Our First Week in Colorado

We arrived in Colorado for good on Saturday, March 30.  Drew headed back to work first thing Monday morning as April 1 is the official kick-off of the landscape season here, but I had the week off to get things in order.  And what a week it was.  While it consisted mostly of unpacking, getting settled and touring schools for Jack, there were a few others ups and downs along the way.

Our very first morning at Mom & Dad's house was Easter Sunday and Jack was thrilled to find that the Easter Bunny tracked him down in Castle Rock.  Ruby, on the other hand, didn't start off on such a good foot.

Diet Coke - 0.  Labradiva Tail - 1.  And so less than 24-hours after arrival we had our first spill on the somewhat freshly cleaned carpets.  Awesome.

The second piece of bad luck was a much more serious one.  While on the way back to Fort Collins after a morning meeting in the city, Drew was sitting in a construction zone on I-25 at a dead stop only to catch a glimpse of rolling smoke in his rear view mirror followed by the sound of screeching breaks and a semi truck barreling towards him.  The truck driver yanked the wheel at the last second (thank God) and instead of hitting Drew straight on, went into the median and took out several of the guard rails with him.  The back end of his trailer jack-knifed into Drew and ultimately totaled his truck (which apparently looked much worse in person). 

Fortunately, other than a slight case of whiplash, Drew was unharmed.  The driver of the semi claimed to have dropped his phone.  The police report; however, estimated that he was traveling at 75 mph, despite being in a clearly marked 60 mph construction zone for at least a couple of miles.  In any case it could have been so much worse.  Drew & I definitely feel like there was a guardian angel on his shoulder that day.

Coke spills and near death experiences aside, we had a great first week.

The quest for a school for Jackson proved to be much less painful than I feared.  In fact, we had multiple options that met all of our criteria.  Ultimately, we chose The Primrose School of Castle Rock which I will tell you all about sometime soon.

With that major decision out of the way I managed to squeeze in a little bit of pampering.  A trip to the Outlets at Castle Rock proved to be a home run where my wardrobe is concerned thanks to a major sale at Banana Republic.  I'm pretty sure living less than a mile from the outlets is going to be equal parts totally awesome and a bit problematic!  A pedicure was next up in the pampering department where even Jackson got in on the action. 

He's a fan.

We also squeezed in lots of lunch dates, bike rides, walks and trips to the park since our arrival.  It sounds silly, but each of those things seem just a little sweeter when you're surrounded be the majesty of the mountains.

Our first weekend here was the most fun we have had in recent memory.  It started with a season kick-off dinner for the upper management team of Emerald Isle Landscape at the home of Drew's boss.  Top-rated Denver chef, Travis Smith of Bistro Colorado, prepared an 8 course meal with wine pairings at each course for the 12 people in attendance.  It was one of the coolest dining experiences I've ever had.  Not to mention getting to finally meet Drew's colleagues and their wives/girlfriends, all of whom are absolutely fabulous people.  And...as icing on the cake we had free babysitting and taxi service in the form of my parents.  Score! We had an amazing night and I know it was just the first of many with Emerald Isle.

We ended the weekend with a family trip to the Denver Zoo where we had plans to meet our new friends the Meyers who have also relocated from Kansas to Colorado in the past year (Drew worked with Jeff for a short time at FMI in Lawrence; although, Mary & I had never met).  As official card-carrying members I foresee lots of trips to the zoo in our future.

Just as we hoped, Jack and Brody (the Meyers' 3-year-old son) were instant friends.  In fact, Jack has since requested that we move in with them.  After wearing the kids out at the zoo we hit up a local bar/restaurant, The Atomic Cowboy, that knocked our socks off.  It was one of the most fun family days we've had in ages.  And the first of many with the Meyer family I'm certain.  In fact, we'll be at their house this weekend to help celebrate their son Gavin's 1st birthday.  Three cheers for great new friends!

With the first week under our belts, things are starting to feel much more settled - or as settled as one can be when you're technically homeless and temporarily living with family.  Jack has since started school, I'm back to work and we are all adjusting to life in Colorado.

I never had doubts, but now that we're here I'm more certain than ever....

This is exactly where we are supposed to be.