DANG!!!

Beat THIS for a lunch date!

Easter Message

Psalm 27:1
"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

Sorry U Winter Haters

Velvet, velvet, velvet, velvet....

Saturday at Alta was velvet.  You in-the-know folks understand corduroy snow. 

Velvet is where new snow has filled in the corduroy ridges and it feels like you are gliding over velvet.  Wheeeeeee. 

Not a powder-day thigh buster, but an
easy gliding,
easy sliding,
sighing day.

Thank you Alta. 

Thank you Snow Gods. 

Thank you for the delivery of an amazing day for me, my sweetie and the other fans that occupied mountain splendor.

Boston, Urban Spoon & Us

A lovely vacation was completed on April 20 with pretzels, peanuts, and cookies provided by Delta Airline.  The IPhone App, "Urban Spoon," guided us through Boston.

It began April 13 in the same way:  pretzels, peanuts, and cookies on Delta.  Luckily, when we arrived at our hotel, there were chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate (I really like it when there's a hot beverage offered FOR FREE with a room).  We urban spooned for the finer elements of life: omelettes, sea food, amazing scallops, shrimp, red snapper, cookies, bakeries, Greek food, Asian salad, well-made bread (you can pretty much tell if a restaurant is going to measure up if it starts out with good bread), crab, lobster, hot sugar cookies on the day of THE BOSTON MARATHON (there were lots for us cause of all the skinny people with expensive shoes around town), favorite dry mix formula hot chocolate (swiss miss with 1 hazelnut creamer and 1 french vanilla creamer and 1 regular creamer and 1 packet splenda - ALL FREE with room), Belgian waffles (not as good as my sweetie's), pasta, baklava, bagels, soft pretzles, phyllo custard, spinach ravioli in cream sauce.

A great trip....

Oh, and we saw some history stuff....

Oh, and Tyler.

Happy Birthday

Happy 21 Rachel ! ! !

Party at Hilary and Dennen's Home

Party Goers



Finn's Lunch



Finn after lunch



A...L...M...O...S...T...

In many years of mountain fun, there have been few mishaps.  Every now and again, a moment of, "HOLY COW THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE," occurs.  My brain follows with, "That was almost IT, the BIG ONE, the END."

Seared into past memories is a day that my loving brother duped me into going off a jump with 40 feet of air beneath.  Upon impact, flesh, bones, and equipment bounced three times before coming to rest. 

Another memory of sudden impact followed a scream of,  "LOOK OUT!" as an out-of-control snowboarder tested the strength of my body to stay in one piece.

Well, today will join those other memories.

Knee-deep powder took me among the trees, but it also entertained another skier on the opposite side of the trees.  Awareness of each other only took place as we both rounded the same tree from opposite directions at exactly the same moment.   C  R  A  S  H  !

I was able to stay upright, but the poor fellow ended up kissing a tree, losing a ski, and burying himself head-first at the base of said tree.  I turned around to help as I heard the calls from the lift, "Are you okay?"  This is always an indicator from those with an excellent observation point that things are not okay.

And then, this is not a lie.....my partner of ALMOST biting the big one didn't move for a little while.  Relief came to my shocked, but still beating heart, when his legs started twitching so I knew he was alive.  Guys do not like to be helped up by ladies that they have just hit, but I dug his equipment out and helped get things straightened around.  We both agreed that, "It could have been a lot worse."  He instructed me to tell "the leopard guy" that he was coming.  Yes, his ski partner was dressed in a leopard outfit, but that's another story.

We did see him skiing later in the day, so all was well. However, as we ate our lunch in the car, sweet hubbie exclaimed, "Isn't that the guy you hit?"  Sure enough, he was putting his equipment on his car to leave....and....I....think....I....detected....a....limp.

Eleventh Commandment

Because I was in the neighborhood, I dashed into Walmart to pick up some flannel to make a blanket for a friend's soon-to-arrive baby.  As I passed the nail salon, I thought, "I have the time today to have my nails done."  Yes, I know that you just received an almost electrical shock through your system, knowing how badly I hate to sit hand-in-hand with a stranger while he inflicts both physical and psychological pain.  You want to shout, "Abort!  Abort mission!"  If only you'd been there for me....

However, after the first mind-numbing hour, fingers submerged in a bowl of straight acetone that was being absorbed directly into my bloodstream, I began to marvel at the circus of humanity that exits the checkout lines at Walmart.  Before these observations, I had also thought, "I'll stop in at the hair salon to have my hair trimmed since I'm in the beautifying mood." 

Luckily, somewhere in my subconscience, I heard my own, "Abort mission!" cry, and heeded the warning.  As I sat and watched, I became particularly aware of bizarre hair styles, or lack of style.  The pony wad is a common look for both genders, young and old.

After 90 minutes and four bloody cuticles, the frantic need to flee won out and I heard myself cheerily say, "Oh, that's okay, I don't need to let them dry.  I'll be careful," as I flung the cash at my tormentor.  Merging hurridly with the exit crowd, now with one smudged nail, I remembered words of wisdom from my dad as he observed similar models of humanity....

"If the Lord saw that one, there'd be another commandment."

War Update

So the war continues to rage.  I thought it was four nights, but was informed that we are in for another night tomorrow.

Things I've learned....

youngest soldier in the war....12 years old
number of soldiers under 15 years old....150,000
that song "Battle Hymn of the Republic" was about....The Civil War (well, that sheds some light on the lyrics)
number of Americans killed in the Civil War...618,000
when blacks were allowed to fight, they made up 1% of the population, but 10% of the Union forces

I Am Trying

I admit it, I ran screaming from the room.  Memories of junior high and high school history class flooded my brain as I recalled the fuzzy-brain syndrome of, "I can't remember this name, this battle, this location, this underlying reason for carnage, this unexplainable blood bath."

I have pledged to sit through the 4-night Civil War movie (2 hours each) with my sweetie (he loves history, battles, the names, the locations, the reasons, etc., etc., etc.) made by Ken Burns.  I have listened for years to others tell me that this is a great and moving tale and I am trying....

The effort is genuine and the third night was almost complete before I fled to the kitchen in dire need of toast.

It is being recorded by the box thingy under the TV screen so that I can regroup and take smaller bites.  It may take me three more nights to complete the next viewing.

Perhaps the gray matter is smarter and I'm learning new stuff, but I wonder if in two months I will remember the details.  My high grades in history were earned by a devotion to the report card, not the content matter.

......but........I am....trying....again....

Spring Morning Next Day

Spring Morning



I appreciate the bright contrast of color to brown and gray surroundings.



$$$$$$

Ah-hah.  I just found out who can buy the watch.  The CEO of Johnson & Johnson makes .......now get ready.....hold on to your hat......SEVENTEEN MILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR.  Sorry, Denise, I know he's your boss.

You might want to ask for a raise.