All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
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Ok. Let's think about trust. Yeah, I know, it's a big topic. A little out of my bailiwick, perhaps, but it is pretty universal, so, not really. The Google says "trust" means, "A firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something." That's a tall order. So, let's narrow it down. I am not talking here about the kind of trust with a capital "T," like whether we trust our spouse, our family, or our friends to stick by us through thick or thin. I also don't mean the...
Ok. Do you use your middle initial? Some people do and some people don't. I can see why you would use it to distinguish yourself from all the other "John Smiths" out there. I can see why you would use it to score an email address that would be otherwise taken. Some people use it out of habit. Others use it to sound important. Some just like the way it sounds. And some people don't have a middle name. But the whole middle initial thing gets complicated. What about hyphenated names? If your name...
Ok. Do you remember P.E.? Or, as I like to remember it, "PTSD." You know, that class called "Physical Education" or some variant? Some remember P.E. with exhilaration. Some remember it with humiliation. I mainly fall in the latter category. Many of you have probably buried those middle school and high school days but I am going to try to jog your memory around the proverbial track. Although P.E. class entailed being physical, I am not sure what kind of "education" I received. I do remember...
Ok. Now I know we live in one of the most healthy, athletically inclined, outdoor oriented places in America. In fact, I remember when I first moved here, I was asked, "What do you do?" Call me crazy but I thought they meant what do I do for a living, or what is my profession. As I mumbled something about corporate law and estate planning, I was interrupted with, "No, I mean what do you do, like sports." My eyes grew wide as I again fumbled for an appropriate and Boulder-friendly response. Dorot...
Ok. Do you remember when you were a kid and you would leave the house in the morning and be gone all day with nothing but your bike? No hat, no sunscreen, no water bottle, no cell phone, no Google maps, no tracking device, and most importantly, no SNACKS! Each of those deserves some discussion but let's just focus on snacks. When did we suddenly need to eat every hour or so? There is snack time at school, snacks at every practice and game, snacks in the car, snacks at the lake, snacks when you...
Ok. Let's talk about the weather. Or, rather, who doesn't talk about the weather? Whether it's with a cashier at the market, the receptionist at the doctor's office, your spouse, your friends, or nearly anyone, the default subject is often the weather. The range of subjects on this topic is vast. Today it is usually, "Oh, isn't it so nice that spring has finally come?" But it can easily be, "It's been so cold lately" which will soon morph into "It's been so hot lately." You hear the negative...
It was a fun-filled "Saturday in the Park" on June 3 as the Niwot Business Association held its Third Annual Lobsterfest at Whistle Stop Park in Niwot. The rainy skies cleared for this sunny charity event filled with over 150 friends, neighbors and family members which Deborah Fowler, an event organizer said raised over $3,000 to benefit the Niwot Sculpture Park, which is restoring the tree carvings created by Eddie Running Wolf. In addition to Fowler, the event was organized by Linda Klueber...
Ok. It's graduation time. Whether you are graduating yourself or you have a child, grandchild or other family member or friend who is graduating about now, we all know what a big step that is. The word "commencement" means both an end as well as a beginning. It's the celebration of the end of one of life's many chapters and the beginning of another. But don't let me be your commencement speaker. Heck, we could have the wisdom of Bill Gates, Oprah, Tim Cook, Maria Shriver, Arnold Schwarzenegger...
OK. Have you ever taken a trip with your adult siblings? I mean no spouses, no children. Just you guys? I recently took a trip to Lake Powell with five siblings and five other old friends, and two teenagers. Can we just talk about the logistics of that for a minute? Logistics for family events, whether reunions, birthdays, weddings or just a vacation can be daunting. But let's just focus on 12 people from various parts of the nation converging on a barren southwestern portion of our country...
OK. Keeping track of passwords has become a full time and often frustrating job. And I don't mean "Password" with Alan Ludden and Betty White. It used to be you just needed a password to get on your computer and maybe visit your bank statement. And let's be honest, most of the time you had a username like TomSmith and a password like "password." Or if you were feeling especially clever, you would choose "passw0rd." Now, it seems you need a password for everything: logging on to your computer,...
OK. Many of us enjoy a cocktail now and then. Actually, now sounds pretty good. Seriously, everyone has their first choice/go-to cocktail. You might order white wine, red wine, beer, gin and tonic, vodka soda or vodka Red Bull. Whatever. But let me tell you, the minute those words come out of your mouth, someone has just sized you up. I have found that it's not how much you drink but what you drink that gets everyone's attention. Wine? It is no longer just white or red. No, my friend, if it's...
OK. Raise your hand if you miss "TV Guide." I mean the pint-sized weekly magazine, not the website. I do. A lot. "TV Guide" ushered in the whole era of television watching starting in 1953, designating which shows were broadcast in "living color" in its familiar grid of times and channels. Do we even say "channels" anymore? "Channels" meant ABC, NBC, CBS, maybe one or two independent stations, and PBS, where all the "educational" shows were found. "Times?" That's prehistoric too. Now, you watch...
OK. We have all been on a diet. Whether it's to lose weight (me), avoid allergies (yeah, I am looking at you, gluten), improve your health, or just a lifestyle choice, we have all adopted a diet from time to time. Of course, sometimes that diet is hot dogs, pizza and hamburgers (and don't forget the onion dip and Fritos), but most often it is a choice of certain foods to obtain the desired result. In other words, we are what we eat. I believe diets fall into three basic categories: Food choice...
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Ok. You know sometimes when you go out to dinner, you are pleasantly hungry, and looking forward to some good conversation, good food and some one-on-one time? You walk in, the host smiles and says, "Right this way," and then you find yourself heading for the dreaded "banquette." You know, that place they seat you when all the cozy booths and intimate tables are occupied? The place where you sit painfully close to the people next to you, along a sound amplifying wall like a string of dominoes....
A standing-room-only rapt crowd gathered at Inkberry Books on March 24 to enjoy local resident author Julie Kaewert's articulate discussion of her "Plumtree Series of Mysteries for Booklovers." Kaewert described the Penguin Random House published six book series as "bibliomysteries" set in England that follow Alex Plumtree, an "upstanding protagonist who always does the right thing" who is based upon her husband. Kaewert's candid remarks about the creation of the series, her inspirations, the wo...
Ok. Let's talk about first dates. To be clear, I haven't had a first date in over 30 years. So, I am no expert on the experience. Although I may be out of practice, I know one when I see one. How many times have you gone to a restaurant and seen a couple and thought, "Oh, look how cute, a first date." So sweet, right? Well, yes. And sometimes, no. Is it sweet or sometimes painful? Did someone swipe right when they should have swiped left? Oops. First, let's review how to spot a first date....
OK. Raise your hand if you hate daylight savings time. Yes, I see you. What is up with this arbitrary addition or subtraction of an hour? You know, that nearly nationwide event that messes up your circadian rhythm and your schedule? That spring-ahead-fall-behind anomaly that wreaks havoc around the world? When I was young enough to notice, my parents told me that Daylight Savings Time means we gain an hour a day in the fall and lose an hour in the spring. That concept really messed me up. How...
Lucky Niwot Day celebrates St. Patrick's Day on Saturday, March 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., courtesy of the Niwot Business Association, with live music, games, Irish food and face painting for the whole family. See if you can spot the leprechaun wandering our streets. Start the day with an Irish breakfast at the Niwot Market, treat yourself to cookies at Little Bird, Cimmini's, and Few of a Kind Vintage + Mercantile, and lemonade at The Niwot Inn. Get your face painted at Blessings Day Spa, find...
Ok. We have all been invited to a party where the invitation reads, "Please bring an appetizer and wine." First, what happened to the word "hors d'oeuvre?" Is it too hard to spell? (Protip: just ask Google, I did.) Now, I can handle the wine part, but the appetizer sends me into a tizzy (yes, I said "tizzy" - a woefully underutilized but easy-to-spell word). Why? Well, we all have our go-to appetizers at home: nuts, cheese and crackers and, everyone's favorite: shrimp cocktail. But don't we...
Ok. We love our dogs. No, let me be clear, we adore our dogs. No, let me clearer. Our dogs are our best friends, our children, our partners, our comfort. They read our minds, love us unconditionally and often are incredibly funny. That said, I was walking with a friend today and she wiped off her leggings and said, "Oh my God, I am always covered in dog hair!" Ahh. There's the rub. I, too, find myself using one of those lint removal masking tape roller things all the time, trying to disguise the...
Ok. Let's talk about sleep schedules. Are you an early to bed, early to rise person? Or are you a night owl and can't get up before 10 a.m.? Or, maybe you are like me - a go to bed late and get up early person? Why would I do that? It's simple. You guessed it, my sleeping schedule doesn't always mesh with my husband's. He's a lights-out-at-10 p.m. kinda guy. I'm a just-getting-my-second-wind-at-10 p.m. kinda gal. He's a get-up-at-dawn person (daylight savings or not). I am a get-up-when-I-must p...
Ok. I don't know about you, but loading the dishwasher tends to be an issue in most households. There seems to be one person who is determined to load it in an orderly fashion where all the plates and bowls are lined up like the terra-cotta army in Xi'an. I don't know about you, but I have never reviewed the instruction manual for our dishwasher to see the proper way it should be loaded. And honestly, I never intend to. But there is almost always someone who feels it is a badge of honor and...
Ok. It's been a cold winter. Really cold. We all wake up to freezing cold houses, glance outside to see what snowfall occurred during the night, wondering if it will be a snow day and a treacherous drive to work. We make steaming cups of tea or coffee, check to be sure the faucet is still dripping and shuffle to the shower muttering, "It's freezing in here!" For me, first things first. Turn up the thermostat. As my family likes to remind me, "Mom, turning it up all the way doesn't get the house...
Ok. I love my husband dearly. He's a good person, a great father and a great husband, and he is very handy around the house. Ok. You are thinking, "here it comes..." But no. Well, yes. I don't know if you have experienced this with your spouse, partner, roommate, or children. Maybe it's just me. But keep in mind we have lived in the same house for 20, no, almost 30 years. I guarantee you there are items in the house that have been in the same drawer, on the same shelf, in the same closet for the...
Ok, we all agree house plants are living, sometimes feeling, organisms. We all have a few and some of us have many. In fact, I have a friend who has devoted a whole room (really, the whole house) to plants after her daughter graduated from high school and abandoned her old bedroom. So now her plants not only have a southern exposure, but they also have a hydro light box thing in the bathroom, special lighting, air plants keeping them company from above and lots of desert cacti mocking their...
Ok. First, Happy New Year to each of you! This time of year, that statement is often followed by, "Hey, have you made any New Year's resolutions?" Ouch. Should I? Is that a requirement for simply turning a page in my calendar? Most people are in one of two camps: "Yes, I have made resolutions." Or, "No, I don't believe in that." I fall somewhere in between. Certainly, the new year is a good time to take stock and make changes to ensure the "happy" part of the coming year. Typically, I hear: "Yes...
Ok. The holidays are almost over but can we just review one small aspect? I know every family has its traditions. And one of those is often the making of Christmas cookies. You know, the ones where you use cute cookie cutters on sugar cookies, decorate them and then give them to all your friends on a pretty plate with a red bow? It means, although I happily exchange cookies, I have discovered: I fail at making Christmas cookies. Let me explain. I have a friend who makes the kind of angels,...
Ok. We all love the holidays. But how did I miss the memo that says we have to stop our normal lives from November 10 through January 3? Oh, let’s just throw Halloween in too and start with the annual October costume frenzy. This means that for three out of 12 months you put your “normal” life on hold and begin a whirlwind of planning, cooking, and eating for all the visitors. Isn’t that a quarter of a year? Business earnings and projections decide corporate fates in less time than that. And yet, here I am, stopping everything trying to determi...
Avery Brewing Company and Boulder County Elections are hosting a Vote Early Day on Friday, Oct. 28 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Avery Brewing Company, 4910 Nautilus Court in Gunbarrel. Avery is the site of the only 24-hour voter drop box in Gunbarrel. Vote Early Day is a nationwide event that encourages early voting to avoid long lines, work and school issues and voter registration issues that might impede access to voting. Early voting opens in Colorado on Oct. 24 and can be done by mail or by dropping off your ballot at a designated drop box....
This year, Boulder County voters face the often puzzling question of whether to vote to retain a variety of judges from the Boulder County Courts, the 20th Judicial District Court, and the Colorado Court of Appeals. In total, fourteen judges are on the Boulder County ballot. Fortunately, there is information available from the Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation (OJPE) to help voters make informed decisions regarding whether to retain a specific judge. The OPJE is a non-partisan agency charged with evaluating all people being...
A small grass fire broke out Oct. 20 north of Boulder in the Lakeridge Trail area at about Nelson Road and Highway 36. At approximately 2 p.m., fire crews and the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to the area. Fire crews requested air assistance due to the dry, hot weather and the proximity of the fire to homes in the area, including the Lake of the Pikes neighborhood. The 19-acre fire was on private land and has been contained. An Evacuation Warning was issued for the area. Mountain Ridge Drive, Lakeridge Trail, and H...
