is this thing on?

About a month ago, Brian's car was in the shop. He drives a 1979 Mercedes that he inherited from his grandpa so whenever he takes it in for repairs, the Mercedes dealership loans him a brand new Mercedes to tide him over until he gets his car back. It's by far my favorite perk of owning that car. This time Brian decided we should take the loaner car up for a drive in the mountains so we headed west. It was a gloomy day, raining on and off. We got to the top of Vail Pass and were heading down when the heavens opened and released an unrelenting torrential downpour. Brian immediately slowed down because our windshield wipers were not fast enough to allow us to see... Now that I've set the scene, let me add a side comment. We are about to witness a series of accidents due to hydroplaning. All of this while driving a car that costs more than I make in a year; a car that we are borrowing . These factors caused an influx of stress and adrenaline which I have now learned can warp...

I love it when you stumble across a great weekend, especially when you weren't planning for anything in particular. Brian woke me with a kiss on Saturday and whispered, "If we're going hiking, we should leave soon." I jumped out of bed and got ready while Brian cooked some eggs and then we headed west to hike up to Crater Lake. Here's what I look for in an optimal hike: your path should lead you up and the word 'alpine' should be involved. We indeed went up and were pleasantly greeted with great alpine meadows and lakes. This picture reminds me of the bigfoot sighting pictures. After our hike, we had dinner with my parents who stopped by to pick up their dog, Eefee, after their road trip to Pennsylvania. After they left, Brian suggested we go get some flowers for the flower beds in our front window. We were smarter this time and paid attention to the fact that our big tree blocks most sunlight and got plants that don't need full su...