Heroes, equinox, and two of my favorite things...


Tonight was the season premiere of Heroes - of which I've only seen a about half of the first season - but I had to miss it because I had to go swimming. I love swimming with Pygmy on Mondays. We went for a beer afterwards (whoops, kind of defeats the point of the swimming) at Molly McGuires and chatted about a million things under the sun, including our new found love of swimming. I came back home and luckily Lara had taken some notes from the season opener to get me caught up to speed. It's a very good show - great stories and even better characters. About Heroes: when I was out camping a month ago, Lara asked Megan and I if we could have a super power - like in Heroes - what would it be? I couldn't think of anything specifically that I wanted.... maybe to have incredible jumping power like a cricket or something very physical. Megan had the best response - she said her super power would be able to speak any language fluently. That is the best super hero power ever - I wish it!


Today is the first day of fall - and I'm pretty sure Washington state got the memo. It was cool, bright and rather chilly. The air had a bite. I am so glad I had a weekend of vitamin D in Denver (ha - that would be a great marketing strategy for a city that has 350 days of sunshine a year!) I had a great time in Denver - one of the first times really looking at it as an adult (the last time I was there was in 2000 - and I was at a wedding). The neighborhood where I spent most of my summers as a kid had little farmers market - and fun artsy boutiques and restaurants. It's a city struggling with growth (sprawl)as the Rockies hover in the distance and the clouds billow upward - providing a great backdrop. It also changed my perspective on this city that I had spent a lot of time in as kid. This was always the wild west. And it was. But it's not the "west" - Seattle is the west. California is the west. It's the last outpost of the "mid west" - before climbing into the Rockies. I'm still chewing on this one and will probably have more to say about it another time.


The girls, my whole reason for going to Denver, were just as fabulous as I expected them to be. They have to be some of the most well behavior, vivacious, gregarious 3-year-olds I know. Of course, I am completely biased and I just love them to death. They still say the cutest things: Alexandre "Aunt Michelle are you going to the Bronco's game with us?" I don't know. Maybe. "But I love you and if you come I'll give you a piece of candy." She would also quip about cleaning up after a crafty activity "oh, Aunt Michelle, I am just so tired. Cleaning up is just so much work." Lucia said similar witty things and things that made me laugh so hard. When exchanging toy paper money with Alexandre "Alexandre, I love you more than money." They got use to Marie's giant dog Holly. They danced like crazy girls. They yelled a lot of "Go Broncos" and gave their little sister a kiss (at least Alexandre did. Lucia would get close to her face and say "McKenny" very sweetly.) They were the best even when they coughed on you (both had colds) and made you go to the bathroom with them many times.


There are many other things to say about my Denver weekend - like watching someone grow old and looking at 4 generation of a family. I got to visit my Peace Corps friend Nikki and had a great conversation on the plane. I devoured a book over the weekend reminding me how much I love to read.


It was a great weekend, and like turning a page in a book to reveal the next chapter: autumn.