Work Perks: Hitting the Slopes of Sleeping Giant

Since graduating college with a double major in both International Studies and Spanish, Melissa has found herself with at least one foot in the world of education. Stateside, she's served as a paraprofessional in three different schools and while living in South Korea she served as resident Native English Speaker in three different Korean Elementary schools. These positions have all held their various perks and moments of pure joy, always revolving around the students and gaining added favor with a variety of "work perks".

 

This past Monday, January 25th, Melissa and Mike both enjoyed the perks of being connected to Burlington Schools AND of owning their own business complete with a respectful clientele that understands M&M need/deserve the occassional break. So it was, the couple, along wtih middle school and high school staff and students found themselves enjoying a day of skiing, snowboarding and outdoor enjoyment at Sleeping Giant Ski Areat just outside of Yellowstone National Park. This, all in thanks to a school that values offering students opportunities outside of textbooks and tests AND a small community that's will to chip in and ensure the day is available not only to students but to community members at large.

The day saw Mike Harrington busting out his snowboard after about an 8 year hiatus. As should be expected from the man- the myth- the legend, he took to his snowboard as if it'd only been on hiatus for 8 months. After a quick reacquaintance with his board, he was shredding his way down the mountain, impressing numerous students who were convinced his skill set was fairly well limited to pizza-builder extraordinaire. By the close of the day, Mike had made just over 20 runs, for a total of 73 minutes, 12 miles and a top speed of 36 mph - feats he deemed were just a bit more exciting, active and enjoyable than lounging around at The Burlington Place building the weekly trivia.

Melissa opted to don a pair of skis for the first time since middle school, remembering how miserable she felt after her first and only time snowboarding about 10 years ago as a college student. She sat in on student lessons, learned a few things that made skiing a bit more pleasant than it was 17 years ago, pizza-wedged her way down the bunny slope, made it up the chair lift with her hubs once and then mostly enjoyed lounging around, drinking a bit of coffee and taking in the lovely winter scenery. She also had the added joy of running into Mike's aunt and uncle Cowger who were touring with a friend of theirs who was visiting from Maine - talk about the joys of Wyoming being one expansive small town!

Students and other teachers all enjoyed the day similarly to fit their own personal interests. Many students conquered the mountain on skis and snowboards, whereas a slew of 6th grade and middle school students received lessons and tried their hand (and legs, minds, muscles, core, etc) at winters pleasurable sports for the first time ever. A handful of students made their way down a few sledding runs while still others enjoyed games of Apples to Apples, Connect Four, coloring and chatting in the ski lodge. Overall, Monday, January 25th was among a special handful of Mondays that does not impart a case-of-the-Mondays to the workers and attendess of Burlington Schools.

As an additional perk to getting out and closing up shop, the duo made plans to enjoy dinner with a couple teacher friends and their spouses at Pat O'hara Brewing in Cody, Wyoming before returning home to soak in the hot-tub and rejoice at having experienced a bonus day off without having to travel far and wide for a holiday or wedding.

Somedays, work feels like just another day of engaging in the same ol' daily grind with a few small joys but nothing necessarily brag-worthy...somedays however, you can really get your brag and love that you are in a position to enjoy some fairly major "work perks".

Cheers to you and yours and here's to hoping you have some work perks to look forward to!

 

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Christmas at Abode 212: Burlington Traditions

Two thousand fifteen marks the third year Mike and Melissa have enjoyed the holiday season with Abode 212 as their home base. In that time, a few traditions have been well established with a couple more finding their way into the mix.

Each year, a Sunday afternoon is deemed the "Heathen Cookie Exchange" - an event for those of us who are more often found at the local bar than the local church. The event always features a healthy assortment of appetizers, a good deal of win and liquor, copious amounts of fresh baked cookies (each attendee is asked to bring 6 dozen of their favorite cookie to share with others) and loads of holiday cheer!

This year may have been the biggest yet: Cookies were lined out on every available surface, the infamous flaming cocktail was imbibed, bellies were overstuffed and this little community of heathen women showed-up in true fellowship format, filled with love, good-will and holiday cheer. The Heathen Cookie exchange is one of the most cherished (and, ironically, long standing) Burlington holiday traditions.

Other "traditions" to be described here within, are only traditions in terms of having been successful in their initial year, and therefore are now held as tentative plans and traditions for future years of Burlington living.

The Hot Chocolate tradition. As a paraprofessional at the local middle/high school, Melissa was eager to offer a gift for all co-workers, but was a little less excited about going to all the work to figure out a cute gift to give. She combed her Pinterest memory and suggested to her "Resource Nook" co-workers that, as a team, they host a Hot Chocolate bar for all faculty and staff. The idea took hold and soon the team had plotted who would bring cups, hot chocolate mix, marshmallows, coffee creamers, candy canes, whip cream, sprinkles and so much more to make the event truly memorable and absolutley delicious.

The day of the "teacher-lounge-hosted" event, the wind was blustery and the temperatures a bit uncomfortable, making Hot Chocolate that much more enjoyable and appreciated. Many adults enjoyed multiple cups of Hot Chocolate throughout the day (Melissa enjoyed a grand total of 6 cups of hot chocolate; that includes two on the day the hot chocolate bar experience was shared with resource room students). The day(s) were so much fun and the hot chocolate so incredibly delicious, that the Resource Nook decided unanimously to instate the Hot Chocolate Bar as their yearly tradition.

Hot chololate combinations of note:

hot chocolate + pumpkin spice coffee creamer + whip cream + nutmeg + gingerbread marshmallow = perfection!

hot chocolate + spoonful of Nutella = heavenly

hot chocolate + peppermint mocha creamer + whip cream + red/white sprinkles + peppermint marshmallows + candy cane = elevated classic

Finally, to add to the list of traditions that are yet to be traditions but are worthy or tradition status, Mike and Melissa hosted family at their home for a Christmas Eve Eve dinner of pizza (one even featured beer-battered pheasant from a pheasant Mike shot earlier that day!) and beer, games, chatting and puzzling. Morning rolled around and had everyone enjoying Brunch Sliders and a Bloody Mary Bar (using nothing less than the infamous infused vodka straight from The Burlington Place). As family slowly departed to prepare for traditional-tradtions of Christmas Eve, Mike made a quick offer to wear out the dog--nieces with a bit of hunting. Upon returning, the dogs and man were sufficiently exhausted and the rest of the crew at Abode 212 was set to head on to Worland and prepare for the continuation of Christmas traditions.

Having the chance to fill Abode 212 with family twice during the holiday season was a true joy for Mike and Melissa, to the point they are plotting future opportunities to invite their loved ones into the whole of their Burlington life, not just the work part of their Burlington life.

 

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Thanksgiving 2015: The Preparation

Melissa is a bit obsessive about food. (Let's be real, it's a bit more than a bit.) For example: she carries with her a small, green notebook to record ideas of names and ingredients for the infamous #TBPPizzaSpecial. Recently, while visions of cranberry sauce and the perfect turkey danced in her head; her mind landed excitedly upon the idea of a "Thanksgiving Series" of pizza specials at The Burlington Place. Not your typical "throw-the-leftovers-on-the-crust" concept, but...well, see if you can follow: This year, the Thanksgiving special is the Muchas Gracias - a pizza built on top of a cranberry salsa for sauce, dollops of cream cheese, fresh red onion, fresh jalapeno and ground turkey. Future pizzas will be built using Arigoto, Danke, and Merci as their nominative inspiration. Fun, right?

And whilst dreaming up the next five years worth of Thanksgiving Series Pizza Specials, Melissa was planning her own, booze-driven Thanksgiving meal. Having mastered both a Rumchata Cheesecake and Cabernet Blueberry-Cranberry sauce for last years "No-Parents, No-Rules" holiday extravaganza, the rest of the traditional dishes needed to undergo a boozing factor for Abode 212's first ever Thanksgiving meal (to be shared with Katie, Tom, [maybe Patty], Harland and Brenda).

Having only limited opportunities to run to town for groceries, planning had to begin just over a month in advance. Food magazines from the previous three Novembers littered the living room floor, Pintrest was at the ready and consideration for food traditions loved and loathed was at the forefront of the decisions to be made. This meant, that Melissa took into consideration facts like her folks are non-sweet potato eaters, and Mike will always pass on the green bean casserole and traditional pumpkin pie, so why work hard to incorporate those as main dishes? To be expected of a girl who prepared her first, full-on turkey dinner her senior year of high school (for the pure joy and experience of it all), Melissa felt no intimidation at seeking out new dishes, new methods of preparing a turkey and new ways to incorporate all the classics (sweet potatoes will find their way into the hummus this year, served on the relish tray as opposed to alongside the stuffing and a mushroom barley salad will fill the gap for the green bean casserole).

The menu began to take shape with boozy concepts taking a firm hold on most menu items- Melissa was struck by recipes for a bourbon brined turkey and a hard cider brined turkey (therefore, it should be no surprise she combined both concepts and had a hard-cider-bourbon-brined turkey to serve). As the turkey brine began to take shape in mental format, cooking the bird became the next matter of interest. Having a small kitchen and one small oven and NOT wanting to run down to The Burlington Place to take care of various parts of the meal, Melissa began her research on using an electric roaster oven to prepare a turkey (conveniently, an electric roaster came with the purchase of The Burlington Place, so Melissa owns one by association). Many bloggers and roaster experts had high praises to sing of their turkey's prepared in an electric roaster, claiming it was quicker, resulted in a juicier turkey and most importantly freed up oven space, Melissa was convinced and brought home the roaster to be cleaned and used on the big day.

While, some parts of the meal had been decided a year in advance: the Cabernet Blueberry-Cranberry sauce and Rumchata Cheesecake; the rest had to be decided upon in time for the bi-weekly grocery run. As such, from the piles of magazines a Mushroom Barley Salad (courtesy of Food & Wine), Lemon-Rosemary Rolls (courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens), and a Salted Pecan-Bourbon Pumpkin Pie (also courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens) made it onto this years menu. Additionally, a sweet-potato hummus and roasted chickpea appetizer (each courtesy of Pinterest) made it onto the snack cart. Brenda and Katie rounded out the holiday meal with twice-baked potatoes and lemon-butter green beans respectively.

Other, aesthetic details that came together in the preparation stage of planning the meal included the purchase of white linen napkins complete with paper-leaf napkin rings (an homage to Mike's grandma Carolynn who believed in the power and purpose of a well-set dinner table, no matter the occassion). Melissa also purchased a sturdy, folding bar cart to use as the brunch and snack station to be located in the living room so guests could easily snack without getting congested in the small kitchen of Abode 212. (Brilliant!) Melissa also repurposed her old, OLD, dorm fridge for a convenient, dining room drink station, another trick to avoid the congestion of the kitchen. Additionally, Mike conquered the building of shelves in one guest room so that boxes of beer (just a small collection that the Harrington's have been building for a few years now) could be better organized and less obtrusive in the small room. Mike also added small hooks to the back of both guest rooms for robes and towels (now that guests have the opportunity to soak in a hot tub).

In the life of Melissa Harrington, preparing for guests and big meals is just one of lifes great joys, the actual hosting obviously trumps the whole process, but the immensity of joy to be experienced in the whole of the event is truly life-giving. The small details, the big details, the menu plan, the cleaning tasks - all played into the execution of a most enjoyable, incredibly delicious Thanksgiving holiday.

 

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A Visit from Friends and Sugar Gliders

When we left Laramie, we left our apartment to a great, kind and wonderful couple, Nate and Lisa. The beauty of life resulted in their having the perfect job opportunity to re-locate just as we decided to return to Laramie, meaning we had the great opportunity to live in our old home. Unfortunately, we didn't have an opportunity to meet with them as our transition times didn't quite overlap. Fortunately, the lovely couple came through Laramie on their way to celebrate Thanksgiving in South Dakota.

And while this lovely couple hasn't expanded their family with tiny tots, they have recently brought a couple of sugar gliders into their life. Wanting to understand these little creatures, the Harringtons, SJ, Micah, Nate, Lisa and a handful of others all enjoyed a meal together before eventually heading down into the basement where the sugar gliders were unleashed from the safety of the pouch and allowed to glide here and there, land on every available body and even managed to drop into a vat of apple cider vinegar. Regardless, the little creatures were a constant blur of motion quit literally gliding from one place to the next, inciting squeals and laughter from all the bystanders/participants.

Always a joy to visit with old friends and remember just how beautiful our community has and always will be.