Body Worlds

Eileen and I went to The Cherry Tomato for dinner then Joan met up with us to see the Body Worlds 2 exhibit. You can see some of my comments regarding it on Eileen's blog. I hope the examples of a smoker's lung versus a healthy one will convince people to quit.

In

I had my interview for the MBA program at CU Denver, and I was accepted. I plan to start school in June. I'm looking forward to it.

CRU and CSO

Eileen and I went to Cru in Larimer Square prior to seeing the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Cru was an excellent suggestion made by Megan. It's a wine bar but also has small plates and appetizers. Eileen and I each tried a wine sampler. They give you 2 oz of 3 different types of wine. Eileen had the merlot and I had the White wines of the World. The small plates we choose were also fantastic. We had cheese fondue and a steak pizza. We then went to see the CSO perform Pictures at an Exhibition. We got a great deal on the tickets - $5 a piece in the center on the front row. Eileen had forgotten her student ID, but we figured we'd ask the guy anyhow. He went on about he was a student too...nursing school. Anyway, I think it just pays to be a young girl.

Brunch

Eileen and I met Megan downtown in Larimer Square for brunch at Rioja. The wait staff signed a card for Eileen's birthday and gave her free dessert.

Notice Eileen's star in her drink - very special.

Eileen's Birthday

On Easter Eileen and I went to service at Pathways and saw Travis get baptized. I then made Eileen some lunch and we watched "Pirates of the Caribbean". Which, by the way, I can't wait until the next one is released on July 7th.

The Painted Bench

Eileen and I met Megan for dinner at the Painted Bench. I had an excellent beef stew. We shared 2 desserts - creme brulee and a very rich chocolate cake.

Keystone

I took the day off work and the sisters went skiing at Keystone. I decided to skip the skiing this time and go with what I know - snowboarding. It was a great way to end the season. Keystone had gotten several inches of snow. Suzanne did an excellent job for not having skied in a long time. We did get stuck on the gondola for about 20 minutes but all was well when it started up again.

Nuggets Game

Suzanne flew into town late Wednesday night. On Thursday Eileen and Suzanne came to visit me at work. That evening we had dinner at Tamayo with Joan and Ben. Ben, myself, Suzanne and Eileen went to a Denver Nuggets basketball game after that. The Nuggets were playing the LA Lakers. I have to say that Denver fans sure can hold a grudge. Kobe got booed everytime he stepped onto the court. The half-time show was amusing. It was the "Quick Change" people. Their show consisted of changing clothes every 15 seconds.

Application submitted.

I submitted my application to CU-Denver today. I'm applying for their MBA program with an emphasis in Health Administration. Thanks to all who proof-read my essays.

If accepted I'll be taking the exciting courses:
* Managing Individuals and Teams
* Data Analysis for Managers
* Legal and Ethical Environment of Business
* Analyzing and Interpreting Accounting Information
* Marketing Management
* Applied Economics for Managers
* Management of Operations
* Financial Management
* Strategic Management
* Health Care Systems
* Health Care Financial Managment
* International Health Policy
* Fundamentals of Health Information Technology

Oops!

So yesterday it was the car battery, this morning it was a slight fender bender. Black Beauty (Ben's nickname for my car) is taking a beating this week. Yup, I rammed into the back of a Honda Civic. The pathetic thing is I was actually stopped at a traffic light on the exit ramp to the highway going uphill. I saw movement in front of me and thought we were going...apparently the car in front of me wasn't yet. My license tag is now nicely curled around my front fender. It didn't cause much damage. The other guy's bumper just had what looked like the typical door dings you get in parking lots. He was nice about it. He just told me "I hope you have a better day."

(And Eileen, this time I didn't ask, "can you check mine?" I've done this before. Last time was in highschool. Mom, Dad, I never mentioned that did I? Don't worry, no damage.)

Rip-off

Ripoff #1
I started my car Tuesday morning, and it didn't quite start right. I also noticed my clock had reset to 1 am. Eileen had gotten her battery replaced, so I figured mine was going too. I had meant to get to work early for an 8am presentation but instead drove straight to Firestone and got overcharged for a new battery. At least the car started in the morning, it would have been much worse if it hadn't.

Ripoff #2
Brie left me with a thank you card and a copy of the latest Harry Potter DVD. I was very excited about the DVD and opened it that afternoon. I was shocked to see instead of a DVD, there was an AOL cd. Someone had actually gone through the effort of stealing the DVD, replacing it with a CD, and re-shrink wrapping the DVD. That's alot of effort for $20. Brie was already on a plane back to Atlanta with the receipt, but Target did the exchange with my license. Eileen and I watched it Wednesday night.

Skiing at Copper Mountain

I took Monday off work and rented skis with Eileen and Brie. I figured I'd try it again with both of them. We met up with my Aunt Ellen, Aunt Vicki and Uncle Fred at Copper mountain. I took Eileen up on a green while Ben instructed Brie. I just got frustrated and wished I had my snowboard. I spent the entire season struggling to learn. Now that I know I'm good at getting down a blue or green slope it's tough to be trying it the hard way again.

Brie and I went tubing in the afternoon. All I can say is, if they ask, you definitely don't want the "spin". It was a lot of fun. They had different lanes to choose from; it was a little more controlled then the Winter Park tubing.

Brown Palace and Hockey

I picked Eileen up from the airport on Sunday. Eileen, Brie, Ben and myself had brunch at the Brown Palace. It was fancy; they had a tiny jazz ensemble. I had breakfast, lunch, sushi and dessert. Yum!

Thanks to Joan for the Avs tickets (Denver Avalanche Hockey). Ben scalped a ticket and we managed to all sit together for the 2nd and 3rd period. The game went into overtime then a shootout. The Avs ended up loosing, but it was a good game anyhow.

Brie's Visit

My friend from Atlanta, Brie, came to visit for the weekend. I made lunch for her...one of the only recipes I feel I have mastered with my stir-fry pan, Almond Chicken. We then went to Red Rocks and did the nearby 1.4 mi loop around the park.

That evening we went to dinner at Strings. It's ranked in the Gabby Gourmet book as Flawless. The Ahi Tuna appetizer was delicious (see picture). I also enjoyed the gnocchi with quail. The butterscotch bread pudding dessert was also good.

GMAT - Done.

I am relieved to be finished with the GMAT. In my first diagnostic practice test I got around a 570. Most of the practice tests after that I got similar scores. On test day I didn't feel that I did well in the quantitative section. It's easy to tell, you either solve the math problem or not. I must have done some good guessing or knew more than I thought - 680 (89%).

You are also required to write 2 essays. I had read in the guide books that if you follow a certain format you are almost guaranteed a high score. For extra credit, they recommend you throw in a reference to literature since the grader is most likely an English professor or grad student somewhere. I thought some of the examples in the guidebooks were lame, such as referencing Shakespeare. In one of my essays I had to pick a side of an argument. I argued workers are ultimately responsible for adapting to the changing skill needs of business. The book on my nightstand, "The World if Flat" just fit too well. I'm only 2 chapters into it, but the main point is Americans are going to have to compete with India workers for jobs. So I added the reference at the end of the essay. I knocked it out of the park with a 6.0/6.0.

The Eisenhower Suite

I took a little break from work today went up to the 8th floor and toured the room President Eisenhower made a temporary Oval Office in 1955. He was vacationing at his in-laws when he had a heart attack. When I'm not working in a clinic, my office is in an administrative building that used to be an Army Hospital. Eisenhower spent about 2 months in the hospital recovering. On the tour there are copies of the notes the Secret Service kept "President Eisenhower came into the sitting area to look at the goldfish." I'm not quite sure why they had to keep that detailed notes of the President's where-abouts. The other fact I found amusing was that his wife had them bring her a pink toilet seat from Washington because there weren't any in Colorado.
Note: The B&W photo is from the 1950's and the color is the restored room.

Another interesting fact: Presidential candidate John Kerry was born in the hospital in 1943 while his father was being treated for tuberculosis.

GMAT

I haven't written any blog entries lately cause I've been busy studying for the GMAT. I'm taking it this Friday.
For a little sample of what fun this is:
Two trains, X and Y, started simultaneously from opposite ends of a 100-mile route and traveled toward each other on parallel tracks. Train X, traveling at a constant rate, completed the 100-mile trip in 5 hours; train Y, traveling at a constant rate, completed the 100-mile trip in 3 hours. How many miles had train X traveled when it met train Y?
a) 37.5
b) 40.0
c) 60.0
d) 62.5
e) 77.5

Winter Park

I went to Winter Park this weekend. We went tubing in the afternoon. It was a lot of fun. You really go flying down the hill. It's the best to go on your stomach and to hang on to each other's tubes so that you go down the hill with somebody else. Click on the picture on the right to see a larger version. Notice how small the people look - that's because the hill really is that long and steep.
Kerri and Travis drove up on Saturday but missed out on the tubing. We all went skiing on Sunday. Unfortunately it hasn't snowed in awhile and has been very warm - in the 40's during the day. The runs were iced over and then slushy in some areas. Snowboarding is really difficult in those conditions. We ended up on the worst types of runs - long, narrow, flat roads. Kerri and I did about 1.5 runs and called it a day.
It really needs to get cold again and snow heavily. This is the type of skiing you would expect in early April but not early March. It's hard to believe the ski season is coming to a close.

Tamayo

Megan and I were finally able to get together for dinner this past Thursday. We met up at Tamayo. We had a special menu as part of Denver's Restaurant Week. Restaurant week allows you to try several courses at a restaurant for $26.40.

Megan has been interviewing potential GT students on the north side of Denver for the CO club scholarship. There was a student on the south side that was interested in majoring in INTA so we had her meet up with us at Tamayo. It was fun to pass on info and reflect on college life again.

Colorado Symphony Orchestra

I went to see the Colorado Symphony Orchestra on Friday night. The CSO was doing a tribute to American composers. They first performed pieces by two composers that were present for the concert. They then did a Copland piece, Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F and a couple of rags. The auditorium is really amazing. It surrounds the stage, so some of the audience is actually sitting behind the orchestra. I guess that's for people who wonder what faces the conductor makes during a performance. Something very unusual though that I've never seen done before...the conductor played the piano for all the pieces requiring one. They had the lid off and slid the piano so the conductor was facing the orchestra how he normally would be. He would sit and play nodding his head to get the orchestra to come in at the right places, then he would stand up and conduct when he wasn't playing.

Earlier I had dinner at Rialto Cafe. I had brought Billy here during his visit last summer. It's ranked with 3.5 stars - equivalent to PF Changs or Pappadeaux.