No Skiing day

Celebrating Collin @ 4 and a new arrving year, too!

 

Begrudgingly woke at 615am thinking I needed to get up to greet the boys, who we agreed to watch while Lindsey worked. However, as promised, Jacob was already up and waiting at the foot of the stairs just as he promised his mother and I. Cool. Headed back to bed. They remained quiet playing in Jacob's room.
Must have been about 745am. Still a little stiff after 4 days of skiing. No big deal.
Made coffee. Played on the internet. Took Mindy coffee around 830am.

Observed snow pack. Looked to be about 8".

Dad soon at the door to pick-up Glenn for breakfast. Dad leaving for Florida with Uncle Kenny later that afternoon.

Headed out for a run around 9am. Ran 3 miles. Spitting snow.

Mindy was up and started laundry immediately. House remained dysfunctional from Xmas and vacation.

Jacob, Rocky, and Landon all geared up in snow pants, boots and jackets and headed out to play. Out for most of the day. Bella spent the night at Makayla's. Big surprise!

Dad dropped Glenn back at the house around 11am. Didn't come in. Said his goodbye's earlier.

At my request, Mindy called CBC to see if they had Bodhi on tap. They did.

I spent 30 minutes removing the last week's snow pack from the Accord then left for CBC with two empty growlers. Snowing hard. Called Tommy in route. Talked about our HV trip and about our potential Utah trip. Invited him to stop over for New Year's Eve, though we didn't have special plans. Said he would.

Jen working the bar so other CBC employees could have the time off with families. Sweet! Filled two jugs with Bodhi. Comp'd us one of them. Tipped well. Headed home.

Stashed the Bodhi in the large HV cooler still holding a large bag of ice that I bought Xmas eve.

Hung out all afternoon doing much of nothing. Edited photos from HV trip.

Lindsey there to pick-up the boys near 4pm. Rocky elected to stay after Evan invited him to spend the night at his place. Landon went home with Lindsey. She was working New Year's day too, though Kelly watching them this time. Shock, I know! poor Landon. :)

Invited to the McVey home to help celebrate Collin's 4th b-day, we headed there just after 6pm. Glenn went along too. Bella wasn't happy about having to go. As Mindy often say's, she didn't ask.

Darwin was genuinely glad we showed and also happy to see Glenn. Didn't know it, but they laid out one heck of a summer barbeque spread. Darwin smoked a pork butt with all the fixins. Meanwhile, Lane and his friend AJ (big snow boarders) made snow ramps off the deck into the backyard and were having a ball. Jacob was sad that he didn't bring his. Asked if we could go home and get it. But it was buried under all the skis in the Thule. Sorry!
He and Bella played outside with the boys.

Got to know many of Connie's extended family members better, including Tammy and her husband Nick. Carol and her husband Tom along with their kids. Tim Dietz and his new wife, Artie were there too. Had a nice time visiting. Darwin insisted we go home and get our beer, but i opted not. Didn't realize it was a New Year's Eve party too. Plus, I didn't feel right drinking in front of Darwin, who is on the wagon.

Mindy called brother Tommy who shared that he was on his way. We left Darwin's, I'm guessing near 9pm. Bella asked me if she could walk/run home. Sure, why not? Mindy wasn't too pleased to learn that I'd granted her permission to do so when we piled into the car. Couldn't believe she would want to do it in the snow and cold.

Yep, we passed Bella as we drove home. And despite wearing stylish boots, she began running really fast as we past her. Too cute! She runs like a gazelle.

Waited for Tommy, who showed up around 930pm in costume. Once settled, we gathered beers and walked down to the neighbors. Glenn opted to stay back, citing being full and feeling anti-social. Odd? OK. We left him behind and headed down. Bella was already there.

Unlike past New Year's parties, not a lot of visitors. But neighbor Teri was there, and Ivan, one of Kenny's employees. We hung there ringing in the new year. Played pool in the basement after the ball dropped. Mindy and I lost badly. Tommy pretty good. He plays pool often with brother Charles.

Mindy and I headed home around 1am. Tommy elected to stay there and continue shooting pool.

Ski Day #4 - Eagle has landed

Wake, Run, Eat, Ski ...

 

 

Sunday – last ski day

Woke around 7am. Much to my surprise, there was more snow overnight. Looked like 2.5” and it was still coming down.

Coffee at the Inn ahead of my run. The soft snow was easier to run in than the day before. An almost constant stream of traffic kept me from ditching into the road. Figured it busy on the slopes!
After my run and after taking Mindy coffee, I headed out to scrape the Pilot free of snow. By then there was about 4” of fresh snow. Took a while to clear the Pilot and Thule of the powdery snow pack. I wanted the Pilot road ready. After all, we’d be driving home at the end of the ski day. By the way, Jacob found himself stuck in the closet middle of the night. Mindy had to wake and free him. He knocked the door off the track. 

Everyone was up and packing for home in the room. I took a quick shower. Felt great! We had everything ready for loading but then went for breakfast. This time they had scrambled eggs and sausage! Yum-yum. I was careful not to over indulge.

Back to the room to load the Pilot and ready for our last day of skiing. Always a trick to organize the gear so that one can change into comfy clothes at day’s end for the drive and then leave enough room for all the snowy ski boots etc. I made more than my fair share of trips up and down those stairs loading the Pilot. Packed to the hilt. I was sweating good!

Checked out of the room at 1050am. Somewhat lengthy line. A woman ahead of me arguing and getting a credit. Not sure what all that was about.

Finally headed up Cindy’s lift at 1110am. Snow was again very nice, though not as virgin as it was Saturday early. We skied Morning Star then Eagle & Raven, it’s first opening. Had a little scare with Bella at the bottom of Eagle. She fell and had one ski bury deep into the snow pack. Her legs were twisted in such a way that I thought it impossible. Thankfully, she was giggling. Had to release her binding manually and then tug on the ski to free it. Yikes! Ever since Saturday’s powder skiing, she’d been skiing tentatively, and that’s after the private lesson on Friday.

We spent about an hour over there then headed to Tannenbaum, Independence (now officially opened), and then Spruce Lake. Skied for a solid three hours before calling it a day and heading to the Pilot. It was 245pm by the time we had the skis loaded in the Thule, our other gear comfortably stowed, and everybody peed. Good times had by all. All the runs were finally opened.

Even though there wasn’t any snow forecasted, the roads got dangerously slick near Erie in a couple quick hit or miss snow squalls. We stopped in west Erie for lunch, going through a Wendy’s drive-thru. I had a double baconator! After Erie the drive was a piece of cake and the roads clear and mostly dry. Ten miles shy of 271 in Ohio, I pulled in a rest stop so everyone could pee. Mindy drove the rest of the way home. I much appreciated the opportunity to rest my eyes.

David sent a text near 615pm letting me know that the Vikings were leading the Packers 20-7. I promised myself not to listen or check the score so not to get antsy. Still, it was nice to see that they had the lead. Another text came in about 45 minutes later. I refused to look, not wanting to know anymore until the game was over, which I figured that to be near 745pm. The I-71 leg of the drive can be mind- numbing. To help pass the time, we played the alphabet and guess my number game. Arrived home just before 8pm, or after 5 hours and 10 minutes.

Asked Mindy to stop at the base of the drive so I could shovel a path to avoid packing down the snow. Turned out, everybody, including Bella, helped shovel snow. We shoveled the entire drive and walk. We carried everything inside except for our skis which I left in the Thule. Inside, we put almost everything away, too. The house, you may recall, was already a disaster from Xmas.
Things settled down around 930pm. Mindy called her mom to let her know we were home but that we wouldn’t pick up the dog until the following morning. She was OK with that. Glenn and I enjoyed a few Jack & Cokes. Headed to bed around 11pm.

Ski Day #3 - Angry Children - Angry mom

Wake, Run, Eat, Ski ...

 

 

 

Woke to more snow – heavy snow. According to the forecast, there wasn’t any coming. Hmm? Changed into my running clothes and was off to the Inn for coffee and a muffin by 7am.
Lady at the door checking rooms and names greeted me by name and smiled. I think she liked me. 
The run was even more difficult than the morning before. Deep snow – about 6 inches of powder on top of compressed snow from the days prior to run through. Somehow I managed. Ran by the first framed house in Ellicottville – 1817. Nice!

Whenever possible, I ditched into the road to avoid running/tromping through deep snow. My legs got one heck of a work out.

Stopped at the Inn for two cups of Starbucks. Bella was up and awaiting my return. She wanted to quickly head to breakfast and then get an early start skiing. That did my heart good. I quickly showered while she got into her base layer. We were off to breakfast by 810am.

We loaded up on carbs again. No scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage like last Xmas.  Bella took Jacob a blueberry muffin. How sweet! She and I were back in the room even before the others were ready to leave for breakfast.

Snowing hard!!! Powder again, too. Nice! Bella and I hurried into our ski gear and then headed out. I was much looking forward to skiing with only Bella. The others would text/call once they were heading out. Headed up Sunrise between 9-915am.

Holy smoke! Bella and I were covered with snow by the time we were atop Sunrise. We got to ski virgin powder down Sunrise. Bella hadn’t skied fresh powder before. Took her by surprise. She fell a couple times, but softly. After a couple runs down Sunrise, I went back for our clear goggles. That helped immensely.

Bella and I skied 7 or 8 runs before finally meeting up with the others around Mardi Gras. Speaking of Mardi Gras, it was crowded. In fact, so much so that even with 5 or 6 inches of fresh powder, it was already all but skied off of Mardi Gras.

We headed over to Morning Star & Moon Shadow. Fun had by all. Tons of torn up powder on Morning Star. And with my Mantras, that is some fun skiing! Mindy made it a point to employ her new skills learned in her lesson. Seemed to be skiing more in attack mode.
Spruce Lake was opened. Did that too, even though it’s a run I try to avoid for all the slow downs and families. Took a break in Yodeler. Skied Champagne & Yodeler. Nice runs. Skied Independence too even though it was still closed. Bella and I headed back to the room for a break near 245pm. Jacob decided to join us. Mindy & Glenn wanted more runs. The kids and I headed back to the room by lift & ski. Serious lift delays on Yodeler and Cindy’s. What made it worse, I had to pee like no tomorrow. Yikes! Finally back to the room by 330pm.

Enjoyed some food, football, and a nap. I was tired and achy. Mindy called at some point wondering when we were coming back. I don’t she realized that we spent 45 minutes simply getting back to the room. We headed back out just as darkness was setting in. Mindy & Glenn were breaking at the HV lodge. We sent at least two texts, but she insisted they were still breaking. Oh well! Me and the kids skied on making our way to Morning Star where once again we had a ball! Sometime around 630-645pm Mindy found us at the bottom of the Morning Star lift. Both kids were put out by Mindy’s advances. I was surprised. Jacob spoke very poorly to his mother, in fact, so much so that she skied away from us. On our next ride up the lift I let Jacob know that he handled that poorly and that he should never under any circumstances think it’s OK to talk to his mom like that. I insisted he apologize. Both kids shared that Mindy called them lazy for taking a break. Even Bella expressed disdain.

Jacob apologized and soon we were all skiing together again. I think we skied until about 730pm. Still snowing, by the way.

Back at the room, we all headed to the hot tub. I needed it bad. This time the hot tub was about full, but still enough room for all of us. I enjoyed another canned IPA – good stuff. Mindy, Bella and I got in the sauna for a while too.

Readied for dinner – pizza at the Depot. Didn’t get there until almost 9pm. I’m pretty sure that everyone was tired. Still, we ordered a pitcher or Southern Tier IPA and two large pizzas. Most of us ordered salads too. Pizza was good, and so was the IPA. Mindy paid the bill.

After snowing virtually all day long, there was a full moon overhead. Gorgeous! Back to the room just ahead of 11pm. Asleep within 15 minutes. Jacob, once again, headed for the closet, though this time Mindy took the suitcases out to make it more comfortable.

Ski Day #2 - Thunderous Snoring

Wake, Run, Eat, Ski ...

 

 

Up just before 7am and in running clothes and out room 224 door by 705am. Coffee and a muffin at the free Continental Breakfast bar. Asked my name and room number this time. XM Xmas music playing – Holly.

It snowed overnight. Looked like 3 inches or so. I stretched just outside the Inn’s main entrance then dashed off for my run.

Tough running without the benefit of early snow removal from the sidewalk into town. Footing difficult but not impossible. Ran through town and by EBC. Back on the main walk and about half way back, I heard beeping. It was the tiny snow plow coming up behind me plowing the walk. I had no choice but to step through the knee deep snow and into the road until he passed.

Same thing on his return north. Had to jump into the road to let him pass. Showed no emotion or greeting as he passed. Hmm? Perhaps he lost his mother?

Skipped a shower and instead dressed for skiing, though only the base layer through breakfast. Headed to the complimentary Continental breakfast with the family. Jacob opted out. Don’t think he went even once.
Loaded up on carbs again. Our relatively late arrival meant no seats in the main dining area. Opted for table in the main lobby. No biggie. Back to the room after 9am to finish readying for another day of skiing.

Hit the slopes around 10am. Mindy wanted to sign herself and Bella up for private ski lessons. I wanted to check out the new Holiday Valley lodge (same building). In addition, wanted to have Mindy’s boots adjusted. I could do it but needed a hex tool (allen wrench). Signed herself and Bella up for individual private lessons. Even though Bella is a child, she’d be getting an adult lesson given her ability level. $224 for both. Asked that she and Bella be back at 115pm. Headed to the new high performance center next where the kind gentleman behind the desk let us borrow their set of allen wrenches. I quickly adjusted the buckle to a narrower fit on Mindy’s boots. As they were, even on the last notch she claimed them too loose.

Out to ski. We together for about 90 minutes then took a brief break before Mindy and Bella headed off to their lesson. Bella and Mindy both warmed up with some food from the Yodeler lodge food court beforehand. Glenn, and I enjoyed a beer while Jacob drank Gatorade and ate chicken tenders. Glenn, Jacob and I skied for the next two hours taking on varied terrain, including Champagne, Chute, and Edelweiss. Fun! Skied hard for almost two hours.

Headed to the new Holiday Valley lodge bar called T-bar lounge overlooking Cindy’s/Mardi Gras lifts. Lovely. Reminds me much of the Blue Ox bar in the day lodge at Timberline. Glenn & I enjoyed a couple Southern Tier brews while Jacob ate lunch.

Mindy and Bella joined us after about 30 minutes. Headed out to ski again around 330pm. Skied varied terrain until 630-7pm. Bella, Mindy & Jacob headed back just ahead of Glenn and I. By day’s end, my hamstrings and calves were stiffening halfway through each run. I knew it was time to stop.
It snowed at a steady pace all day long. Was cold, too. Jacob didn’t want to join us for dinner. Bella, believe it or not, wanted to go to EBC for macaroni. We headed into town but struggled mightily to find a parking spot. Everything was packed. Finally found a spot after circling two or three times just down from EBC. Hour wait. We opted to try something different. Walked to the Barn, just across Jefferson Ave, but still on Monroe Ave. 30 minute wait there.

Neat atmosphere. Ordered a double Jack on the rocks. Glenn and Mindy soon followed with drinks of their own. Took every bit of the 30 minutes to get a table.

Disappointed. I ordered their special beef stroganoff. Have had better from a box. Mindy and Glenn ordered their prime rib but were told they were out. Opted instead for Delmonico steaks. Looked more like Ponderosa steaks. Very pricey, too. $25 entrees. Bella had Kraft mac and cheese. Our bill, over $100. Yikes! We most likely won’t go back there again. Took a salad back to Jacob, his request.

Like most nights, not long awake. Jacob slept in the closet in an effort to hide from the incessant snoring – both Glenn and me. Didn’t realize that Glenn snored. Kept me awake quite abit too. Very, very loud!!! Thunderous even.

Ski Day #1 - Winter Paradise

Wake, Run, Eat, Ski ...

 

Up at 615am. Grabbed the sack containing only running clothes and dressed in the bathroom.
Headed to the Inn for coffee and a muffin before a run. Enjoyed one cup of Starbucks breakfast blend and a banana nut muffin.

Deep powdery snow. My plan was to run into Ellicottville, like last year. I was lucky, the sidewalk trail into town had already been plowed that morning making for a very manageable run. Gorgeous run! I was giddy with excitement. I was in one of my favorite towns on Earth, with family, and with lots and lots of excellent snow. What could be better?

Ran about 3 miles best guess. Back at the Inn I poured two cups of coffee then headed back to the room. Got Mindy up then headed out to the Pilot to fetch all of our skis. The Pilot was covered in at least 6 inches of fresh overnight snow. Let some kid use our giant scraper for his Honda Civic.

Carried all 4 sets of skis and Jacob’s board to our private ski closet. Inside, most were up and beginning to ready. I took a shower then dressed in my ski based layer for breakfast. Today only carbs: muffins, bagels, cereal, fruit – no eggs, or meat. No biggie. We enjoyed breakfast together.
Back to the room to gear up fully. On the slopes by 1015am. Never seem to get out much earlier, especially with the kids in tow. They’re much easier these days, though. They know how to gear up properly on their own.

Up Sunrise and cut across to Cindy’s. Snow fast and fluffy! Awesome. Worried a little about Mindy, first time ever on her new Aura’s – 98mm under foot and 7cm’s longer than her K2s. Aside from fidgeting with her boots several times, she skied well. Despite the heavy snow fall, HV was making snow almost on every run. Many of the black shoots remained closed, but still plenty of fun, skiable terrain. We spent the lion’s share of our morning on Morning Star. It was awesome. Again, lot of deep powder, but not too steep. We all slayed it! I was surprised that Mindy was in attack mode. Thought she might back off, thinking about her knee. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

I cringed a time or two when she fell, but each time she quickly rebounded and skied on. Bella and Jacob were doing good, too. Jacob boarded everything at the same steady pace. Didn’t matter if it was Champagne or Morning Star. He’s always under control. In fact, Mindy likens his style to that of Mary Ann.

Took a lunch break in our room. Mindy made sandwiches. I opted only for a beer and snacks – no ham sandwich. After an hour or so we headed back out. Skied Champagne, Morning Star. Laurel, Tannenbaum, and Mardi Gras, some others too. Took another break in the Loft bar – Yodeler lodge.
Drank two beers, both EBC pale ales. Back out skied great for a few runs, and better than I had all day. I think the same could be said for all of us. Mindy fell again on Morning Star, and declared herself tired. We’ve all learned over the years that when you’re tired it’s time to call it a day. She and Bella headed back to the room. Glenn, Jacob and I skied a while longer, or until 715pm. My legs were getting stiff, too. I didn’t have much left in the tank.

Back in the room, Mindy & Bella were fresh back from the hot tub and sauna. Glenn and I suited up and headed there too, taking canned beers compliments of Bob Imber. Thanks Bob! Excellent hot tub beers (Stout & IPA).

Met a guy from Toronto in the hot tub. Met a woman from SC (formerly from Buffalo). All fun, good people. Back in the room we quickly readied for dinner out at the Depot. Offered that we walk, but no one thought it a good idea. It was cold. We drove. Many of the hanging decorations were down. Haven’t seen the ceiling this bare ever. Still neat, though. Everybody ordered wings of one kind or another. Happy to see that they had Sothern Tier IPA on tap. Wahoo! We drank two pitchers.
Back to the room by 10-1030pm, we were quickly off to bed.

He Said Come Ski and we DID - Hellish drive, but worth it!

 

I was up at 530am – much like a work day. Started coffee.

I exercised: sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups

Snowed a little overnight but only lightly at the outset.

Played on the PC and did some more packing/organizing

Left for a run just after 650am. Started snowing hard, covering my attire in a blanket of snow. Beautiful!
Took Mindy coffee as soon as I was back home. Showered.

Snowing like crazy and piling up quick. I suggested that we needed to get on the road as soon as possible.
Aside from car snacks, we weren’t taking a ton of food: Honey Baked ham, bread, cheese, coffee creamer. Took plenty of beer and booze.

Loaded the Pilot. Already about 2-3” of snow on the ground in a short period of time. Left the house at 930am sharp (30 minutes later than my preference). Filled the gas tank at Thornton’s.
Slow going around 270. Snow, as predicted, turned to sleet (ice). 25-35 mph. 71N a little faster, but not by much. Snow clumping up on windshield wipers rendering t hem almost useless. Just north of Delaware decided to smack wipers by hand to clear snow. Oops! Driver’s side blade snapped off and flew into the air. Holy crap! Now what?

Snow/ice coming down hard again. Had to drive 30 miles leaning over the center console to see using the passenger blade. Thought about stopping and moving it to the driver’s side but opted not. If that one broke we would really be screwed. Mindy Googled Autozone and found one in Mansfield. After driving 30 miles at 30mph via the center console we found the Autozone. Bought high quality winter wipers - $30 installed, and well worth every stinking penny! Picked up two more gallons of windshield juice, too, just in case we needed it.

Once north of Akron turned to all snow again, heavy, soft snow too! Driving was slow. Resigned ourselves to a much later arrival than planned. The object was to arrive safely. 271 was almost deserted, especially the first half, before Cleveland (Wadsworth/N.Royalton exit). Slow going.

The snow fall got even heavier as we merged onto 90 and later 86 – the snow belt! Sheets of heavy, soft snow. Typically, only one lane was navigable. /we crossed over into NY around 5pm. Lake Chitaqua wasn’t at all frozen. Once dark, it was very difficult to see. Took us 90 minutes to go the last 45 miles. Felt good to drive through Salamanca, or the ‘land of icicles’ as we like to refer to it as. Arrived at the Inn at HV at 630pm sharp, or 9 hours later.

Our room – 224, just one or two down from last year’s stay. Quickly settled, Mindy offered that after such a harrowing 9 hour drive that dinner was my choice. Well, EBC, of course!
Stopped to fill-up at the Quick-Fill in town. The snow was gorgeous! About a foot of fresh stuff fallen. Ellicottville was lovely, the snow, the lights. I bet Jacob that EBC wouldn’t be crowded. It wasn’t. We were seated right away. Reasoned that many delayed their arrival to the following day due to severe winter weather.

Drank two seasonal porters. Yum! Opted not to order dinner. Instead, I ate only a few appetizers. The others ordered food, though. Glenn picked up the dinner tab. Thanks Glenn!

Back to the room around 945pm. Very snowy and about 20 degrees. All were asleep by 11pm.

XMAS 2012

Rolled out of bed at 745am. Surprised that no one else was up. Mindy joined me downstairs 30 minutes later. Put breakfast strada in the oven. Still no others awake. Mindy opens the front door in case Dad was outside awaiting the cue. The kids weren’t up until well after 9am. I contemplated doing my run before gifts but opted to wait. Dad showed up around 9am. Shortly thereafter mom was up. Glenn was the last up. By then, we were well into gift opening with the kids.

Kids were quite pleased with their haul. Jacob: ski pants/jacket, soccer ball. Bella: American Girl doll stuff, ski pants/jacket.

Mindy went next: PJs, 2 massage gift certificates w/ Crista, perfume, chocolate truffles, jewelry, photo album, etc.

Jimmy: GoPro3 black edition (sweet!), Vikings white away jersey – Wright.

Mom, Dad, Glenn: candy, gift cards, beer, snacks, etc.

While everyone enjoyed strada, I headed out for a run. Ran 3 miles lovely run – cool, crisp.

Enjoyed strada and OJ after my run. Soon started our ready for Gloria’s. Already approaching noon.
Yikes!
Wore my special Xmas sweater: white Ralph Lauren golf sweater decorated with mini colorful Xmas ornaments. 

Dad& Glenn left to run mom home, actually were meeting Ronald halfway. Not sure their afternoon plans. Mindy invited them to join us at Gloria’s but neither accepted.

Arrived at Gloria’s just after 1pm. We took Eiknarf. She’d be staying there through our HV trip.

Several trips to carry everything inside. As always, celebrating Xmas on the lower level. I took the Honey Baked ham upstairs to slice and place on the platter. Only used about half then put the rest in the fridge.

Brought four beers but only drank one. Tired, plus with Wednesday’s drive to HV, I wanted to be in ship-shape.

Did family Xmas photos. Suggested several poses for multiple cameras. (past years folks looking at different cameras).

Enjoyed appetizers: ham, stuffing, cheese, plain chocolate fudge, meatballs, etc.

Gifts one person at a time. Took about two hours beginning to end. Warm, too. Removed my Xmas sweater.

Played the lottery ticket game. All players brought $5 worth of tickets. Timer set to one minutes. Roll doubles to claim ticket. Whoever has the ticket as time expires wins it. I ended up with 5 tickets.

Jacob played and on at least four occasions had the ticket with 1 second remaining only to lose it to someone on the last second roll. Too funny!

Xmas dessert: red velvet cake, pumpkin pie, another type too. I didn’t eat much.
Loaded our gear for home around 730pm. Said good byes to all. Expecting huge snow storm starting during the overnight. Larry, Jodi referring to it as White Death!

Arrived home around 8pm. Carried in all of our stuff then immediately switched to HV readiness drill despite being ridiculously tired. Chaotic! Decided not to worry too much about the condition of the house. Looked like a bomb went off inside!

Packed for the next 2 hours. Loaded the skis in the Thule too after Mindy suggested we do it that night rather than wait till morning. Good idea, especially given the coming snow storm. Neighbors came over for our long awaited gift exchange.

Chrissy gifted Mindy a mini coach purse. Gifted me a $100 Cameron Mitchell’s card! Wow! Felt kind of bad. We got the neighbors beer. Took care of all the kids too. The exchange was brief. Everyone, including all of them were tired.

Mindy and I headed to bed around 1030pm.

Eve of Xmas - Wonderful Life of Jimindy

 

Up around 720am to receive/greet Landon & Rocky. We agreed to watch them so Lindsey could work.
Mindy was up fairly early too. Joined me downstairs shortly after 8am.

Left for a run around 9am. Ran 3 miles. Organized my clothes and gear for HV.

Raining. Made a run to Target to p/u photos for Pat & Lisa. Also stopped at Kroger to p/u a bottle of Rumpleminze for Glenn. Picked up ice and two six packs of CBC IPA for HV trip, too.

Home. Helped Mindy prepare home for Wright family Xmas eve celebration.

Lindsey got off work early. At the house before 3pm. Others arrived over the next hour, including Shelly, Kaileigh, Sienna, Trip, Tommy, Wally, Dad, Ashley, Steven, and Olivia. Of course, mom & Glenn were already there.

Tommy shows up in upper Santa suit. Nice! Take photos of Tommy with others. Drank Southern Tier XXmas Ale most of the afternoon.

Gifts before dinner. Roast beef was tender and delicious. I didn’t eat much. House was pretty much a disaster after the party. Aside from Glenn and mom, all were gone by 730pm. Our kids got home around 730pm after spending the last 6 days with Jimaken.

Niece Lindy & now fiancé, Josh came over to show off the engagement ring. We only learned about it the day before and had a gift waiting for them. Took photos and posted to Facebook.

After the kids headed to bed, we watched It’s a Wondeful Life – 1946. Helped Mindy put the kids gifts around the tree near 11pm. After she headed for bed, I carried hers in from my stash in the garage. Glenn and I watched some of the Xmas Eve mass from St Peter’s basilica. Headed to bed only to find Mindy still awake doing her puzzle. She and I watched some of the mass from bed. Soon asleep.

Opening Day 2012

See, I told you there was a Santa!

 

 

 

Most of the Friday snow about gone.

Glenn & Dad go to breakfast. Thought about joining them but didn’t want to rush through my run. Ran 3 miles.

Mindy left for the grocery early to get Honey Baked hams: one for Xmas day at her mom’s and another for our HV trip.

After my run I learned that MRM declared Sunday opening day!

Sent text to Mindy asking if we should/could go. Thought we might go later that evening.

Me, Mindy, Glenn & Dad head to the Casino around 1pm.

Notice ding/dent in Lindsey’s new Civic. Turn around to scope it out closer. Dammit!

Spent no more than an hour at the Casino. All of us lost money – me $20, but still ahead.

Midafternoon at home. Tommy brings mom over around 3pm. Houseful (mom, dad, Tommy, Wally, Lindsey, Landon, Rocky, Glenn & I). Mindy & I share our plan to go skiing that evening. Glenn decides to stay back and visit with mom & dad.

Mindy & I leave for MRM around 515pm arriving just after 6pm – easy drive. Giddy!

Front row parking. Not very crowded, but a lot of youngsters on boards

Did 4 runs then took a break for beer and food. Did 5 more runs after a brief break for a total of 9. Left for home at 830pm. Glenn only one up at home. Said mom just headed for bed and dad left at 7pm.
Mindy put two beef roasts in crock-pots to cook overnight.

Had a couple beers before bed.