Bluebird Ski Day - Catching Big Air

I didn’t sleep that well and woke multiple times throughout the night with a dull headache, which was likely the result of too may ‘ski shots’ on Saturday. Nothing a couple Advil wouldn’t cure, but I couldn’t muster the energy to peel myself from the warmth of bed in the middle of night to get them. Come 745a I upped from bed, and after brushing my teeth and heading downstairs, I finally choked down two Advil. Before the coffee was finished brewing my headache was gone. I sipped coffee and took Frankie out ahead of a run. It was cold, but no where near as cold as Saturday’s freakishly cold temps. It was 7 degrees. Once again, the sky was clear, bright and blue. Mindy was up around 9a or just before my run. I stretched before heading out. I dressed in the same extra layer that I did the day before. Once again, I was plenty cozy and warm. The 3 mile run went just fine. I was back home by 930a. Mindy was in the shower when I got back. She came down briefly to ask that I make her an egg sandwich if I was making myself one. I planned to. In addition to making breakfast sandwiches, I refilled the lemon nip flask then loaded our boots and mesh ski bags into the Honda. I left Mindy’s breakfast sandwich in the microwave then headed up for a shower. Mindy replenished some of our snacks and restocked the cooler. We left the house for MRM at 1045a. Mindy thought she saw Kenny & Chrissy head out a bit earlier. We called Tommy again, too. He was out. Staying home with Wally. The temperature hovered around 12 degrees for the entire drive up. Mindy called Chrissy as we neared MRM. Turns out, that wasn’t her Mindy saw driving by earlier. They opted to take a day off. Kenny’s back was sore from falling so much on Saturday.  Probably a wise call. Once again, the drive went fast. We arrived around 1130a to a parking lot less crowded than it was the day before. We got another premo spot up front. We were in our gear and in the gift shop getting our daily pass a short while later. We were making our maiden voyage up the 4 Star at 1150a. Unlike Saturday, when the sky clouded over, there was nothing but clear blue skies overhead. Expected it to stay that way all day. Because of the cold temps, the snow was super fast. I was getting some good air again off the third roller. We skied for about 1.5 hours before taking a break. The lodge was only sparsely attended, but most of the tables were already taken. While I fetched the cooler, Mindy sought out a table. She got us a table for eight despite there being just the two of us. She went after food; chili for me, and chicken and dumplings for herself. I spotted one of the two guys that gave me crap in the lift line last Sunday. He was giving the lodge help grief over something this time. I think someone took his ‘reserved’ table. Shame, couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.  After our last three ski days with such a big group, it was a little quiet and strange it being just Mindy & I. We headed back out at 2p. On our first ride up after break I spotted what looked like Mary Ann going down her own backside run. I turned to verify and saw what appeared to be Bob I. beside her at the bottom of the lift. Mindy & I waited at the top of the lift. It was them. We skied several runs together. At times there were no lines at all. That was quite nice. A few times, though, it backed up big time. Not sure why such a swing. We did some lemon nip & Goldschalger but nothing like Saturday. Bob & I even shared a beer he had stashed in his deli pants. We eventually met up with yet another Bob and his wife Tina along with their three kids. His son Cameron is roughly Jacob’s age and just learned to ski the year prior. He’s already launching off the roller ramps and getting huge air. All of Bob’s kids ski very well, and very aggressively. I watched his wife Tina grab some air too. They’re huge Steeler fans, and consequently planned to be off the mountain by 3p in order to have enough time to get home and prepare for the big conference championship game at 620p. We planned to leave around 4p in order to intercept Jacob & Bella at home. As 4p neared we did our last couple runs. Leaving at 4p, as it turned out, felt just about perfect. I was worried heading up that I might not be ready to leave so soon. With Monday being a work day, definitely good to get home with enough time to relax a little. Mindy phoned the neighbors on the drive home. Earlier in the day, they suggested we do dinner together. Mindy suggested we order pizza. Agreed to meet at their place at 6p. We listened to the NFC championship game on the radio during our drive home. Packers were up 14-0 when we joined. Add to that, the Bears quarterback, Jay Cutler, was out of the game injured. With him out, I didn’t give Chicago a chance in hell. We made great time, arriving home at 435p. We quickly carried in all of our gear then I took Frankie out back while Mindy started a load of laundry. There’s just no time to rest if you want to ski all weekend. While I was out back with the dog, the kids arrived home. Jacob opened the back door and was jokingly giving me grief about something. Within minutes, all the kids from the island were sledding in our backyard. I watched the rest of the Packers/Bears game. Somehow the Bears made it close with their 3rd string quarterback. A lot of scuttle about why Cutler couldn’t play. The packers won 21-14. Mindy made the kids come in and freshen up just before 6p, the time we agreed to meet the neighbors. We walked down via the front walk a few minutes later. I took two beers to have with pizza. Chrissy had the house immaculate. Had been cleaning all day long. The kids headed to the basement to play the X-Box and shoot pool. Mindy ordered the food. Kenny & I went after it a few minutes later. He drove. We picked up two pizzas and a sandwich and onion rings. Jacob is so spoiled. Mindy paid $20 of the $35 bill. Back at the neighbors, they hardly touched the pizza. Instead, they were eating Kenny’s chili. Suddenly, I felt awkward. We essentially forced them to buy pizza they never intended on eating. I think Makayla had a piece or two. That’s it. The entire time, the Steeler/Jets game whirled in the background. Like the game earlier, the Steelers took command early and lead 24-3 at the half. The Jets might’ve had 30 total yards. Looked clueless. We stayed at the neighbors until halftime when Mindy insisted we get the kids home and ready for bed. It was about 830p. Made sense to me. We took what was left of one of the pizzas and headed for home. I quickly got into my PJs. I put m Droid X on charge. For the first time ever, it was completely dead. Not sure how I let that happen. At first I worried that it was broke. But finally, after being on charge for 30 minutes It would at least power on. We tucked the kids into bed around 9p and then watched the rest of the Jets/Steelers game. The Steelers won, but not before the Jets mounted a solid comeback. Steelers still won, however, 24-19. Mindy headed to bed ahead of me by about 15 minutes. I organized my personal electronics before tucking Frankie in and heading up. I was in bed by 1030p.