RIP Rocky

Yesterday was the last ever issue of The Rocky Mountain News, the only paper we've ever subscribed to.

Something about the prominent Sunday edition and "traditional" format being the reason why The Rocky died instead of The Post. I'll take the famous "tabloid" format of The Rocky any day. Any day.

I'll also miss the balanced reporting. One day into The Post dynasty, I found nothing but liberal crap littering the pages. Oh, one decent story regarding the pope's excommunication of the Holocaust-never-happened cardinal. I don't know, maybe it's because there's nothing but liberal crap going on in the world right now, but it's not like they had to choose editorials saying the the stimulus package "falls short" in terms of it's unprecedented scope, that reversing Bush's health care provider rights bill is "a great idea", and let's not forget tomorrow's big story about giving illegals in-state tuition...since we have higher education funds coming out of our ears. No thanks.

As I read through the special tribute to the last 150 years of The Rocky, tears came to my eyes, remembering how I was riveted reading their coverage of Columbine, September 11, and a dozen special features over the years (Thunderridge HS, The Final Salute, etc). Not to mention the better puzzles and comics section, which is of course, the main deciding factor in choosing which newspaper you read.

We'll miss you, Rocky. Thanks for being Denver's oldest, and one of the best, businesses.

100

In celebration of the 100th post, I wanted to do something special. Since "The Bucket List" has been circulating Facebook, and since I've wanted to do mine for some time now, I decided to put it to paper. Some of the things I've done or want to do don't seem that significant, but are things I'm either glad I've done or want to be glad I've done. And of course, some of them are pretty big. I am glad that the "done" list is significantly longer than the "to-do"...means I'm not wasting time. Feel free to tell me some of your list as well, or other suggestions.

So without further ado, the first draft...

The Bucket List

See Juan Diego’s tilma in Guadalupe

See the sun shine all day in Alaska

Go to Greece

Be kissed under the mistletoe

Go to an NFL game

Go to a WPS game

Go to the Olympics

Own my own dog

Become a doctor

See Phantom of the Opera live

Travel to a Spanish speaking country (Mexican cruise didn’t count)

Order a hot dog (“Coke. Mustard.”) from a street stand

Irish Car Bomb (maybe a mini one)

Save a life

Be a godmother (I know this isn’t really up to me, but it would still be awesome)

Go to Tuscany

See a European soccer match live

Coach softball

Go to Martinsville Candy Kitchen

Things I've Already Done

Deliver a baby (catching, not pushing)

Sailing with a pina colada and dolphins

Go snowmobiling

Do overnight backpacking

Been on a cruise

Seen the pope (twice)

Been to Rome

Sung Karaoke (granted, not in the most formal or populated of places)

Traveled by motorcycle

Snorkeled with turtles and sharks

Been to the MLB All-Star Game

Seen an NHL game

Give a wedding toast

Take pictures in a photo booth

Go ice skating on a frozen lake

Climbed Mt Elbert, the tallest mountain in CO

Watched a mountain sunrise and sunset

Hiked in the Grand Canyon

Hiked the Sand Dunes

Bought something at an art auction

Seen the USWNT play live

Attended the opera, Handel’s Messiah, the symphony, and a Broadway show

Driven ATVs

Played soccer on the beach

Ridden in a limo (it was blue glitter!)

Go horsebackriding

Took guitar lessons

Driven a jet ski

Tequila shot a la The Cutting Edge

Built a gingerbread house

Helped stitch someone up in surgery

Held an alligator

Fire department ride along

Hoisted my state champion sister on my shoulders

Been hoisted on shoulders after winning a race

Coached a soccer team

Been a confirmation sponsor

Laughed so hard I cried

Ridden a train, a public subway, and the bus

Ridden in a Mustang convertible

Surfed

Won a cow-pie throwing contest!

Been in a parade

Slept under the stars

Many sparrows

I love music. I love what it can make you feel that the same words, even without music, never could.

Peaceful now, go sleep like you are sure that you are loved.

God's creations

Sometimes I think part of me does things so that later I can go, "Oh, I went to the park and read some Emily Dickinson, and sketched the children watching the geese." Because doesn't that just sound like how you should spend the day?

Each life converges to some centre
Expressed or still;
Exists in every human nature
A goal,

...Ungained, it may be, by a life's low venture,
But then,
Eternity enables the endeavoring
Again.

I've been wanting to tell you about my patients that I've had for the last 2 weeks. I'm working at "The Ridge", a state facility for developmentally disabled adults that provides group housing, full time staff for living and programming, and health care--that's us. It reminds me of working with the kids with autism for the first time. You just sort of wing it when you walk in the room, and you hit a lot of resistance, but then, a tiny victory comes in the form of a clap or a smile, or finally letting me examine his stomach, even if he is sitting up instead of lying down. And it makes it all worth it. It makes me sad that so many people can't see the beauty in their lives. Not that there isn't also frustration and heartache and disappointment, but the two aren't independent of each other.

On my first day of work at The Ridge, we went to a funeral for a patient who had passed away over the weekend. Of course I didn't know the patient, but I saw the purpose in his life through his brother, who told those gathered that he never held a conversation with his brother in 50-some years, but his brother taught those around him how to love better. It was beautiful.

Enjoying every minute of it

Today's one of those days that you just wish you could bottle. Blue skies, clean air, pick up soccer game in the park, and my favorite view of the skyline behind City Park Lake. Yesterday was bottle-able, too. Ice skating on Evergreen Lake, surrounded by mountains, tiny snowflakes falling softly. Oh yeah, and the two wipeouts that have me wincing today. I finished up a great day with a night of "guilty pleasures": brownies, margaritas, and "She's All That" followed by reminiscing about high school teachers which made me laugh so hard my face hurt. Apparently I'm not the only one who picked up "Gear down, big shifter" from Mr. Hatak.

Ahh, home

I can't count the number of times I've smiled in the last 18 hours. Getting to Silverthorne sooner than expected, seeing familiar streets, filling my tires and wiper fluid by myself, Eisenhower Tunnel (which is only Westbound by the way; Eastbound is Johnson Tunnel, completed 6 years later), coming out of the mountains and seeing flat land (and dry roads), blue sky, the skyline, a cyclist on the road, Rueben and his "prancing", Ms. B baking and me licking the bowl, my duck pillow, my alarm clock (instead of my phone alarm), "She's Gonna Hurt Somebody", etc.

I LOVE being home.

Week 2

I've said just enough about Tony Dungee retiring and how much I hate the Chargers for my coworkers to label me as a "fanatic", reading me every headline on their homepages that has anything to do with football (do I care that TO is leaving the Cowboys? no, but he definitely brought it on himself)

I watched the whole first season of "Pushing Daisies" which, granted was only 9 episodes, but it was nine episodes of brilliant-color-deadpan-humor-heart-fluttering fantasy. And it makes me want to eat pie all the time. That, and the fact that I drive by a Village Inn twice every day on the way to and from work.

I visited 3 of our patients in a nursing home, all ladies in their 90s. The one with severe dementia who doesn't talk kind of balanced out the one who answered "how's your ankle doing?" with her life's story. I was there for 2 1/2 hours. The first time my preceptor sent a student to interview Betty, she thought they slacked off and went skiing for the afternoon. Then she realized Betty just loves a captive audience. And I realized that balancing efficiency and good listening isn't one of my strengths.

Speaking of strengths, Millie, the PA, has admitted that we all have different skills, and one of her is the ability to have her throat swabbed for an hour. Too bad the little boy with a negative strep test didn't share that gift.

There's a store downtown called "Fuzziwig's" and walking inside, you are, literally, a kid in a candy store. Combine the Sweet Factory in the mall with Willy Wonka's Factory, and something out of your best dreams (or a "Pushing Daisies" episode) and you get the general idea. I had to go in once just to let it all overtake me, so that the next time I go in, with intent to buy, I don't end up with a wheelbarrow full of sugar.

Phil's home from Kuwait. Welcome home. And continued prayers for all those still serving.