Streakin' past 13 & into 14
I got up sometime near 715am after a very restful night’s sleep, no doubt my best in several night’s. We received a couple more inches of snow over night adding yet another layer onto our already deep snow pack. Mindy received the call she hoped sometime around 6am - no school again today. She got, I presumed to check on Hilliard schools.
I started some coffee then my sit-ups. Before push-ups, I played on the internet. I took my time with the rest of my exercises and then enjoyed some coffee. I wasn’t in a rush. We planned to go skiing later. I was still intent on it.
I did my stretching then left for a run. I ran just three miles knowing I’d be skiing later. It was a rather easy run with a soft cushion of fresh snow to begin year number 14. I shoveled the drive before heading back inside. By then, Mindy was in the shower, I assumed readying for a day on the slopes.
It must’ve been somewhere near 930am when Mindy joined me downstairs. For some reason, Bella wasn’t too keen on skiing, but Jacob was. I decided to load our skis into the Thule anyhow before getting a shower. While I took care of that, Mindy started packing our lunch. At some point, Mindy let me know that everybody was going, Bella included. While loading the skies, Jacob was apparently dispatched to the garage to grab some waters and Gatorade for the cooler. I spotted him there swinging the Wii remote around like a lasso. I gave him the dickens! He quickly bolted back inside.
It was 10am by the time I had the skis loaded up and was headed up for a shower. By the time everyone was ready to go it was 11am. Just before leaving, I checked the MRM webpage to make sure they were open. They were. They were also advertising 8” inches of fresh powdery snow. Cool!
We left Bob Imber a VM as we headed north on I-270 letting him know that we’d be on the slopes through early evening if he cared to join us after work. We did the same for Renee. The drive went fast. We played the number guessing game on the drive up (pick a number between 1 and 100 and I can guess it after seven yes or no questions).
At one point along Rt 33 northwest of Dublin, I attempted to pass a semi. I about crapped myself when I saw the road was blown over with snow just ahead. I had to haul ass to make the pass and avoid the snow drift. I was nervous.
We arrived at MRM somewhere close to noon. It was a tad more crowded than I expected, although nothing like a weekend. I gave Mindy my card to fetch everyone’s lift tickets. They gave us a deal – all four for $79. We parked in the second row directly outside the main ski lodge for easy access to our packed lunch. It always takes a while to get everyone geared up.
Mindy & Bella had to pee. Jacob and I headed up Four Star express for a quick warm-up run. Jacob commented how flat the hills starting to look. It was snowing but only lightly and with a mild breeze. But that changed in a hurry once atop the mountain. Under almost white-out conditions the wind was whipping/gusting near 40mph. Almost like a completely different day.
We chose to take the main hill skipping the usual easy blue warm-up run. There was about 3-4 inches of powder making the skiing really slow – about half speed. My edges got caught once or twice during that first run, but I recovered nicely. Mindy & Bella were just walking up to the lift as we skied back to the line. We skied several runs together. The snow was soft and powdery, but again awfully slow. I was a little disappointed feeling the need for speed. We must’ve skied 6-8 runs before deciding to take a break for lunch. Just before our break, I ran into our new friend David, the ski patrol. We chatted only briefly.
As the day wore on the snow seemed to compact, improving my ability to get at least a little speed going, but still on the slow side. The lift lines varied. At times one could ski up and get right on while at other times, the line resembled that of a weekend – quite strange.
We took another break around 430pm only this time in the lower lodge area (no alcohol area). I had a large Mountain Dew (more about that later). A few tables away sat our friend David. Mindy walked over to say hello since she missed seeing him earlier. She asked if his Seven Springs condo/house was available this coming holiday weekend.
A few minutes later he walked over while chatting on the cell phone. Said it was his ownership partner, and offered Mindy the phone to possibly arrange our staying there this weekend and skiing. He explained that she would be staying there with a few others including kids, but that there was an extra room available. Hmmm? We opted out last second not being totally committed to a trip so last minute and all. Sounds nice though. Not wanting to sound rude, we thanked David profusely for trying to help us out. That was awesome. We’d really like to try Seven Springs. It’s only half as far as Holiday Valley and they’ve gotten oodles of snow this winter – 2ft this week alone.
We returned to the slopes around 5pm. We skied a number of runs before the lights kicked on. I love it when the lights come on! The next two trips up the Four Star Express lift were not pretty. As always, we discussed our exit strategy - a right turn this time, and even reminded Jacob to turn sharp & tight being on the far right side of the lift. But exiting the lift he turned left knocking Mindy and Bella to the ground. A mistake/accident to be sure. Mindy was angry because Jacob skied off with out any regard for their well being after knocking them to the ground. I only gave him a tiny bit of grief. It happens. We all skied down and headed up again.
On the lift ride up I once again reviewed the exit strategy – exit hard right - this right, Jacob! But Jacob acted as if he wasn’t going to listen and purposefully looked away even as we joked and emphasized which direction was to right. You guessed it. As we exited right, Jacob once again turned left into Mindy knocking her into Bella and both once again fell to the ground. I was pissed this time. And once again he skied off like nothing had happened. I apparently said, "God Dammit, Jacob, what were you thinking?" Then, when Mindy went for him he bolted off down the hill to avoid her wrath. She was pissed and Bella was in tears after having her mother fall on her two times in a row. I took Bella over to the terrain park run where she and I skied together. She was fine. We skied down uneventfully and met Mindy at the bottom, who said she and Jacob were done. They’d meet us in the Honda if Bella and I wanted to get in a few more runs. I left it up to Bella. Yep, she was game!
Bella and I skied two more runs, and two more lift mishaps. An older gentlemen in line behind us stepped out too far and ended up on our lift chair even as Bella and I waited for the chair to scoop us up. He hollered last minute but it was too late. I ended up on his lap and eventually fell onto Bella. The young lift operator never once thought to stop the lift. What a goober! We had to organize ourselves midflight. We managed to right the wrong, and even joked about it with the older dude. He felt horrible.
Skiing down the mountain, I was impressed with Bella’s free style skiing, zig-zagging quickly back and forth down the mountain using her hips. Later, at the bottom, she told us she learned that from watching Bob. Please! Too funny.
OK, so, we decide to take one more run, but this time up the Sugarbush lift. It had just opened. We were the only two skiers on it. As soon as we got on our chair, both of Bella’s skis were knocked off after hitting a bump of snow just underneath. The lift operator quickly stopped the lift and handed me her skis. We didn’t bother trying to put the skis on during the ride up. Too risky. Instead, I picked Bella up as we exited the lift and carried her to a clear area. We skied down fast! That was it. It was 6pm. We removed our skis and walked to the waiting Honda. Mindy was still in the process of removing and packing away their ski gear. We decided to put the skis in the back in lieu of using the Thule. We were on the road five minutes later.
Somehow or another, the lift mishap came up. Apparently to justify or shift the blame, Jacob went on an on about how I hollered at him for knocking them over. He also reminded me that I swore at him (see earlier G.D. comment). Probably true. He also brought up being yelled at for swinging the Wii remote, and went on to state that all I ever do is yell at him.
How he feels is important to me, but on both accounts I felt the response the correct one, although I am not proud that I swore at him. I told him that I loved him despite his errors but that I would always give him an earful when and if he makes repeated blunders. Honestly, I was more frustrated that he was deflecting the blame for his mistakes onto me – blame shifting. No one wants to be hollered at or disciplined, but if you screw up …
Somehow we got over it. Once we were home, everyone did their part to carry our gear into the house. Mindy quickly moved into dinner prep mode. She had a pork roast cooking in the crock-pot all day long. During dinner Jacob said he felt a lot better and was pretty much back to his usual antagonistic ways of aggravating Bella. Life back to normal.
Mindy sent both kids to the shower after dinner. While they were away, I asked Mindy if we were on the same page with the way the day’s incidents were handled. It was important to me that we were, and if not, why not. She said we were. In fact, she shared how mad she was during the chase down the mountain, which Bella and I didn’t witness.
We tucked in the kids sometime after 8pm. Mindy and I turned the TV to the Discovery Channel watching Meteorite Man, a somewhat interesting show about their ongoing search for meteorites. This particular search was in and around Lake Meade on Federal property. I started to dose near the show's end while sipping a Jack & Coke. Mindy suggested we head to bed. I followed. I worried that I might not be able to fall asleep after drinking that gargantuous Mt Dew earlier. Like a prophet, I laid in bed with my mind racing for almost 45 minutes. I finally decided to get back up and go to my PC. I ended up adding music to my hard drive and stayed up until 130am. Not good. I knew that I’d pay come morning.
Streakin' past 13 & into 14
I got up sometime near 715am after a very restful night’s sleep, no doubt my best in several night’s. We received a couple more inches of snow over night adding yet another layer onto our already deep snow pack. Mindy received the call she hoped sometime around 6am - no school again today. She got, I presumed to check on Hilliard schools.
I started some coffee then my sit-ups. Before push-ups, I played on the internet. I took my time with the rest of my exercises and then enjoyed some coffee. I wasn’t in a rush. We planned to go skiing later. I was still intent on it.
I did my stretching then left for a run. I ran just three miles knowing I’d be skiing later. It was a rather easy run with a soft cushion of fresh snow to begin year number 14. I shoveled the drive before heading back inside. By then, Mindy was in the shower, I assumed readying for a day on the slopes.
It must’ve been somewhere near 930am when Mindy joined me downstairs. For some reason, Bella wasn’t too keen on skiing, but Jacob was. I decided to load our skis into the Thule anyhow before getting a shower. While I took care of that, Mindy started packing our lunch. At some point, Mindy let me know that everybody was going, Bella included. While loading the skies, Jacob was apparently dispatched to the garage to grab some waters and Gatorade for the cooler. I spotted him there swinging the Wii remote around like a lasso. I gave him the dickens! He quickly bolted back inside.
It was 10am by the time I had the skis loaded up and was headed up for a shower. By the time everyone was ready to go it was 11am. Just before leaving, I checked the MRM webpage to make sure they were open. They were. They were also advertising 8” inches of fresh powdery snow. Cool!
We left Bob Imber a VM as we headed north on I-270 letting him know that we’d be on the slopes through early evening if he cared to join us after work. We did the same for Renee. The drive went fast. We played the number guessing game on the drive up (pick a number between 1 and 100 and I can guess it after seven yes or no questions).
At one point along Rt 33 northwest of Dublin, I attempted to pass a semi. I about crapped myself when I saw the road was blown over with snow just ahead. I had to haul ass to make the pass and avoid the snow drift. I was nervous.
We arrived at MRM somewhere close to noon. It was a tad more crowded than I expected, although nothing like a weekend. I gave Mindy my card to fetch everyone’s lift tickets. They gave us a deal – all four for $79. We parked in the second row directly outside the main ski lodge for easy access to our packed lunch. It always takes a while to get everyone geared up.
Mindy & Bella had to pee. Jacob and I headed up Four Star express for a quick warm-up run. Jacob commented how flat the hills starting to look. It was snowing but only lightly and with a mild breeze. But that changed in a hurry once atop the mountain. Under almost white-out conditions the wind was whipping/gusting near 40mph. Almost like a completely different day.
We chose to take the main hill skipping the usual easy blue warm-up run. There was about 3-4 inches of powder making the skiing really slow – about half speed. My edges got caught once or twice during that first run, but I recovered nicely. Mindy & Bella were just walking up to the lift as we skied back to the line. We skied several runs together. The snow was soft and powdery, but again awfully slow. I was a little disappointed feeling the need for speed. We must’ve skied 6-8 runs before deciding to take a break for lunch. Just before our break, I ran into our new friend David, the ski patrol. We chatted only briefly.
As the day wore on the snow seemed to compact, improving my ability to get at least a little speed going, but still on the slow side. The lift lines varied. At times one could ski up and get right on while at other times, the line resembled that of a weekend – quite strange.
We took another break around 430pm only this time in the lower lodge area (no alcohol area). I had a large Mountain Dew (more about that later). A few tables away sat our friend David. Mindy walked over to say hello since she missed seeing him earlier. She asked if his Seven Springs condo/house was available this coming holiday weekend.
A few minutes later he walked over while chatting on the cell phone. Said it was his ownership partner, and offered Mindy the phone to possibly arrange our staying there this weekend and skiing. He explained that she would be staying there with a few others including kids, but that there was an extra room available. Hmmm? We opted out last second not being totally committed to a trip so last minute and all. Sounds nice though. Not wanting to sound rude, we thanked David profusely for trying to help us out. That was awesome. We’d really like to try Seven Springs. It’s only half as far as Holiday Valley and they’ve gotten oodles of snow this winter – 2ft this week alone.
We returned to the slopes around 5pm. We skied a number of runs before the lights kicked on. I love it when the lights come on! The next two trips up the Four Star Express lift were not pretty. As always, we discussed our exit strategy - a right turn this time, and even reminded Jacob to turn sharp & tight being on the far right side of the lift. But exiting the lift he turned left knocking Mindy and Bella to the ground. A mistake/accident to be sure. Mindy was angry because Jacob skied off with out any regard for their well being after knocking them to the ground. I only gave him a tiny bit of grief. It happens. We all skied down and headed up again.
On the lift ride up I once again reviewed the exit strategy – exit hard right - this right, Jacob! But Jacob acted as if he wasn’t going to listen and purposefully looked away even as we joked and emphasized which direction was to right. You guessed it. As we exited right, Jacob once again turned left into Mindy knocking her into Bella and both once again fell to the ground. I was pissed this time. And once again he skied off like nothing had happened. I apparently said, "God Dammit, Jacob, what were you thinking?" Then, when Mindy went for him he bolted off down the hill to avoid her wrath. She was pissed and Bella was in tears after having her mother fall on her two times in a row. I took Bella over to the terrain park run where she and I skied together. She was fine. We skied down uneventfully and met Mindy at the bottom, who said she and Jacob were done. They’d meet us in the Honda if Bella and I wanted to get in a few more runs. I left it up to Bella. Yep, she was game!
Bella and I skied two more runs, and two more lift mishaps. An older gentlemen in line behind us stepped out too far and ended up on our lift chair even as Bella and I waited for the chair to scoop us up. He hollered last minute but it was too late. I ended up on his lap and eventually fell onto Bella. The young lift operator never once thought to stop the lift. What a goober! We had to organize ourselves midflight. We managed to right the wrong, and even joked about it with the older dude. He felt horrible.
Skiing down the mountain, I was impressed with Bella’s free style skiing, zig-zagging quickly back and forth down the mountain using her hips. Later, at the bottom, she told us she learned that from watching Bob. Please! Too funny.
OK, so, we decide to take one more run, but this time up the Sugarbush lift. It had just opened. We were the only two skiers on it. As soon as we got on our chair, both of Bella’s skis were knocked off after hitting a bump of snow just underneath. The lift operator quickly stopped the lift and handed me her skis. We didn’t bother trying to put the skis on during the ride up. Too risky. Instead, I picked Bella up as we exited the lift and carried her to a clear area. We skied down fast! That was it. It was 6pm. We removed our skis and walked to the waiting Honda. Mindy was still in the process of removing and packing away their ski gear. We decided to put the skis in the back in lieu of using the Thule. We were on the road five minutes later.
Somehow or another, the lift mishap came up. Apparently to justify or shift the blame, Jacob went on an on about how I hollered at him for knocking them over. He also reminded me that I swore at him (see earlier G.D. comment). Probably true. He also brought up being yelled at for swinging the Wii remote, and went on to state that all I ever do is yell at him.
How he feels is important to me, but on both accounts I felt the response the correct one, although I am not proud that I swore at him. I told him that I loved him despite his errors but that I would always give him an earful when and if he makes repeated blunders. Honestly, I was more frustrated that he was deflecting the blame for his mistakes onto me – blame shifting. No one wants to be hollered at or disciplined, but if you screw up …
Somehow we got over it. Once we were home, everyone did their part to carry our gear into the house. Mindy quickly moved into dinner prep mode. She had a pork roast cooking in the crock-pot all day long. During dinner Jacob said he felt a lot better and was pretty much back to his usual antagonistic ways of aggravating Bella. Life back to normal.
Mindy sent both kids to the shower after dinner. While they were away, I asked Mindy if we were on the same page with the way the day’s incidents were handled. It was important to me that we were, and if not, why not. She said we were. In fact, she shared how mad she was during the chase down the mountain, which Bella and I didn’t witness.
We tucked in the kids sometime after 8pm. Mindy and I turned the TV to the Discovery Channel watching Meteorite Man, a somewhat interesting show about their ongoing search for meteorites. This particular search was in and around Lake Meade on Federal property. I started to dose near the show's end while sipping a Jack & Coke. Mindy suggested we head to bed. I followed. I worried that I might not be able to fall asleep after drinking that gargantuous Mt Dew earlier. Like a prophet, I laid in bed with my mind racing for almost 45 minutes. I finally decided to get back up and go to my PC. I ended up adding music to my hard drive and stayed up until 130am. Not good. I knew that I’d pay come morning.
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