Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
A Beach Vacation
This past weekend we had a little family reunion in San Diego. My Grandma, CC, rented a beach house and my mom’s side of the family was all there. Most of the family enjoyed the enormous house in Oceanside for the entire week, and we joined them Thursday night.
It was relaxing and nothing can beat time at the beach. The water was cold, really cold, and got colder while we were there. Kyle learned how to boogie board thanks to Uncle Craig. I didn’t go in past my knees…brrrrr!
A beautiful sunset
Almost the entire gang
It was relaxing and nothing can beat time at the beach. The water was cold, really cold, and got colder while we were there. Kyle learned how to boogie board thanks to Uncle Craig. I didn’t go in past my knees…brrrrr!
Thanks CC for a great vacation!
A beautiful sunset
Almost the entire gangTuesday, July 21, 2009
Sea level visitors at 7980 ft
July has been a very busy month and last weekend we had the pleasure of having Mark and Susan in town. They arrived Thursday night and we were very quickly off to Aspen. We stopped at Reiver’s for dinner, our Gaylord St. fav, and then made our way up the mountain.
The drive is beautiful, which of course they only had the opportunity to see a fraction since we had about an hour of sunlight. We arrived late and took it easy since we had a packed three days of events. Friday morning we headed to Aspen Mountain (Ajax) gondola for a summer time trip to the top. The top of the mountain isn’t visible from town and the 3000 ft vertical climb has breath taking views! We walked around, hiked and had a few beers at 11,212ft. We landed back in town, thankfully, and headed to Zanes, our bar. We devoured delicious wings and various other “bad for you” food and ice cold beer. Our next stop: The Cantina, we never miss it. I had warned those sea-level folks about the effects of high altitude. Three beers in and some of us felt the love, so when we arrived for our pitcher of margs…..it only got worse! Home again, it was time for cigars and cocktails under the Aspen trees watching the sunset. We all had plenty to eat and drink and I called it an early night. ;)
The top of Aspen Mountain
Zanes
Saturday was another beautiful day in Aspen. I made a little egg bake before our trip to Maroon Bells. It is open for about 4 months of the year to motorized vehicles. Outside of these four months, it is by foot, or some other mode….cross country ski, snow mobile, snow shoe, etc. This time of year is gorgeous, the snow hasn’t completely melted, but it is very green from all the run-off. We caught the bus back to town and headed to Bad Billy’s. This was a long standing dive called Cooper Street Bar and Grill that closed last and has since re-opened as Bad Billy’s. Kyle and Mark competed in the bar Olympics which consisted of Golden Tee, Mark won. We waited out an absolute down pour, made a stop at home and then to Double Dog. This place is one of my favorite strictly due to the shuffle board table. We ate dinner and played a few rounds….Mark and Susan won.
We had tickets to the 1:10pm Rockies game, so we were up early and ready to go Sunday morning. Ah, Rockies games……they are so much fun. We had great seats, row 5 on the fist base line. Pitchers of beer, more bar games and food concluded the night. I had to work on Monday, so Mark Susan and Kyle went to Coors Brewery and Casa Bonita. I was sad to work with they were still in town, but happy I didn’t have to endure Casa Bonita…
Miss you guys already!
The drive is beautiful, which of course they only had the opportunity to see a fraction since we had about an hour of sunlight. We arrived late and took it easy since we had a packed three days of events. Friday morning we headed to Aspen Mountain (Ajax) gondola for a summer time trip to the top. The top of the mountain isn’t visible from town and the 3000 ft vertical climb has breath taking views! We walked around, hiked and had a few beers at 11,212ft. We landed back in town, thankfully, and headed to Zanes, our bar. We devoured delicious wings and various other “bad for you” food and ice cold beer. Our next stop: The Cantina, we never miss it. I had warned those sea-level folks about the effects of high altitude. Three beers in and some of us felt the love, so when we arrived for our pitcher of margs…..it only got worse! Home again, it was time for cigars and cocktails under the Aspen trees watching the sunset. We all had plenty to eat and drink and I called it an early night. ;)
The top of Aspen Mountain
Zanes
We had tickets to the 1:10pm Rockies game, so we were up early and ready to go Sunday morning. Ah, Rockies games……they are so much fun. We had great seats, row 5 on the fist base line. Pitchers of beer, more bar games and food concluded the night. I had to work on Monday, so Mark Susan and Kyle went to Coors Brewery and Casa Bonita. I was sad to work with they were still in town, but happy I didn’t have to endure Casa Bonita…Miss you guys already!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Summer vacation in Aspen
Mark and Susan will be here in 24 hours and we are off to Aspen! I can't wait!!!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Crazy summer weather
An afternoon rain is normal, along with a little lightening and thunder. It cools things off, clears up and turns into a lovely evening. Not this summer….it has rained and rained and rained! It has been a cool, record breaking rainy beginning to summer, and Friday night was the cherry on the sundae.
Kyle and I had the day off, we ran errands, and made a final stop at the grocery before heading home. While in the store, the rain came….lights flickered, the generator turned on and we ran like hell to the car. A soggy, pouring down, 15 mile an hour drive home, had us sitting in the car until it calmed down a bit…..we would have been waiting for another 30+ minutes, so we ran inside. We got our dinner ready, relaxed, watched some tv, a few hours had gone by. I was cold so I went down stairs to get a sweatshirt….yelling….”Kyle, we have a problem!”
Half of the basement had flooded! There was water everywhere. The bedding was wet, pillows soaked, and we had a big problem on our hands. Mind you, it is about 7:30ish and I had no idea who to call. I googled “flood cleanup, Denver” and up popped a slew of companies. I called the first one, 800 number and I was supposed to get a return call in 5-10 minutes….right more like 90 minutes later! The next guy was a local company, he could get someone out tonight, and a third company, also local, didn’t have a crew available until midnight. Enough time had passed when we finally made a decision that no one could come out Friday night. All the rain fell within about a mile radius of our house, and the flood cleanup people were swamped!
So, a crew arrived about 8:30 Saturday morning to clean up the basement. Thank goodness Kyle and I had moved all of the furniture out of the room…they charge an arm and a leg to move furniture. It was a bit of a fiasco, but things are drying up. The fans and de-humidifier will be there until tomorrow and then they will do a thermal scan of the room to determine if there is any moisture in the baseboards or walls. Let’s hope not!
Until tomorrow, we live with a constant hum of fans.
Kyle and I had the day off, we ran errands, and made a final stop at the grocery before heading home. While in the store, the rain came….lights flickered, the generator turned on and we ran like hell to the car. A soggy, pouring down, 15 mile an hour drive home, had us sitting in the car until it calmed down a bit…..we would have been waiting for another 30+ minutes, so we ran inside. We got our dinner ready, relaxed, watched some tv, a few hours had gone by. I was cold so I went down stairs to get a sweatshirt….yelling….”Kyle, we have a problem!”
Half of the basement had flooded! There was water everywhere. The bedding was wet, pillows soaked, and we had a big problem on our hands. Mind you, it is about 7:30ish and I had no idea who to call. I googled “flood cleanup, Denver” and up popped a slew of companies. I called the first one, 800 number and I was supposed to get a return call in 5-10 minutes….right more like 90 minutes later! The next guy was a local company, he could get someone out tonight, and a third company, also local, didn’t have a crew available until midnight. Enough time had passed when we finally made a decision that no one could come out Friday night. All the rain fell within about a mile radius of our house, and the flood cleanup people were swamped!
So, a crew arrived about 8:30 Saturday morning to clean up the basement. Thank goodness Kyle and I had moved all of the furniture out of the room…they charge an arm and a leg to move furniture. It was a bit of a fiasco, but things are drying up. The fans and de-humidifier will be there until tomorrow and then they will do a thermal scan of the room to determine if there is any moisture in the baseboards or walls. Let’s hope not!
Until tomorrow, we live with a constant hum of fans.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
A Sad Day...
Since I heard the news of the tragic passing of Steve McNair, my mind has been racing and, like many, has been filled with sadness.
Back in 1999, I was a wide-eyed college junior who lucked out and landed an internship with the Titans Radio Network. Through hard work and a lot of luck, I was able to stick around the organization – in several different capacities – for six more seasons. Over that time I got to know Steve very well on and off the field.
On the field he was a warrior. Whatever you read about him and his toughness will never accurately portray how tough he truly was. There are countless stories of him overcoming severe injuries or not practicing almost an entire season, but playing at an MVP level on game day. I can vividly remember him coming off the bench in Pittsburgh, throwing the game-winning touchdown and then get carried onto the team plane because he was in so much pain.
Not only was Steve impressive on the field, but off of it as well. In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina ravaged the gulf coast, he orchestrated a drive to send desperately needed goods down to his home state of Mississippi. What started as three to four tractor trailers turned into a convoy of almost 20 semis full of supplies headed down to the region. But most of the time, Steve would do things for the community that no one knew about and that is the way that he wanted it. He did those things because he wanted too, not for the attention that would come of it.
Thankfully I got to spend a few minutes with him in 2006 when the Ravens came to Denver. Before the game, he gave me a hard time (as he did to most of us that worked with him) about the awful weather that night. Then after the game, despite the fact that the Ravens lost, he still made time to come over and say goodbye and tell me how happy he was for me to be in Denver.
He was a true warrior, an unbelievable person and I am truly honored that I was fortunate enough to spend seven years working with him. My thoughts and prayers go out to the entire McNair family along with the Titans and Ravens organizations.
Thanks for allowing me a couple of minutes to share my feelings.
R.I.P. Mac…
–Kyle Sonneman
Back in 1999, I was a wide-eyed college junior who lucked out and landed an internship with the Titans Radio Network. Through hard work and a lot of luck, I was able to stick around the organization – in several different capacities – for six more seasons. Over that time I got to know Steve very well on and off the field.
On the field he was a warrior. Whatever you read about him and his toughness will never accurately portray how tough he truly was. There are countless stories of him overcoming severe injuries or not practicing almost an entire season, but playing at an MVP level on game day. I can vividly remember him coming off the bench in Pittsburgh, throwing the game-winning touchdown and then get carried onto the team plane because he was in so much pain.
Not only was Steve impressive on the field, but off of it as well. In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina ravaged the gulf coast, he orchestrated a drive to send desperately needed goods down to his home state of Mississippi. What started as three to four tractor trailers turned into a convoy of almost 20 semis full of supplies headed down to the region. But most of the time, Steve would do things for the community that no one knew about and that is the way that he wanted it. He did those things because he wanted too, not for the attention that would come of it.
Thankfully I got to spend a few minutes with him in 2006 when the Ravens came to Denver. Before the game, he gave me a hard time (as he did to most of us that worked with him) about the awful weather that night. Then after the game, despite the fact that the Ravens lost, he still made time to come over and say goodbye and tell me how happy he was for me to be in Denver.
He was a true warrior, an unbelievable person and I am truly honored that I was fortunate enough to spend seven years working with him. My thoughts and prayers go out to the entire McNair family along with the Titans and Ravens organizations.
Thanks for allowing me a couple of minutes to share my feelings.
R.I.P. Mac…
–Kyle Sonneman
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