The end of 2008 and beginning of 2009

Happy New Year!!!! We had quite a few fun filled days in the past week. After the flurry of Christmas, we gathered ourselves and got ready for Rich and Penny to come to town. Kyle and I were really excited about it, especially after we knew we would be able to go to Aspen.

Their plans got a little jumbled and they arrive nearly 7 hours early. I had dinner plans with Erin, who was in town for 24 hours and Jaime. Afterward, I met up with Kyle, Rich and Penny at the Cricket, one of our favorite spots to take guests. Tuesday brought a whirlwind tour of the metro area. First I took them to my favorite breakfast/brunch spot, Lucille's. With full bellies, we headed to Golden for a tour at Coors, and annoyed, they were closed for the holidays.....grrrrr. Nonetheless, we took some pictures to at least look like we toured. I drove them up Lookout Mountain where you can find some of the best view of the Denver Metro area. From there, we made a stop at this cute shop where Penny picked up a pair of jeans, and then headed back downtown. Rich wanted to go back to the area where we were for our wedding this summer. We stopped into Illegal Pete’s (Similar to Qdoba or Chipotle) for a beer, went to the Rio for a famous margarita and of course chips and salsa, then met Kyle at home for dinner. We continued on the Mexican train for dinner at Salty Rita’s and then to the Tavern uptown for a drink. It was a great day.

In-between all of the downtown stops, I got a text from Kyle...."Something big is going to happen today, I'm not sure when I'll be home...." That had me worried because the last time I receive a text like that, 7 people were laid off. So I responded "with the players or you?" He didn't know. Not more than 20 minutes later, another text said "SHANAHAN GOT FIRED!" I nearly fell off my chair. Another 20 minutes passed and it was on ESPN at Illegal Pete’s. News travels fast I guess. All is well in our world. This change will mainly affect the football side of the organization, not staff.

Wednesday we laid low, ran a few errands until Kyle was off after the big press conference. All of our bags were packed and ready to hit the road to Aspen. Colorado pizza is one of a kind, so we stopped in Idaho Springs at BeauJo's Pizza for a lunch/dinner on our way up. We arrived in Aspen to see dark windows, police tape and emergency vehicles all over town. As you may have heard, there was a crazy on the loose, with bombs and threats that shut down 16 blocks of town. For those who don’t know Aspen, that is ALL OF TOWN! It paralyzed the entire town, good thing we didn't have plans to go out, even thought it was NYE. Skiing was on the agenda for Thursday, so we wanted to be rested. Don't get me wrong, we stayed up to see the New Year, but it wasn't 15 minutes later and we were all in bed.

Thursday, what a day......lets see, how do I explain this. The set up: Rich - skied a few times and smack talked all week, Penny - skied a couple of times, Kyle - skied a couple of times, Me - skied my entire life. That being said, we headed out all bundled up and hopped the bus to Snowmass. The emotions and feelings: excited, nervous, stressed, frustrated, pain, more pain, hunger, scared, calmed, fun. We experience them all. Kyle called it a day about lunch time, and the three of us stayed for a few more runs. As usual, Rich was all talk about how I was going to only see his back side all day....blah, blah, blah. The details, it didn't happen. While Penny took a break, Rich and I went on an "intermediate" run at his request. He nearly peed himself, swearing, falling and Hell NO I'M NOT GOING DOWN THAT ONE, the entire way down the hill. It was hilarious! The end: We ate dinner relatively early, and crashed about 9:30.Friday we showed the newly engaged couple Aspen. It is such a fun town, lots of great shopping, looking and eating and drinking. I think we all had a great time. The day was finished at Zanes, watching Kentucky come back for the big win in the Music City Bowl. We headed back to Denver after the game. Saturday came all too quickly and it was time for Rich and Penny to leave.

It was a week filled with lots of laughter, competition, drinks, good eats, car rides, smack talk, reality of loosing, excitement of an engagement and time with great friends. I can't wait until next time!