You may remember the rant I spewed last year?

There is something different this year. Something in the air. Something I can feel in my bones.

Change.



Happy birthday, America.

I mean that.

I have been asked to add a massive disclaimer at the beginning of this post. Because, while very few people from my office actually read this blog, every single one of them is aware of it. And unbeknownst to them, there has been a game going on between my husband, Bryan aka BugFrog, and James, aka JaggedPen, for quite some time now. A game that doesn't take much time, a game that hurts no one, a game that is uproariously funny - and yet *could* be construed as disrespectful if taken the wrong way. My point? DON'T TAKE IT THE WRONG WAY.

Basically, the guys make every attempt (within the confines of safety and the reality of three-dimensional space) to photograph themselves with any and all repairmen that enter the office. Simple as that. Well, no, not really. If they are *seen* by said repairmen taking said photographs? Game over. So they need to be sneaky deaky.

Here is a sampling of their shots over the past 6 months. My favorite is the last one where James makes it in the photo by a nose. Get it??? BY A NOSE! I kill me.

But most of me is REALLY REALLY REALLY happy. I am looking forward to meeting some of the most amazing ladies I have had the privilege to stalk from afar for the last 3 years. Smart, funny, warm ladies who reach out and touch my heart from worlds away on a daily basis.

I can't wait.

But I really didn't think I was going to go. We have tickets for day 2 the Mile High Music Festival which is the same weekend, and seeing as we had to mortgage the house to get them, I just didn't see how I was going to fit in both events. And then I started feeling the "netcitement." And the emails started flowing in: "Are you going???" And then my husband told me I wasn't allowed in the house from Thursday on because I would be such a depressed blob anyway, so why not fly off to San Francisco and catch a flight back early Sunday to make the concert just in time? WHY NOT INDEED.

I am thrilled. Really, really thrilled.

But I have to confess something.

In the past, I sat back and watched Teh BlogHer with an odd mixture of emotions. It's hard not to watch such a group gathering and not feel a little, well, intimidated. So, at first, I didn't go because I didn't feel worthy. And then I didn't go because I wasn't sure I could handle all that estrogen in one place. It has felt a bit like I had my nose to the glass of some big, wonderful, amazing shoe store that everyone loves to shop at, but then I remembered I shop at Payless. (Um, I really do shop at Payless).

Then, in March, I attended SXSW Interactive for work and got a taste of what conferences that mix learning and social stuff can be like. And I realized that everyone posting and tweeting and gabbing about what's going on are doing it partially out of necessity - I mean, did we really go all this way to NOT meet up with people? - and partially because that's just what bloggers DO. And it's not really meant as a "Nha Nha, check out where *I* get to go, and who *I* get to see, and YOU DON'T." (OK, some people people do act that way, but let's just ignore that for the sake of this post, hmmm k's?)

So, I have come to peace with it. I bought tickets. I am flying back to Denver early Sunday to take my son to see John Mayer for his first big concert, all the while nursing a massive hangover.

And, while I am in San Francisco, I am hoping that the verbal diarrhea that comes out of my new iPhone (yes, I have decided to bite the bullet on that one, too) shows the fun and camaraderie that goes on between women who have had way just too much to drink and just too little sleep.

And if it doesn't, I will apologize in advance, 'cause I have been on that side of of the glass shoe shop too.

So. Who is coming to BlogHer this year? Who isn't? Why or why not?

Here we are! Already July. And the three winners this month for the July Greeblemixes are:

Sue from No Bad Days & eLuckyPacket
Kessligan from Amy Und Heiner
Mary Beth from Cats, Books, Life Is Good

Winners, please send me your snail mail addresses to aimee [at] greeblemonkey [dot] com.

Below is what they are getting. This month feels like I spent a few hours on Jack FM. But of course, I *had* to include the fun 80's songs we uncovered last month, John Mayer for the Mile High Music Fest this month (more on that later), and STEVIE. Oh, Stevie. He was beyond good last night, as you can see from my tweets. Tweets that I am SURE were the tipping point for getting me in the Twitterati section of Alltop. Because who doesn't like Stevie? Other than my co-worker Travis, who compared seeing Stevie Wonder with Jack Johnson. I mean, no offense to Jack Johnson, because he is fine and all - but as Angela/Fluid Pudding so aptly put it - that's like comparing Prince with Vanilla Ice. And homey don't play that.



Be Good by Tokyo Police Club
Buildings & Mountains by The Republic Tigers
Work for Love by Ministry
Burn You Up, Burn You Down by Big Blue Ball
My Stupid Mouth by John Mayer
Love And Pride by King
Tomorrow by Ladytron
I Couldn't Help Myself by Sara Hickman
Superstition (live) by Stevie Wonder
Dirty Living by Brendan James
Misfit by Curiosity Killed The Cat
I Sing I Swim by Seabear
One Shot by O.A.R.
This Is Not A Love Song by Public Image Ltd.
Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
As Above So Below by Klaxons
Another Day by Jamie Lidell
Pleasure Songs by The Mary Onettes
Many Rivers to Cross (live) by Annie Lennox

Oh! And I am checking out Last.fm. Anyone on? Thoughts?

OK, I know it's nothing like a Wii and Wii Fit, but let's remember I *DO* do this every month, shall we?

Before we get to the Greeblemix questions though, I wanted to show off the birdfeeder that I talked about last week. The birdfeeder that Declan and I both slaved over at the pottery studio. The birdfeeder that is now hanging in the back yard. The birdfeeder with holes in the bottom for the ropes that are slightly too big so that some of the bird feed slides through when the wind blows it around. The birdfeeder that could then be aptly called a birdfeed spreader.

But who cares, right? We made it together.



This brings us to the theme of this month's Greeblemix contest.

Name other things Declan or I have made at pottery class!

Remember the rules!
1. One guess per person per comment!
2. No multiple guess in each comment, which leaves nothing for other people to guess on in later comments.
3. First three correct answers win!
4. If you won last month, take a month off.
5. No anonymous guesses.

Have fun.

P.S. And if you can't think of any guesses console yourself with this video of the Wii Boxing bout to end all Wii Boxing bouts.

P.P.S. Speaking of music, Bryan and I are seeing STEVIE WONDER tonight. Yes, THAT Stevie Wonder.

Our "crazy" faces.


Our "mad" faces.


And finally! Our "HAPPY" faces.

(large sizes in my Flickrstream)

All the while, Julie's daughter Tacy maintained an inner peace and tranquility usually impossible at blogger gatherings. She is truly wise beyond her years.

BUT WAIT! There's more! Coming soon! Photos of Kyle in his Rush concert wife-beater t-shirt, Declan stuffed with tissues to look pregnant, the aftermath of CJ peeing on my lawn... and as an awesome bonus: Heather and Bryan virtually beating the crap out of each other playing Wii boxing!

I couldn't make this shit up if I tried.

Some cute photos thus far from our eventful weekend. A million more coming.

I have so missed Heather.


But it's good that Julie is close. Cause she is damn cute.


It's also nice to have FlingItGirl nearby. She's mighty cute too.


Meeting the ladies from BWET was rad.


Listening to Tara do faux-stand-up is radder.


Aimee Oelke brings good glam. She also has a coolio spelled name.


And, finally, Laura Mayes from Kirtsy and Gwen Bell from, duh, GWEN BELL, are seriously among the nicest people on the planet.


Whew. We have something planned for every single night through next weekend. NOT COMPLAINING. Just wondering if I should rent my Sleep Number Bed out to someone who can actually take advantage of it.

Last night I got home from pottery class just in time to see Declan at bedtime. As I tweeted, the boys were doing "bedtime stories" from the Oriental Trading Company catalog, and in between reading about coconut bras and curly straws, Declan started filling me in on his day. This is the part where my eyes got as big as saucers.

The morning was encompassed with an event that I can't really go into in order to protect the privacy of the children involved, and luckily Declan was not directly affected, but let's just say that my head kept bopping back and forth between Bryan and Declan with a look on my face something akin to: HOLY SHIT!!!

And then Declan goes back to the grass skirts, and kind of casually says over his shoulder, "And oh yeah, I almost drowned at the pool."

Um, WHAT????

Bryan quickly realizes I am about to have an aneurysm and promises to explain everything after Declan is asleep.

Here is how their earlier conversation about it went:

Declan: "I almost drowned at the pool today."

Bryan: {sputter} "What happened?"

Declan: "I walked out too far into the deep end."

Bryan: "Did the lifeguard have to come in and rescue you?"

Declan: "No. They threw the thing."

Bryan: "What thing?"

Declan: {exasperated} "Remember the lifeguard from Surf's Up? Except she was holding a squid? But this thing was real. And it was blue."

So, I can't help but be impressed at his skills at 'splaining stuff to his stupid, beleaguered parents. And we figure that if they just threw the squid blue thing, he probably didn't "almost drown."

But needless to say, the kid had an eventful day. And I didn't sleep all that well.

But *I* am going to have an eventful day because little miss Heather B is coming to Denver tonight! Reunited and it feels so good! (Plus! Sunday, Julie and I are subjecting her to the GeeseMonkey kids. I have a feeling she will never want to step foot in the Centennial state again.)

And *tomorrow* is also going to be an eventful day because I am attending Gwen Bell's BWET event. All Boulder/Denver techie businessy chicks are welcome!

Whew. Who needs sleep anyway?

I have it! I have it! The video of my appearance on Good Day Colorado from yesterday. Bryan helped me do it and there was no arguing or screaming or hissy fits involved! Not even any breaking into my computer.

Seriously, have I mentioned lately how awesome my husband is? How supportive? The goofball sent this "screen capture" around work minutes after I wrapped up my interview. Damn, I love that guy.

(click image to see large version)


And there are three other people I need to thank. The ladies in my Life Management Team. Teresa, Anne and Christina were making last minute jewelry recommendations via iPhone and text. No kidding, I am not sure I could do anything anymore without consulting those ladies. I literally ripped off the necklace I had on as I was pulling in to the studio parking lot based on their comments.

My Mac at work has been dying a slow death for about a year now. I finally got fed up yesterday afternoon (and had no pesky meetings to muck up the enormous amount of time it takes to transfer computers) so I finally started making the switch to a much nicer, newer computer we just had sitting around, just waiting for me to make friends with.

Have I mentioned how annoying I am with tech stuff? That I understand just enough to be dangerous? That I ask Bryan the most retarded questions? That he and I can barely communicate when performing any computer-related tasks?

So, um, Chris, our IT guy, "took over" helping me yesterday. Why wasn't he helping me from the beginning? Because the creative team is a bunch of freaks! Meaning, I have no idea!

Chris and I were sitting here at my desk, happily setting up all kinds pf permissions and crap, when all of a sudden Chris says, "Aimee. Why is your mouse moving? All. on. its. OWN?" I look up and sure enough, my hand is completely removed from my mouse but the cursor is swishing and swashing across the screen. A new document opens. A note starts typing to me.

"Aimee. Hello. This is your Mac. Why do you think you can move to a new computer and leave me behind? It is so unfair..."

Note to self. Never let your husband have the password to your computer, which gives him access to the feature in the new Mac OS which lets outsiders take control of your desktop.

============

P.S. Yes! I was interviewed on Good Day Colorado this morning to promote Being Savvy Denver! Yes! I nearly threw up! Yes! I will have video to show you soon!

This past weekend, a bunch of us from Declan's school gathered for a mid-summer playdate at the park. It was informal, just to let the kids see each other and hang out while the parents sat around and gabbed. But since we live in the city, and it *is* summertime, the park is always packed with people doing, well, summertime activities. Saturday was no exception and the tables and picnic area were filled with one raucous party. And dude, there has never been a nicer group of people! They shared their toys and their watermelon with all our little vagrants who came sniffing around the edges of their party. Eventually all our kids were playing together.

As the father of one of Declan's good friends and I were sitting and chatting, and watching all these kids crawl all over the playground equipment, we were startled when a girl from the party slipped and fell near us, making a huge WHOMP sound as she went down on the platform. We watched for a few minutes, she wasn't even moving, and no parents were coming. Finally, I got up and went over to check on her.

She was shaking, but starting to move and cry - clearly she had the wind completely knocked out of her. She was about 8 or 9 and I leaned over and started asking her if she was OK, could she move and where were parents were? Suddenly there was a big man to my right, clearly mad as hell, and clearly her dad. He looked at her with such menace and said very succinctly, "Get. Down. Now." I quickly jumped to explain, "She fell really hard, I think she got the wind knocked out of her." He silenced me with a glare.

I walked back to my bench and the dad I was chatting with asked me, "He's not actually mad at her, is he?" And we soon found out he was.

We watched as he berated her at the edge of the playground. So loudly we could almost hear them from where we were. Then he yelled at her to MOVE and pushed her repeatedly up the path away from the playground and yelled at her some more.

For falling down.

On a playground.

Imagine what he does when no one is watching.

I sat there shaking for a long time. Not just because I have seen my share of that behavior from my own dad, but I was just stuck. There was nothing I could do for her.

Nothing I could do.

Last weekend I did a pre-dinner photo shoot with one of Declan's best friends and her little sister. It's amazing how much they have grown in the year since I did their last photo shoot. It's also amazing how much easier it is to get kids to act natural when you know them really well. Unfair advantage, I know.

But here's the thing. I really have been meaning to expand my freelance photography dealiebob. And make it less like a dealiebob and more like a j-o-b. But I end up more often just taking photos of friend's kids because it's easier. Partly because I hate trying to sell myself and partly cause we are just so busy with work and life anyway - who has the time???

But when I have a great afternoon like I did shooting these girls, I wish I made the time.