he is tired but he's plugged in, focused. Before the session I explained the invisible side of editing, anybody can learn how to push the buttons. An eye and ear for pacing, storytelling, and how shots go together takes experience. But the soft skills; those are the backbone of how well the session goes, how creative it gets. You have to read your producer, how they work, their mood. Evaluate how much time you have and how much work there is. Listen, be open to the process, have a willingness to try different things birthing an exciting visual experience. He heard me, the rapport between Brian and Seth, is warm, comfortable, fun. Bryan is giving him compliments. By the end of the day Seth will have created 6 spots and 8 timelines, plus, quicktimes for approvals, the OMF and AFE. Seth is getting his energy back, having fun, not wanting it to stop. Bryan seems on the edge, maybe wanting to head home early into the dark, cold, and snowy evening. Seth persists, saying he has the time if Bryan does, wanting to cut the final one. Bryan acquiesces. They really make a good team, coming alive at the end of a long day, better for having worked together.

Thanksgiving Day

Kaila
Gracie
Colten
Paige
Austin

The highlight of my thanksgiving day was the snowball fight. Dan and I went outside for a smoke after we ate and the kids came tumbling out shortly afterward. It was nice and warm, the sun was shining, about 70 degrees. We are all out on the front yard and Kaila gets this idea to fill a cooler with snow from the yard across the street. I didn't know what she had in mind but her dad shot her down. Her and Gracie grabbed a bucket and ran to fill it up. So there was Dan and I standing across from them suddenly getting bombarded with snowballs. Colten, Paige and Austin grab a bucket, run to fill it up and come back shouting we have back up, we have back up!!! There we are; Dan, me, Colten, Paige and Austin against Gracie and Kaila. Pretty soon the buckets are being replaced by 5 gallon buckets that are being replaced by the coolers. The snow was perfect, slushy. Great for making snowballs and perfect for getting hit by them, bursting on impact. It was a great way to cool down. Austin and Paige kept running up to me saying their hands were cold so I would cup them in mine and try to blow warm air on them. Ten seconds later they were back at it. The fight lasted for about an hour then Kaila, Gracie and Colten went inside for dessert and Paige and Austin stayed outside with us and tried to ride their skateboards.

Julie Cobb, I love you!

Dan and I were in the kitchen making the deviled eggs for Thanksgiving lunch. Baxter and Lucy were laying in their customary spot, by the sliding glass door, ready for any food that may come their way. The eggs are from our CSA and because they are so fresh, they are really tricky to peel. So, we were each in our own little world peeling a dozen eggs when my phone rang. It was Julie, and there was joy in her voice. She was happy because dad had called her to wish her a happy thanksgiving. He loves her and she felt that. Her soft southern lilt and gentle laugh warms my heart as she tells me about their conversation. Mom and dad are having a difficult time with our leaving. My dad expresses to her that we can't find common ground. He feels like we are abandoning them, I feel like they don't support us. We've had this conversation before and I thought we had an understanding. Julie takes the risk and tells him she is proud of us. She has known for years that we were unhappy at work and has encouraged us to persue something else. Given that we don't have kids she didn't see any reason for us not to. Dad is scared. He thinks we are going to fail. He thinks we are giving up great jobs and a beautiful home and that this is as good as it gets. Julie reminds him that we are smart, resourceful, have no debt and enough money to insure that we don't run into a desperate situation. He's not having any of it. I express my disappointment, frustration and that it hurts. Julie is my voice of reason, unencumbered by the history of family disagreements and complications. She tells me they love me. They are old school, they feel like you get a good job and you keep it until you die. Finding yourself? Having a dream? Persuing that dream? The unknown? All foreign thoughts to them, sticking in their in their craw prohibitting them from nourishment and growth. She shows me how they love. When they say they are never coming to visit because mom can't fly and then talk about going to Puerto Rico for a family reunion or Spain with my brother and his family, they are trying to tell me I will be missing out on family, asking me to reconsider. In a strange totally disconnected way, I think she is right. Dan doesn't agree, he thinks that they just don't think. Whatever the reason, this is how they love. I will not get words of support from them. They probably won't show up at our going away party. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if no one in my family came, they are all invited. They don't understand what we are doing, to them we are crazy. Julie points out that this is their love; protective, anxious, guilt ridden but it is love. I am so grateful to have her as a friend. She knows me, she knows my family, she knows what she is talking about. We have known eachother for 20 years or so. We have had some tough times, witnessed family interactions; mostly toxic some loving, climbed mountains, went on road trips, lived together, seen boyfriends and husbands come and go, she has 3 boys and is doing a great job of raising them herself. We are living, learning, loving, hurting and becoming wise old women together! Julie Cobb, I love you! Thank you for being such a good friend!

Friends and Family

I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving Day. It seems like last weekend was Halloween! I guess next weekend will be Christmas and then we'll finally be on our way. In the meantime, we are having a lot of fun getting out into the world and visiting with family and friends.

Two weekends ago I made some chocolate chip cookies as a thank you for Dave Cary because he recommended his friends to come over and they bought a lot of stuff. We also sold a lot of my vinyl, the end tables in the red room, the dining table, chairs and serving table, the pot rack, some more DVDs, the ski rack and Steve McClure came over to get the foosball table. It was pretty chaotic, a lot of people came over after work but the stuff is clearing out. We still have several expensive items that we want to sell like the home gym, bed room set, surround sound and my ruby ring. If we get what we are asking, which is a lot less than we paid, we will get about 8 grand from those things alone. It is looking like we will have enough money to live off of for a couple of years, of course we want to get to working as soon as possible so we can save that and maybe buy a house or open a small business.

Last Friday, Dyanne and I met at Jose O'Shea's, a mexican joint in Lakewood for dinner. She had her little daughter in tow and we had a great time chatting and listening to her little one. Children are so funny! Afterwards we went to see Dr. Joe Dispenza speak. He is a motivational speaker and brain expert.
His philosophy is based on creating positive feelings, through meditation or prayer, and putting in requests for what you want. This practice gives you the life you want. Some of my favorite quotes were; "Digging up the old self makes room for the new self", "Nerve cells that fire together, wire together", "If your life isn't changing or going in the direction you want, ask yourself what emotion you feel everyday. That's the feeling you have to liberate to free up that energy to create something new", "The stuff you already know about yourself does not inspire change. We need change (challenge) in order to not be bored with ourselves", "When you start to complain ask yourself how you would have done things differently". I tried it this week. One sure way to get my positive vibrations going is to snuggle with Baxter. Word was out that if we finished our work by 3pm yesterday, we could leave. I was anxious because I had 3 sessions and didn't think I was going to get out early. Yesterday morning while I was still in bed, I snuggled with Baxter. Once I felt really happy I said I wanted to leave by 3. The morning started out rocky, one of the graphic designers took an air master and locked it in his room. We didn't know that, I was scheduled from 8 to 9 to make a fix and we spent most of that time looking for the tape. We didn't finish the session because of it. But I managed to cut a spot, put the finishing touches on it, lay it off, layoff the first session that didn't get done, digitize, edit and layoff for my 3rd session, layback some fixes and was walking to the car by 3:00! So, my new thing is to do that every morning. This morning I asked for a great day with my family.

Sunday uncle AK and aunt Shirley came to the house to see it for the first time. They drove all the way from Texas, where they live, to Oklahoma where their son and his wife are. Dropped off aunt Shirley's mother (because she is sick) and came out to Colorado. They plan on being back to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. Mom and dad bought some DVDs and uncle AK bought our Carol Greigg original painting. My aunt and uncle are fantastic people. Very calm, kind and accepting. We talked about moving, Hawaii, showed them pictures, showed dad how to use Skype and had lunch at the Hickory House. Dad shredding cheese for dinner and mom pretending to be keeping him on task.

Monday we went over to dad's house to visit some more and so Dan could do his usual computer to do list for dad. Mom stayed in the kitchen making dinner while aunt Shirley and I had a heart to heart. We talked about family and how hard it can be to stay out of their lives and let things happen as they will while offering love and support. We headed over to my brothers and had dinner. Kaila, his oldest wasn't feeling well so she stayed in bed the whole time. It was the first time they met Austin, my brother's youngest (he has 5) and it was fantastic seeing how he took to my aunt. Climbing up onto her lap and going to her for comfort. She teaches junior high kids with special needs and her patience and kindness is a magnet to us all!

After leaving work early yesterday, we went to Earl's for some beer with Wes, Bill, Annie and Kris. Love Wes, he is so funny, he had me cracking up. Bill, what can I say about him. He is an "includer", he welcomes anyone and any situation. He came in after us heartbroken. The evil step mother is causing Thanksgiving complications and his girls are suffering from it. We all felt so bad as he told us, with tears in his eyes, the baby mama drama story. Dan and I ran home to pick up our CSA delivery and to feed the dogs. Had a quick bite to eat at Las Delicious and met Bill and his family for a night of bowling.

I apologize for the tone of this post, and my last few, they seem to me to be more like a diary or, litany of events rather than something interesting to read. My inspiration has waned, from everything that is going on, and now the holidays are upon us!

I made some garlic, olive oil, oregano and mozzarella pull-apart bread with home made marinara to dip in and deviled eggs for this afternoon! Happy Thanksgiving!!