Of course, I’ve not been a resident of Missouri since July 6th at about 4 p.m., when we crossed the Kansas state line on our way to Colorado.

But now it’s official.  Not only am I no longer a resident of the State of Missouri, I’m officially a resident of the State of Colorado.  I received my Colorado Driver’s License in the mail today.  Soon, I’ll be giving up the Missouri plates on my car, as well.  And tonight I thought I should probably throw away those Wunnenburg’s guides to St. Louis city and county.  I don’t even know why I dragged those things across the country.  It’s not like I’m going to need them here.

I still live in sort of abstract awe of living here in my dream state.  Every morning when I head towards the mountains and my job, I am reminded that I’m not just visiting this time.  This time it’s for real, and it’s for keeps.

This is all I can show you of my license without giving away identifying information. 

Tater started school on Thursday.  She was so anxious to go that when Klown woke her up and told her she needed to get up and get dressed, she had school that day, she came out of her room completely dressed with her backpack on.  She was so disappointed to be told she had to eat breakfast and brush her teeth first.

Silly Tater.

She has so far had two good days.  I think she’s the only blond-haired child in the school, and if her class roster is any indication, she’s also one of only three non-Hispanic children in her class.  I knew it would be heavily Hispanic just by the demographics of the neighborhood, but I didn’t realize how heavily weighted it would be.  I hope this means she learns some Spanish.  She says all of the children in her class speak English, but I know that many of their parents do not.  I’m looking forward to the cultural shift after years in the white-bread Midwest.

To get myself started, I’ve already developed a serious addiction to the sweet bread rolls sometimes referred to as “Conch” or “Aztec” bread in the grocery store. It’s official name is Pan Dulce.  I first tasted these in south Florida several years ago.

I, of course, have been working at a school since I came here.  University of Colorado Boulder starts classes on Monday, but the time leading up to that has been very busy indeed.  I went from 32 hours a week to forty hours a week almost immediately, and I could probably work 60 and still not get all the work done.  It is sometimes grueling, sometimes mind-numbing, but I’m working at my dream campus, doing my dream job, and living in my dream state near my beloved mountains.  When I go home at night exhausted and cross-eyed, all I have to do is look at my mountains to know that I have peace and beauty all around me.  And that is enough to make everything worthwhile.

I’m one of those people that, despite my weight, has been pretty healthy.  My most recent blood work from last fall had me with cholesterol under 170, fasting blood sugar at 82, and my blood pressure only slightly elevated at 130 over 85.  I take medication that raises my blood pressure, so I take a mild blood pressure pill to bring it down to around 90 over 60.  I have been heavy all of my adult life, since about age 15 or so.  Some of the weight is genetic, some of the weight is probably some stress-related eating when I was young.  I have bad knees (resulting from injuries) and have had to have carpal tunnel surgery and shoulder surgery.  These aren’t weight-related.  I am, however, medically speaking, obese by my BMI (Body Mass Index).

Over the years, I’ve heard it over and over:  lose weight or you’ll die.  The BMI, a measure that has been being used for the last 20 years or so, is the only measurement doctors go by to determine whether you are at risk of diabetes, heart problems, etc.  But in actuality, BMI is just one factor to consider.

Two new studies out, one by a U.S. group of researchers and one by a Canadian group of researchers, both indicated that 1 in 5 “medically obese” individuals are actually perfectly healthy and show no higher risk of mortality, or life-complicating medical issues, than non-obese people.  While BMI has its place, it doesn’t tell the whole story.  The whole story is in the numbers; are there problems with diabetes, with cholesterol, with plaque buildup in arteries.  For 1 in 5 people, there is nothing but BMI loaded against them.

It is good to hear the research back up what I already knew about myself.  I’m healthy.  There’s no reason for me not to be healthy if I take care of myself, if I eat right, if I visit my doctor regularly so that I catch problems in their early stages, if I get plenty of exercise (in my case, walking).  I don’t smoke, I drink rarely, and I don’t do recreational drugs.  My vices are chocolate and diet Coke.

I fully expect to live as long as my dad, if not as long as my grandmother on my dad’s side.  She was 100.  My dad’s sister was also near 100.  My dad is 75 and going strong.  My BMI has nothing to do with it.  All those other factors do.  And at age 50, when I should be showing issues with cholesterol or blood pressure or diabetes, I don’t.  My biggest complaint is having to wear bifocals and still fighting with my surgically repaired knees.  I have to keep reminding myself that it hasn’t been a year yet, and that I need to practice some patience while they heal.  I’m not as young as I used to be.

Read more about the research I mentioned above at CNN.com. 

I’ve been saying I couldn’t find anything about Colorado that wasn’t better than Missouri, but yesterday, I found something.

That is, except for frozen custard, which is done much better in St. Louis by Ted Drewes.  But I digress.

I need to get my Colorado Driver’s license in order to go full time at work.  Initially I was told they couldn’t offer me full time work with benefits for six months, but after the first week I was there, they were in a very big hurry to get me on full time.  But in Colorado I had to either be resident for 90 days, or I had to have a job in Colorado in order to get a state ID.  “Gainfully employed,” as they put it.  Sort of a Catch 22…but I waited for my first paycheck so I had proof of being gainfully employed, took off from work an hour early on Friday, and headed to the office in my town.

Now some of you might know that I have infinite patience for some things, and a complete impatience for others, and visits to the DMV fall into that second category.  I detest waiting in line.  For anything.  But especially for a state or federally mandated reason.  Based on my experiences in Missouri, I’m thinking, 20 minutes, a half-hour maybe at the MOST.  The biggest worry on my mind when I pulled into an empty parking space right in front of the building was whether or not I had all of my documentation per the requirements.  I had my bill from Qwest (Internet) for proof of address, my birth certificate, my Missouri-issued license, my Social Security Card, and my work ID.

I walked in the door right into the back of someone else waiting in line.  The 60 or so chairs in the room were completely full, and there were two lines of people around the edge of the room.  There were several people sitting in groups on the floor. The number counter on the wall said “36” and I pulled out number “196.”  There were easily 150 people in the room.

Holy Hell.

It was 3:45.  The office closed at 5:00.  There was no way all of these people were going to get through before then.  Oddly enough, people didn’t seem to be all that concerned.  They chit-chatted, they played on their smart phones, they read books.  There was much commiserating between those standing in line about why they were there.  The clerks appeared to be friendly and didn’t act like they were harried, worried, or otherwise distressed.

I couldn’t do anything but go with the flow…and waited and waited and waited.  I walked out with my new temporary Colorado State Driver’s license (no picture) at 5:45 (they mail you your ID in 4-6 weeks).  The last thing said to me by the clerk who took my picture?  “Welcome to Colorado!” And he was genuinely smiling.

This is probably one of the weirdest experiences I’ve had in a while.  But I can tell you this, Missouri does it faster.  Much faster.  But definitely not nicer.  The clerks were completely friendly, and when I asked questions, answered cheerfully and completely.  She even apologized for the wait and explained why it was the way it was.  In 2000, Colorado had gone to a ten-year license.  Then in 2005, the law was changed to a five-year license.  In the years between 2000 and 2005, the offices were getting less and less busy, and many of them were shut down for lack of use. Suddenly, in 2010, when everyone who had a 10 year license from 2000 and those who had a 5 year license from 2005 needed to renew, the offices got crazy busy and it’s been that way ever since.  It will ease up again in a few years, maybe.  However, the state has also instituted online renewals, which should make the next time much much easier for me!

And as a p.s., you know that if I was standing there for that long, I was doing an awful lot of people-watching.  And to the 20-year-old with the Hitler mustache, half of your hair blond and swooping long over the right side of your head, and cropped short and black on the other…that’s just not a good look for you.  Just sayin’.

Be sure you check out my picture blog.  I post to it (mostly) daily and try to provoke thought with my posts.

The 365-Degree Blog!

I know one of the things I was looking forward to about moving to Colorado was the weather.  Yes, it gets warm here in the summer, but it is not accompanied by humidity, hazy skies, or high pollen counts, for the most part.  In other words, it’s a dry heat.  95 here in Colorado feels like 75 back in Missouri.  The sun is hot, but if you’re in the shade, you aren’t going to even break a sweat.

Now I’m told by coworkers that it usually snows on or before September 27th.  It melts quickly and causes no problems, but it snows.  I love snow, so I’m thinking it can come any time.  ANY time.  Even though I like summer, especially here, where I can be outside (unlike Missouri where I had to stay inside).  My studded snow tires are in the garage and waiting to be put on the car when ready.

This gives a whole new meaning to “short growing season” to me.  I looked up average last frost and average first frost for my town, and got about mid-May for the last frost, and mid-September for the first frost.  I’m used to frost being near November in Missouri, sometimes later.  I’ve been known to be picking from the veggie garden a week or two before Thanksgiving.

I don’t have a garden this year, of course, but it does make me wonder what kind of garden I could have grown with such a short season.  Tomatoes are definitely out.  Broccoli?  Maybe some peppers.  Hard to say.

Today we went to the pool.  The pool has an incredible view of the mountains.  It was kind of shocking, actually, to see mountains with snow atop them while we crisped ourselves laying in the sun by the pool.  It was the first time we’d gone to a pool all season.  We may get one more time in, maybe two at the most, before the cool weather puts an end to it.  Tater had a blast, of course.  There were big water slides, and plenty of pool to move around in.

It still is a bit unbelievable, after a month of living here, to think this IS where I live.  Amazing.

And if you’re looking for some fun pictures, random and posted daily, you should be sure to visit my picture blog, 365-Degrees.  There’s something for everyone!

Today we visited this store in our new town.  We’d driven past it several times over the last few weeks, and knew we wanted to go in, but had just not found the time.  Today was that time.  The first thing you see inside the door is a pink kitchen.  Well, what might have come from a pink kitchen in the 50’s.  Pink bowls, cabinets, aprons, canisters, glasses, and a pink refrigerator.

Lest you think it was all pink, it wasn’t.  There were, however, a ton of pastels.

Then there were the clothes.  Unbelievable, wild, from every era clothes.

And an aluminum Christmas tree, completely with spinning color wheel.

Where these ladies got all this stuff is beyond me, but walking through their shop was like taking a walk back in time.  They had laid things out by color and by era.  There were areas that were all Tiki/South Pacific, or 30’s business office, or 40’s Western bedroom.  It was amazing.

This last picture is for my mom, who has a complete collection of this Autumn Leaf china.  I have a few pieces of it too.  I’m not showing the price tag because it would just give her a heart attack.

If you ever get to Longmont, Colorado, I highly recommend visiting this store.  I’m not the first to blog about it, either.

I had not seen Colorado in the summertime since I was a teenager.  That was the first time I had ever seen Colorado, and I fell in love.  I never forgot it, and knew that some day, I would come back.  Nine or so years ago, I got that chance, 25 years after I fell in love with it the first time.  Only, it was winter.  And I saw it every year for the last nine, in winter.

Now that we’ve moved here, with all that summer has to offer, I’m more sure than ever that this is where I’m supposed to be.  The days are warm, but the nights are cool. There is negligible humidity, which means 95 degrees feels warm but not blistering, and I rarely break a sweat.  Back in Missouri, it is sweltering, humid, and awful.  When I get up in the morning here, it is in the upper 50’s.  Back in Missouri, at the same time, it is 80 degrees.  With humidity.

The flowers are blooming everywhere.  Here in town, flower beds are bursting with color, growing the same plants I am used to seeing, but blooming a month later.  As I was walking on a side street the other day, I complemented a couple on their beautiful garden, and the woman said, “thank you, and if you want, I’ll be happy to share seeds!”  She had clematis, hollyhocks, rose of Sharon, lilies of a thousand different colors, and cosmos.  I have grand visions for planting flowers next year.  It’s too late this year, unfortunately.

This Saturday past was the Boulder County Fair parade.  One of five major parades down main street, it featured floats for churches, schools, dance groups, and politicians.  There were prancing horses and beautiful dark-skinned ladies in huge ruffled skirts dancing down the street.  There were antique cars, including my favorite, a baby blue ’66 Mustang convertible.  There was also a General Lee, and if you don’t know what that is, well, you should check out some reruns on CMT on Friday nights.  I’m partial to marching bands, and there were three of them, albeit small and a bit too casual for my taste.  But they played their hearts out and that’s all that matters.  And then, there were the goats, one of whom was making quite a racket about having to walk in the parade.  The parade was about 50 minutes long and Tater came home with tons of candy and coupons for everything from free goldfish to free ice cream!  Oh, and a schedule for the Denver Broncos.

The Boulder County Fair starts tomorrow and features horses, pies, vegetables, bands, a carnival, and a demolition derby.  I haven’t been to a county fair in I don’t know how long.  This fair is free (except for the demo derby, the mutton-busting, and one musical act), and there’s plenty of fun to be had.  Can’t wait to go one day this week.

The mornings are very special here, as the sun rises and lights up the mountains.  Early in the morning the hot air balloons take off from the foothills in Boulder and move east with the wind.  I see at least one every day, although most days there are several.  One day I counted seven.  The cooler the air, the further they can fly.  They are brightly colored, and some day, I’m going to ride in one, so I can see the sunrise from there.

My mother is here visiting for a few days, which disrupts our routine but in a welcome way.  Klown was employed for two days through a temp agency but the assignment didn’t last.  Hopefully something else comes up soon.  The Perfect Child has gotten an assignment through the temp agency that will keep her working the rest of this week.  She’s proud and nervous all at once; this is her first real job where she is punching a timeclock and getting a paper paycheck instead of a wad of cash.  It is too her advantage that she is pleasant, helpful, and not scared to try new things, and that she’s adaptable.  Today was a new experience for her, driving 20 miles into Boulder early in the morning by herself to go to work, then having to drive home when she was done.  She seems to be somewhat directionally challenged, so this is a bit of a struggle for her.  She enjoyed her first day and I know she will do fine.

I’m on week four of my new job, which means we’ve been here almost four weeks now.  It feels an awful lot like home now, which is as it should be, right?

As of today, I’m leaving my LiveJournal blog behind and moving things over to a new place.  I will miss some of the wonderful social media tools on LiveJournal, but I won’t miss the excessive down times (with no explanation) from LiveJournal.  Some of my friends from there are doing the same, and going with other providers.  As a geek, I could not live with myself if I went to another environment controlled by someone else, where I can’t get access when I want, or post what I want.

So, I hope you will bookmark this new place and come visit often.  If you forget where this place is, you can go on over to LiveJournal and take the link from there to get here.

And now, I’m going to work on a big update post.  It’s long overdue!