Rugby 101

This past weekend friends and family in Colorado got a little rugby lesson watching Erica and the KC Jazz play the Glendale Raptors at the amazing rugby facilities in Glendale, CO. Unfortunately, the lesson was how to get beat 73-3. The Jazz didn't have the numbers that the Raptors had and injuries didn't help. Erica's foot wasn't close to 100% but she played almost the entire game.


Like I said, the facilities in Glendale are pretty amazing. Our friend David noted that there is not much going on in Glendale except strip clubs, and luckily they decided to spend the strip club earnings on rugby! The weekend before this game, Erica played on a field that was mostly weeds and was hard as a rock. It had rained the previous week and some redneck had gone mudding in the field, leaving 3" deep tire tracks all over. In stark contrast, the facility in Glendale has a beautiful grass field. I wish my lawn looked so good. The game actually had play by play announcers and I think there were at least four television cameras. The men's game that followed Erica's game was televised the next day on Fox Sports (Rocky Mountain). Erica's game was not on TV but it can be streamed online or downloaded for later viewing. Pretty cool.

Even after the trouncing - bad foot and all - Erica was in high spirits :)

Forever Strong Premier this Weekend!

Don't Tell Us What Happens!

Neither of us watched the premier of Grey's Anatomy tonight. We are going to watch it together this weekend. It was a 2 hour premier, who has time for that?

SO full.

To thank Chris for taking care of the shit around here (literally), I took him out to Lidia's for dinner tonight. Lidia's is owned by the famous Lidia Bastianich. The restaurant is an old converted freight house. It is very rustic with large blown glass chandeliers. It is one of my favorite spaces in KC.


We each had the Trio del Giorno. It is a three course pasta tasting. Everyday they serve 3 pastas. Tonight we had a homemade fettuccini with cinnamon seasoned sausage (SO good) and a tomato base, homemade spinach stuffed ravioli with a white zucchini sauce, and finally a penne dish with flash fried heirloom tomatoes, pine nuts, sweet basil, and a really yummy Italian cheese. The pasta is all you care to eat. We also got a beautiful Caesar salad and our choice of dessert.

I am taking a break from school work for the first time in weeks and we are spending the rest of the evening digesting and relaxing together.

Main Drain

Chris is still in KC. He had an adventure on Tuesday morning when the main drain in the laundry room backed up when he was doing laundry. He stayed to meet the plumber who was scheduled to roto-root today. The plumber got the cable out 100' with a 3" blade, in case you were wondering.

The picture is showing all of the roots and junk that were pulled up. The plumber ran the washer twice today, and we are doing wash now and everything is back to normal. Chris scrubbed the laundry room with bleach and hosed everything down this afternoon. If that isn't true love, I don't know what is :)

Chris enjoying QT at Orr Major

Romantic Dinner at Orr Major

Chris picked me up after work tonight. We ran to parking services to get a parking pass, then we went to QT to get our favorite 52oz fountain drinks, and then he whisked me away to Orr-Major Hall for dinner. Chris made Spiral Tuna Mac (can of tuna + spiral mac & cheese) and corn bread. It was delicious.

I have classes in Orr Major. It also holds a commons area for students. We are hanging out until 6:30 when I have a talk to go to. Chris is proof reading my state policy analysis on medical malpractice premiums and I am going to start prepping for my 7pm class.

My Left Foot, starring Erica

Saturday started out normal enough. As usual, we set the alarm for 8 AM and then slept until almost 10 AM. That was nice. I dropped Erica off at the library so she could work on a paper while I mowed the lawn and ran some errands. A little after noon we headed off to Erica's rugby game. We were about 40 minutes late (still almost an hour before the game started) which is probably why Erica didn't play the first half. The Jazz played The Black Ice, a team from Denver. The Black Ice weren't very good and The Jazz were killing them. Erica got out on the field to start the second half and she was looking good. She carried the ball several times and was putting a general hurting on the other team. Then one of the girls on The Black Ice went down and rolled on top of Erica's foot and here is the result:

Erica's foot would not support any weight and she was in a great deal of pain. Things didn't look right when she moved it, so we decided the best thing we could do was go to the ER and get it checked out. Of course, Erica had to drive herself because I had had a few too many beers while spectating (a rugby tradition). We went to the ER at KUMed, hoping maybe we could get some "special treatment" because Erica worked there. They were all out of "special treatment" that day. After almost two hours of sitting around we finally got Erica's foot x-rayed and found out the good news that there were no broken bones. That didn't ease Erica's pain, nor did the fashionable boot that we left with:

We are strictly adhering to the prescription of foot elevation and massive quantities of Ibuprofen. If things are not improving after a week then further action may be required. I need to go pick up a hacksaw just in case :) I have changed my flight schedule and I will be staying in KC until Wednesday morning. This way I can make sure that Erica gets to work and school OK. I need to get her a bell so she can ring it whenever she needs anything.

Hopefully Erica's foot improves rapidly so she can play in next weekends game in Colorado. I know everyone in Colorado wants to go see her make girls cry.

Ahoy! It be Talk Like a Pirate Day!

If ye want t' talk like a buccanneer, click here.

New barstools for the island...finally!

Erica and I finally found barstools that we liked at Z Gallerie. Actually, Erica liked them right away and I took some convincing, but I eventually came around (I really do like them). Now we can have company over and hang out in the kitchen while we cook all of our fabulous meals.

Here they are in the kitchen.

Another No-Fly

No traveling this weekend. It may be a good thing, I am hoping to catch up on sleep and get some more school work done - Chris did not have a very good time at the library last weekend, but he didn't let on too much. I was at the library until 11 or 12 every night this week and at work every morning at 7:30am. I had a paper due last night and submitted an on-line test late this afternoon.

I took a study break and played a rugby game today. It was good to be back, and we won against the St. Louis Sabres 10-0.

Bring on the meatballs...

IKEA is coming to Denver! Unfortunately, there is no opening date yet. Right now the closest IKEA is in Salt Lake City, which would be about a 7 to 8 hour drive for me. The new store will be just over an hour from me. Yay! I need a bigger car...

I'm bored...I need a beer!

The library!!! (just picture it gray and rainy)

Yesterday we spent about 7 hours at the library while Erica worked on a paper for school. I did some work (Erica told me to be prepared), read a magazine, worked on a crossword, and surfed the web - I had it easy! The only thing that kept us going was some delicious Vietnamese food from Vietnam Cafe. Yesterday evening we went grocery shopping and fell asleep watching SNL. This morning Erica started working on her paper at home while I cut and bundled a large branch that fell from one of the trees in her backyard. Then we came to the library. That was 6 hours ago. My work computer isn't working right now so I've just been hanging out. My 52 oz. Dr. Pepper is dry (next time I'll try a fun recipe). I think I was supposed to set up a Facebook account, but that didn't happen. I'm such a loser! Erica says she is either going to kill herself or pull all her hair out this semester. I told her I would prefer her bald.