Weather forecast

"It's raining, it's snowing.

My irritation is growing!

It just turned May,

and it has snowed all day!

Who knows what we'll have in the morning!"

My Backyard

So, when I moved to Colorado, I didn't expect to love everything about the state. I am a person quite partial to my home state of South Carolina. I also didn't expect to be as annoyed as I am by certain components of life here. Many of you enjoyed my commentary on the favorite things I have in Colorado, but I noticed no one from SC commented on them. I'm balancing the blog by now sharing the things that annoy the heck out of me.

To begin with...there is one good season, Summer. Every other season is a smattering of good days mixed with snow and cold! For example, it is close to 70 degrees today. I can't really complain. However, last Wednesday/Thursday, this picture shows what my backyard looked like.

It's not that this southern girl can't handle the occasional cold front, but COME ON! This is not predicted to be our last snow. The saying out here is "If you don't like the weather, wait an hour." That statement couldn't be more true, but my sinuses have had it! It is time for spring, sunshine, and tans! I don't want to still wear socks and corduroy in late April! Tim's input here: No one out here can drive in the rain, but drive like demons in the snow!

Another thing that annoys me is that there are no dentist offices that are free standing...at least none I've seen. They are all in strip malls. Those of you back south...do you feel comfortable having your teeth pulled at a strip mall? Don't get me wrong, I love my dentist out here. However, I would have never tried her out had she not been highly recommended!

A third thing that annoys me is how every street, road, avenue, place, way, and boulevard have the same freakin' name! There's Euclid Ave., Euclid St., Euclid Way...you get my point. If it weren't for Google Maps and a couple uniquely numbered highways, I'd constantly be lost!

Many of you have heard me complain about this, but it needs to be said again. The educational funding out here is laughable. More money goes into the upkeep of the stadiums that house all the professional teams than to the schools. Justification is that people don't move here for the education. However, most of these people move here, settle, have kids, and then send them to schools that still have chalk boards, orange carpet (that was ripped out of my first dorm room before I moved in), and asbestos! But, please keep making the Pepsi Center state of the art instead! I'm down off of my soap box now.

The last thing is a little thing but annoying to both Tim and I. People out here don't Barbecue...at least not in the true sense of the word. Yes, I know the Australian term "shrimp on the barbie," but do you REALLY think about burgers and hot dogs when you hear the term "barbecue?" No, you think of some selection of meat, that is slow roasted or GRILLED, and then has a yummy goodness of sauce (KC Masterpiece, mustard, vinegar, whatever your liking) spread over it. What our good friends in Colorado kindly refer to as a barbecue is known elsewhere in the world as "cooking/grilling out." Imagine showing up for a barbecue and getting a Sam's Club burger and some Doritos...These are just a few of my less than favorite things in Colorado.

I do enjoy my time here. Like I said, summer is humidity-free and much less buggy. We have a much better public transportation system. People are generally healthier and more active and we have great parks for Rocky to meet new dogs. We are far away from friends and family, but have met some wonderful people out here. Hey, if I could pick anywhere I could live, it wouldn't be Colorado or South Carolina. I'd be independently rich and on a beach in Hawaii.

"I left my heart in San Francisco..."

Not really. I just really, really loved the trip Tim and I took for spring break! The weather is what spring should be like in late March. The flowers were in bloom and the sun was warm. There was fog and mist...not very common in Colorado. By far, our favorite part was visiting Sonoma and Napa. We took a bay cruise, a trolley ride to Chinatown, toured Ghiardelli square, and ate tons of wonderful food! Restaurants we recommend are R & G Lounge (Chinese food at it's best) and Scoma's Seafood (one of the oldest seafood restaurants in the city.) The ride down Lombard St. was much more fun for Tim than me, but neat just the same! The hike through Muir woods was amazing and cold! Click on the picture below to see all the pictures we took. Tim took over 200, but I've cut the list to 86.

These are a few of my favorite things...

I know many of you out there don't want to hear me talk about things I like out here in Colorado, for fear that we may never return to the south. Many of you have heard my complaints (dentist offices in strip malls, lack of snow days--even in treacherous road conditions by Colorado standards, the funding for schools, etc.) but there are some definite good things too. Given that we are anticipating many visitors in the coming spring, summer, and fall, I thought I'd share a few of my Colorado addictions. As I began finding pictures to illustrate this blog, I found that most of the things that give me bliss are shopping and food...I guess we all have our priorities! There are a few that were not Internet accessible; like Le Belle Nails...a salon that gives the BEST mani/pedi I have ever had! Or, the stories my students give me. I thought I had some good ones coming out of South Carolina...but wow. I could also mention the sunsets over the Rocky Mountains or the ability to look east and see city lights for miles.

Aspen Grove is a shopper's dream...and it keeps me occupied sufficiently. Best part is it's only a mile up the road. In the spring and summer there is a farmer's market every Saturday morning. Restoration Hardware is found in other parts of our country, but Colorado introduced this elevated home-decor store to me. My beloved blanket came from here along with our Christmas stockings. The only bad thing I can say about this store is that it is just too expensive for me to decorate my entire home. RH still inspires me...my favorite color from there is eucalyptus.





The above named restaurants are the usual spots you can find Tim and me. Tokyo Joe's is the healthiest fast food I've found and it's Asian-style cuisine...which you know I love. Wahoo's is by far my favorite dining experience on a dime. A delicious coastal twist on Mexican food in a boarder-meets-surfer-meets-skater atmosphere...Wahoo's knows tacos. Oddly enough, neither Tim nor I have ever had the taco. There are just too many other great things to try! My favorite is the Wahoo sandwich...though, I haven't heard anyone complain about any of the food. Rib City is a place many of you have heard of before, from my first summer in Colorado. It was my "south" in the middle of the plains. Rib City serves fried okra, BBQ sandwiches, and sweet tea. With country music playing in the background, you'll feel like you're at Sonny's or Mutt's in no time. Obviously, Tim and I have made ourselves regulars...we get our fix at least once a week. Noodles is the place we are planning to eat at tonight...my favorite is the Pan Asian Noodles (go figure.) This place offers a quality pasta dish with salad for $6.95. Definitely worth a visit if you ever come across one. Qdoba is the west's version of Moe's. We also frequent this place regularly (it can be found along with Noodles at Aspen Grove.) Our favorite here is the naked chicken burrito with black beans...all I can say is Y-U-M. After all of that, you can see that I am well fed in Colorado. If you come to visit, you will be too! On to sports...
I hope I don't get stoned for saying this, but Colorado doesn't really offer the college sports the south does. My heart will first and foremost always reside with the ACC, though they severely disappointed me today (and last night.) Since there isn't really a college team to follow, I have fallen prey to professional sports. The Nuggets are, by far, mine and Tim's favorite form of entertainment. Though they don't always win, they are our team...and the first professional basketball team I have ever cared about. A-I (Allen Iverson) is my favorite player, and yes, I do have a t-shirt with his jersey number. The Nuggets would definitely be the thing Tim and I would miss most about Colorado. Troy Tulowitzki (pictured below) is the new golden boy for the Colorado Rockies. After an exciting end to baseball season last October, we are all geared up for baseball this spring. Opening day has already sold out. I don't know that this has ever happened in Colorado. Tulo is a big reason everyone is so pumped. He's got the hustle Eckstein has, but is about ten years younger. If you make it out to visit us (hint, hint) we might let you see him in action!
Ok, so my diatribe on Colorado is almost over. There are many things I am still learning about this area (like how every street/road/avenue has the same name) and there are many things I painfully miss about South Carolina. Just know that while we are here, we would love to have you visit. Until then, you can click on the pics to explore the websites of all the places you're missing out on! :) To wrap this up, and quote a show that was filmed in Boulder, CO before most of us were born...Na-no, na-no.

My brain...sort of...

I found this chart on another Chiarian's website. This illustrates the difference and degrees of Chiari. I am labled as a person with Chiari 1...that means I'm the one in the middle. If you look at the base of the brain, the little bit of brain working it's way into the neck is called the cerebellar tonsils. Thankfully, it's not an important part of the brain...concerning just the same. These tonsils along with the brain stem descend into the spinal cavity. Only one of those parts should be in the spinal cavity and that is where all the pressure I feel is being created. A recent visit with the headache specialist confirmed that my brain even baffles the experts. He thinks I'm having four types of headaches: sinus, tension, migraine, and the chiari kind. Because he can't specifically point to the ones that are chiari created, we're going to experiment for a while. My current regime is a muscle relaxer each night (for the neck pain), a migraine pill most days (for headaches that seem to be migraines), physical therapy (again, for my neck), and then possibly switching to a gluten-free diet...just in case it's diet that is throwing me out of whack! In about a month, I'll meet back with the specialist. We will reevaluate my headaches and see what is being stopped through current procedures and what still needs attention. Eventually, we will get to the bottom of all of these headaches and be able to recognize which headaches are chiari related. From there, who knows? There could be surgery, but maybe not. I'll keep you posted. I'll also keep working on posting one of my brain scans for all who are curious...right now our scanner isn't cooperating, so I hope the chart at least makes a good visual. Thank you for all of your concern! Keep us in your prayers as we keep you in ours!

Have a wonderful and Happy Easter from The Brocks.