MRM v2

Happy 73rd Birthday, Mom

I woke more than once through the night feeling hoarse and like I might have a dry cough, not to mention the tell-tale signs of drinking too much. Oops! I rolled out of bed for good, or so I thought, at 8a and headed downstairs. The snow storm that was predicted to strike over night was still only producing rain. Ugh! I started coffee then went to my PC. I didn’t plan to do any sit-ups or push-ups because it was Sunday, my single day of rest. I did a little blog writing and checked email, but I’ll bet I wasn’t at it for more than 10 minutes before I began feeling nauseous. I took my ice water and headed back upstairs for bed. Mindy woke as I jumped back in bed asking what was up. Told her I wasn’t feeling so swift. I took a couple Advil just before heading up, too. I slept for another 90 minutes but never too soundly. Sometime before then, Mindy got up and headed downstairs. It was 930a when I got up again and glanced outside at the weather, my interest being our skiing plans. It was still raining but with a few snow flurries mixed in. And by the time I got downstairs and poured a cup of coffee it had changed to 100% snow. Mindy was surprised when I informed her that it was snowing. In fact, she didn’t believe me until she saw it for herself. She asked how I was feeling. Good, not perfect, but good. The snow was coming down hard enough that it began to stick quickly. Furthermore, the temperature was expected to drop all day long and had already dropped below 30 degrees from a high of 37 just 2 hours earlier. Expecting 3-5 inches of snow by Monday morning. I called my mom to wish her a happy birthday near 10a. She was up and about, but still a little bummed over aunt Linda. The kids remained asleep until approximately 1015a. Mindy & I were thrilled that it would be snowing when the kids finally woke, especially Bella, who the night before expressed serious doubt that the rain would turn to snow thus allowing us to go skiing. She cheered when she woke and saw the snow. Asked if we were going right away. Mindy checked the MRM website from her smart phone. 38” base and snowing. We figured we’d be heading up between 11a-12n. Before any of that, however, I needed to run, and got myself ready around 10a. After a quick stretch, I was on my way. The snow was heavy and sticky, still hovering around 30 degrees. The wind was picking up too. My running clothes were caked with snow in a matter of seconds. I had to brush myself off two or three times while in stride. Fun run. A guy in a white pick-up pulled up along side me as I ran and said, “all I wanna say is that you’re a stud”. In fact, he said it twice. The truth is, running in the winter isn’t bad at all, fun really. Back at the house, we all began to prepare for a day of skiing at MRM. I didn’t bother taking a shower, but did do a “Tippler” (wash the pits, face and hands). We were loaded and ready by noon. Absent was the stress typically associated with a ski day. I’ll attribute that to having a membership, and not feeling as though we need to be there as fast as humanly possible. Mindy made sure the kids ski pants still fit. Had to give Jacob her old ski pants. His were like floods. Bella’s, however, still fit fine. Before we pulled out of the drive, I took a few minutes to shovel the drive and walk leading to the house. Mindy phoned Bob I. as we exited the subdivision. Sounded like they would not be skiing after all, citing the questionable conditions and more importantly, Mary Ann wanting/needing a down day. Mindy requested Bob give Scott and Zach our number in case they were heading up. The roads were terrible the entire drive up, and that includes I-270 as well. Heavy snow and blowing. Several cars were off the road, and one SUV resting on top of a guard rail. The pace was about 35-40 mph all the way up Rt 33. The temperature was dropping a degree every ten minutes or so. It was already down to 21 degrees by the time we pulled up at MRM, pretty windy too. Wasn’t sure what to expect crowd-wise, but we hoped for a small manageable crowd. Ended up not as crowded as Friday, but still quite a few folks. Gearing up went smoothly, smoother than I expected, and that included helping the kids. Both were very eager to hit the slopes and try out their new gear. Music to our ears! We walked right up to the newly built outdoor ticket window to get our lift tickets. We all had to pee before ascending the mountain. Jacob and I waited patiently at the base of the 4 star lift for the girls. On our ride up, we decided on Mary Ann’s backside (green/blue) run. Immediately off the lift, Jacob looked like Bambi. Bella, on the other hand, seemed to have last year’s form. She bolted off ahead while Jacob took a spill. I told Mindy I’d catch Bella and wait for her and Jacob at the bottom. The only problem was, I wasn’t sure where or which way Bella went, green or blue, but eventually spotted her at the lift’s base standing waiting. I tore down the mountain to meet her. She was bubbling with excitement. Wanted to know where Jacob was. I shared that he fell, but cautioned her not to say anything once they caught up. She understood and agreed. They took a good while. Second run up, Mindy offered that we do the black/blue just to the right of the 4 star. Honestly, seemed like déjà vu to me. I offered that we take the blue/green again instead, but no one agreed. OK. Jacob managed OK, but was still missing any form whatsoever. Bella, panicked and fell, forgetting her wide “S’ turns and started to pout. I encouraged Mindy and Jacob to ski on ahead while I helped Bella. I had her follow me I reminded her to focus more attention on the path directly ahead rather than looking down the entire mountain. She did OK, but was still very tentative. We probably did blue/green four more times before taking a break, but Jacob and I took a couple black runs sandwiched in there too. Jacob takes all his runs slowly and fully under control. Hey, whatever it takes. For the time being anyway, it seemed Bella had lost her will. After a run down from the Momentum lift we decided to break. It was bitterly cold skiing west into the stiff wind. Mindy & I agreed that a bowl of chili sounded terrific. Mindy went after chili and hot cocoa while Bella and I found a table in the lodge. As soon as Mindy returned with the chili, I went for the drinks and snacks we had in a cooler in the Honda. We broke for about 45 minutes catching up on the day’s NFL action, getting warm and filling our bellies. I noticed just before break that Bella’s ski boots were on the wrong feet. Said they were comfortable like that. We switched them anyhow. The break did both kids a world of good. Both were way more aggressive afterwards. Bella was now focusing on making sweeping turns & was skiing all the black runs. Jacob was more confident too. Jacob and Bella went at it a couple of times on the lift. This was Jacob’s first time using poles. He was dangerous with them. Bella wisely opted to leave hers in the Honda. Mindy cited being really cold and declared this her last run. She wanted to bag it and head to the Honda while Jacob and I skied on. Bella wanted to ski, but with Mindy. I got everyone to agree to just two more runs then we’d all leave happy. Everybody agreed, ‘balls to the wall’. Everybody did great with Bella lagging just behind. She somehow took a spill at the hill’s base and started pouting. I skied to her rescue. She was ready to go. I told Mindy & Jacob, who were waiting at the lift line, to go on without us. We’d be at the car. Bella and I headed to the Honda. We had just gotten out of our gear and had the car warming when Mindy & Jacob showed up. We were on the road for home by 615p. Both kids thanked us for their skis and for taking them along the drive home. The roads were still a little dicey, but not nearly as treacherous as they were on the drive up. We made it home in 45 minutes. As I predicted it would, the snow picked up again during the final miles of our trip home. I parked the Honda at the foot of the driveway so I could shovel before driving on it. The snow was the light and fluffy variety – fairly easy to shovel. Mindy and the kids headed inside while I toiled with the snow. After shoveling the drive and walk, I backed the Honda up the drive so we could easily unload our gear, which somehow turned into only me. I carried everything into the house. I wasn’t too pleased that my help was non-existent. Bella shared that Mindy was in the shower while she and Jacob were out back playing in the snow. Great! Mindy helped stow the gear once it was in the house. Too, our house was still set-up for Saturday evening’s party. We took care of getting it somewhat back to normal too. I was feeling tired and really wanted a shower. I also thought about getting in the hot tub but didn’t. Ended up nixing the shower too. Instead, I made a small ham sandwich and poured a CBC IPA and watched the start of SNF. I was falling asleep right away. Mindy headed for bed at 915p. I wanted to see a little more of the game. I watched until almost 940p when I could no longer hold my eyes open. I tucked Frankie and then both kids in. Bella was still wide awake and playing in her bed. In bed, I suddenly found myself unable to fall asleep. However, instead of getting up I fought it until I did.