Snow Day!!

WE had a snow day Monday!! (yes, it's still southern California)...

I took Sarah & Em out of school and we went skiing (yes WE).  Sunday was somewhat stormy, and I looked up at the local mountain area...I've been here long enough to predict the weather more nearly accurately than the so-called "meteorologists" or weather people. 

I just knew it would be a beautiful day to ski on Monday, so I decided that we'd go up and have a go.

What a GORGEOUS DAY!!  Blue skies--really blue, not filtered by haze--49° F; white white snow--of course it's western Sierra cement, (granulated ice on top of ice), but by our standards, pretty good snow! No lines, only a very few obnoxious snowboarders -- why weren't they at school, anyway? 8^) --just beautiful.

It was so much fun!!! I provided the girls with plenty of entertainment, and gave myself lots of bruises. I've been skiing for more than half my life, but my brain misfired many times (like forgetting to buckle my boots and falling all the way down the bunny slope--shame on me!), and my falls aren't necessarily graceful.

Now, I'm bruised everywhere--both my knees, both hips, my waist, my arms, my shins. It's one time I'm glad to have a lot of fat on my derriěr, tho--no bruises there!  I had to stop half-way down one hill--Emily persuaded me to go to the top of the mountain with her--my knees gave out--they and my thighs hurt so much I purposely fell in order to get a rest. I did make it down the hill, but my old body strongly showed her anger at my youthful mind!

During all of this Sarah was in a class. She (to me, anyway) is poetry in motion on the slopes.  It gives me great happiness to see her do so well in my favorite sport. She finished and had lunch with us and said she was pretty tired. She got lucky; Sarah was one of only three students in Ski School that day, loved her instructor, and he really worked them--she learned parallel turns, and it looked so beautiful when she turned that way. At lunch time she told me with a big smile, "Mom, I love skiing."

Emily was "with" me while Sarah attended ski school.  She didn't want to take a class. She said "It's boring--I have to wait all the time while everyone else in class learns stuff."  So, she and I went off together. I fell and she skied. That was when she "persuaded" me to go with her to the top of the mountain. Yes, they were all fairly easy runs; but that was the hill where my knees quit working. When I got up, she had already got on the lift again BY HERSELF!! I watched her for as far as I could, then had to trust she'd be ok...

When Emily skis, the term "hot dogger" comes to mind.  She just goes and goes (o.k., Energizer Bunny, too). No poles, just skis.  She is so good already; it makes me wish I had learned when I was four! That's when she started.  Em amazes me with her talent for taking on new things, learning them quickly and then making them her own.  She looks way cool on the slopes, too I have added a picture to our group photos so you can see her...I took it with my phone cam so it's not one of my more focused ones, but you can see what a gorgeous day it was and how the girls had fun there.

After lunch, we went back out there, the three of us, and skied some more. I knew I needed to go up again; I had taken a very bad fall--one that even made me cry just before lunchtime.  I slid face first into a cordoned off area twisting to miss it, but then bouncing off one of the posts at my waist just after hitting my head.  I just now realized, I started off falling on my back (when I hit my head), and ended up on my front, when I hit the posts at my waist.  If I didn't go back up after lunch, I would most likely never ski again. I didn't want that to happen; besides, we're trying to make our way up to Colorado to ski on real snow for Spring Break in March. I want to go to Steamboat Springs--that may turn out to be a little too pricey, but I love their ski school for kids--it's called Billy Kidd Ski School. He's a former Olympic skier, and watching the kids after they've gone through that course, you just know they'll love skiing forever.

So, the afternoon was terrific--they both ski faster than I do, and it was so much fun watching them slide away down the hill. I wasn't far behind them, but we skied about 5 more runs and called it a day. The girls got to see my most entertaining fall ever, too!  I started to fall, my skis went into a backward wedge, I slid backward, bent forward, tried to stop, tried not to fall, slid this way for quite awhile, was glad Sarah's cel phone didn't have camera abilities, and finally let go and fell, laughing hysterically.  It must have looked really hilarious.

We got home in time for dinner, baths and bed. Em was exhausted. She fell asleep on the couch right after dinner.

Boy, oh, boy do I love skiing! Even with all my bruises, it was a great day!

I’m not Dead--Yet

 

No, that doesn't read "I'm not dead—Pet" it's "I'm not Dead—YET."

I guess you haven't heard from me since the Eye Situation. Several other situations have surfaced for air, and so once again, it's time to write.

First, my left eye continues to heal. I still drop antibiotics into it, but only once or twice each day, instead of every two hours as I did at first. There seems to be no serious damage to my cornea or my iris; my radial keratotomy
scars seem to be the issue now. We just have to get it to grow some skin over the scar that's causing this trouble and then we'll be safe for awhile. If you happen to like reading medical journals then here is one that may interest you. The symptoms presented by the case study (patient) are exactly my symptoms when I first noticed something wrong with my eye.

Now, in addition to the eye thing, I may have mentioned my left foot (am I losing my left side, piece by piece?) and it's lump. The lump gave me great pain; so much so that I began to use my mom's old cane to walk around. Not often, but enough to keep it in the car in case I needed it. It turns out I had a plantar's wart that was deeply rooted around a nerve in my heel. After six weeks of treatment, the lump is gone, and I can walk without pain. Yippee!! You'd think I'd get out there and walk the dog more often. Well, no. Not me. Not yet.

All seems good right now. The girls continue to do well in school—really well in fact. Sarah as I mentioned before, is involved with too many activities. She has decided to let one go. Girl Scouts. Her father and I have decided she needs to finish out this year, and finish her bronze award first. Then and only then can she consider that option. We've already put a deposit on her Girl Scout summer camp—which she was really looking forward to doing. So, we'll see how Girl Scouts in September looks after camp.

So my working life left me; I got fired by the Girl Scout team leader, a friend decided in writing to not want my friendship anymore (that one really did surprise me); my own husband told me there is nothing left about me to care for. I don't feel as if I'm a wonderful person anymore. We've decided to attend some kind of marriage counseling at least. I think things may be improving, but I don't know. It may be too soon to know.

The car still runs; the house hasn't blown down or drowned yet; my plants and flowers look beautiful, and I have a terrific support system through my uncle & aunt, my cousin & his wife, my friends and my other 3 readers.

Going back into my cave now for awhile,

me

 

 

 

I'm a blue girl

You Are A Blue Girl

Relationships and feelings are the most important things to you. You are empathetic and accepting - and good at avoiding conflict. If someone close to you is in pain, it makes you hurt as well. You try to heal the ones you love with your kind and open heart.

What Color Girl Are You?