Saturday, June 19, 2010
I *think* it's a vacation
I'm in St. Louis with a bunch of High Schoolers! Wish me luck - and follow our adventures (if you like) at http://appletontruenorth.blogspot.com!
Monday, June 07, 2010
it’s never too late…
Angela: … to go backpacking this coming Memorial Day weekend! We’ve kicked around ideas here and there, but I think we’re going to aim for a Porcupine Mountains trip in UP Michigan. I know some of you already have conflicts (boo!), but for those who don’t – golly it will be fun!
Tammy: Yes.
Javier: the division 3 (ultimate frisbee) championships are in Appleton this weekend. I plan to go see that instead of the division 1 tournament. That opens me up for backpacking.
Andy: I think you know I’m in.
Jamie: awesome… out of my church commitments, so would be down. I would love to go – the porkies are awesome!
Patrick: enjoy the trip! and make sure you see some amazing rainbows (and avoid the stable flies!)
Ray: I’m pretty sure Becky and I are out, but our gear is up for grabs if anyone (even Jason) wants to borrow it.
Katie: As much as backpacking has always been my absolute favorite - I think at 37 weeks pregnant, the doc might frown on it :)
Javier: doctors don't know everything. We'll just bring a blanket we don't mind ruining. It'll be fine.
Angela: I'm pretty sure Becky AND Katie should go... like Javier said, we can always bring an old blanket. :)
Becky: Lol! I think Katie and I would both also require a real mattress and at least 2-3 full sized pillows each. I think we would need to bring a couple of pack mules on this trip! :)
Katie: Oh Becky, just wait... I'm up to 4 pillows now!! Two behind me (so I can sleep propped up), my body pillow, and one for my swollen feet!! :)
And the fact that it takes me half an hour to walk around the block - baby coming is probably the least of our worries!
Angela: Got that, Javier?
2 mules, 6 pillows, 2 mattresses, and a route that allows "flexibility" in terms of distance traveled per day.
Katie: Don't forget scheduled potty breaks every 30 minutes! :)
Am I forgetting anything Becky?
Javier: Good news. So far, these all seem like reasonable requests. I think we can make a deal.
Friday: since Andy and Tammy were both able to leave early on Friday, we dubbed them “Team Shady” and sent them on ahead to secure a camp site. They were able to do so without a hitch, and set up the girls’ tent at a nice, bug-free site to kick off the weekend. Team “YesIAmAwesome” (Javier, Jamie & Angela) left later on Friday and after a few near misses (almost left food the flatbread and the salmon quinoa in the freezer – eep!) arrived at Lake of the Clouds in the dark. Before heading to the camp site we took time to enjoy the view; in the moonlight you could see the water and trees and just be happy to be in the north woods.
Saturday morning we skipped breakfast to get a halfway decent start on the trail. This would have stood us in good stead had we not found new and exciting off-trail ways to reach our destination. We were never lost, precisely, though the trail definitely was for quite a while. The picture is of a log “bridge” we crossed – the point where we THINK we parted ways with the trail!
It was on this part of the excursion that Jamie found a leg bone of some animal and thought it a humerus situation. Things started being less humorous toward the end of the day when we were getting tired, running low on water, and finding every potential site already taken. When we finally did find a site a mile from our original destination, Andy ripped off his shirt and did a happy dance. Unfortunately Tammy was the only one there to witness it, so we can only take her word for the awesomeness. The rest of us probably would have done happy dances too, but we were too tired to do much but focus on food and camp setup.
Javier still managed to plunge into Lake Superior. It was cold! So the rest of us didn’t get much more than our toes in. Jamie and I had found some leeks growing along the path, so it was fun to fry those up and try ‘em out. We ended up out on the Lake Superior shore, cooking dinner and watching the sunset, and just enjoying the waves and the beauty.
Sunday morning we got a bit of a slow start (but at least no skipping breakfast!!). Once we were on the trail we were able to make great time. Even with stops for wildflower identification and pauses for beautiful rocks on the shore, we made it to our next camp site by late afternoon. We ended up at the same site that the group had camped at five years earlier – where we first encountered the notorious stable flies! Thankfully not a single one showed up for our entire time on the shore. It’s a lovely site and it was great to have leisurely camp setup. I found time to hop into the water and get my Lake Superior fix for the weekend, Javier, Andy and Jamie got a lovely fire blazing, Andy and Tammy worked on getting us all drinkable water, and we all just enjoyed being comfortable on these stone slab chairs that had been set up at the site.
We had heard that it might rain, so we decided to set up the tents before cooking dinner. Good thinking, that! All five of us ended up crammed in the girls’ tent, devouring Andy’s family’s beef burgundy recipe (amazing!), and listening to the rain pound the tent walls. The rain cleared up right before sunset, though, so we were able to emerge and hit the beach just in time to watch the sun sink beneath the waves.
We headed back to the tent for some card playing and an ad hoc game of “Would you Rather” (“Would you rather be the most beautiful person in the world, or have gills?”) before calling it a night.
After the boys left, it is my sad duty to report that a small, innocent spider caused a ridiculous amount of furor (might have been less had the thing had the decency to die once it had been squished!) in the girls’ tent before its body was callously dropped outside the tent.
It ended up raining pretty hard for much of the night, but both tents stayed warm and dry enough to ensure no crabbiness that a warm cup of coffee the next morning couldn’t cure. Blueberry pancakes didn’t hurt either! The lake was gorgeous after the rain, and only reluctantly did we find ourselves back on the trail walking away from it all. After a stop at Henry’s Never Inn for an authentic Yooper lunch of burgers, fish & pasties, the two teams made a successful run back to the Fox Valley.
Also found – lots of bluebead lilies, wild strawberries, bunchberries, daisies & Canada hawkweed! Hooray!
Tammy: Yes.
Javier: the division 3 (ultimate frisbee) championships are in Appleton this weekend. I plan to go see that instead of the division 1 tournament. That opens me up for backpacking.
Andy: I think you know I’m in.
Jamie: awesome… out of my church commitments, so would be down. I would love to go – the porkies are awesome!
Patrick: enjoy the trip! and make sure you see some amazing rainbows (and avoid the stable flies!)
Ray: I’m pretty sure Becky and I are out, but our gear is up for grabs if anyone (even Jason) wants to borrow it.
Katie: As much as backpacking has always been my absolute favorite - I think at 37 weeks pregnant, the doc might frown on it :)
Javier: doctors don't know everything. We'll just bring a blanket we don't mind ruining. It'll be fine.
Angela: I'm pretty sure Becky AND Katie should go... like Javier said, we can always bring an old blanket. :)
Becky: Lol! I think Katie and I would both also require a real mattress and at least 2-3 full sized pillows each. I think we would need to bring a couple of pack mules on this trip! :)
Katie: Oh Becky, just wait... I'm up to 4 pillows now!! Two behind me (so I can sleep propped up), my body pillow, and one for my swollen feet!! :)
And the fact that it takes me half an hour to walk around the block - baby coming is probably the least of our worries!
Angela: Got that, Javier?
2 mules, 6 pillows, 2 mattresses, and a route that allows "flexibility" in terms of distance traveled per day.
Katie: Don't forget scheduled potty breaks every 30 minutes! :)
Am I forgetting anything Becky?
Javier: Good news. So far, these all seem like reasonable requests. I think we can make a deal.
Friday: since Andy and Tammy were both able to leave early on Friday, we dubbed them “Team Shady” and sent them on ahead to secure a camp site. They were able to do so without a hitch, and set up the girls’ tent at a nice, bug-free site to kick off the weekend. Team “YesIAmAwesome” (Javier, Jamie & Angela) left later on Friday and after a few near misses (almost left food the flatbread and the salmon quinoa in the freezer – eep!) arrived at Lake of the Clouds in the dark. Before heading to the camp site we took time to enjoy the view; in the moonlight you could see the water and trees and just be happy to be in the north woods.
Saturday morning we skipped breakfast to get a halfway decent start on the trail. This would have stood us in good stead had we not found new and exciting off-trail ways to reach our destination. We were never lost, precisely, though the trail definitely was for quite a while. The picture is of a log “bridge” we crossed – the point where we THINK we parted ways with the trail!It was on this part of the excursion that Jamie found a leg bone of some animal and thought it a humerus situation. Things started being less humorous toward the end of the day when we were getting tired, running low on water, and finding every potential site already taken. When we finally did find a site a mile from our original destination, Andy ripped off his shirt and did a happy dance. Unfortunately Tammy was the only one there to witness it, so we can only take her word for the awesomeness. The rest of us probably would have done happy dances too, but we were too tired to do much but focus on food and camp setup.
Javier still managed to plunge into Lake Superior. It was cold! So the rest of us didn’t get much more than our toes in. Jamie and I had found some leeks growing along the path, so it was fun to fry those up and try ‘em out. We ended up out on the Lake Superior shore, cooking dinner and watching the sunset, and just enjoying the waves and the beauty.
Sunday morning we got a bit of a slow start (but at least no skipping breakfast!!). Once we were on the trail we were able to make great time. Even with stops for wildflower identification and pauses for beautiful rocks on the shore, we made it to our next camp site by late afternoon. We ended up at the same site that the group had camped at five years earlier – where we first encountered the notorious stable flies! Thankfully not a single one showed up for our entire time on the shore. It’s a lovely site and it was great to have leisurely camp setup. I found time to hop into the water and get my Lake Superior fix for the weekend, Javier, Andy and Jamie got a lovely fire blazing, Andy and Tammy worked on getting us all drinkable water, and we all just enjoyed being comfortable on these stone slab chairs that had been set up at the site. We had heard that it might rain, so we decided to set up the tents before cooking dinner. Good thinking, that! All five of us ended up crammed in the girls’ tent, devouring Andy’s family’s beef burgundy recipe (amazing!), and listening to the rain pound the tent walls. The rain cleared up right before sunset, though, so we were able to emerge and hit the beach just in time to watch the sun sink beneath the waves.
We headed back to the tent for some card playing and an ad hoc game of “Would you Rather” (“Would you rather be the most beautiful person in the world, or have gills?”) before calling it a night.
After the boys left, it is my sad duty to report that a small, innocent spider caused a ridiculous amount of furor (might have been less had the thing had the decency to die once it had been squished!) in the girls’ tent before its body was callously dropped outside the tent.
It ended up raining pretty hard for much of the night, but both tents stayed warm and dry enough to ensure no crabbiness that a warm cup of coffee the next morning couldn’t cure. Blueberry pancakes didn’t hurt either! The lake was gorgeous after the rain, and only reluctantly did we find ourselves back on the trail walking away from it all. After a stop at Henry’s Never Inn for an authentic Yooper lunch of burgers, fish & pasties, the two teams made a successful run back to the Fox Valley.
Things Lost
I’m guessing we generally lose a thing or two on any trip, but on this one for some reason we really racked ‘em up. If you run across any of our long-lost things – well, you know where to find us!- Saturday we lost the trail for 2-3 hours. We stuck close to the Big Carp River, but the trail went far afield before returning to the river, and to us. Devious!
- Saturday night, Jamie lost her head lamp. We looked all over the tent, only to have her find it the next morning. It was under her sleeping pad. Of course!
- Sunday morning our nearly empty camp garbage bag disappeared. It had been in the bear bag the night before, but we looked through everything and never found it. Strange!
- Javier lost two new shiny carabiners at that same site – maybe a crow found the site while we were down by the Lake? Odd!
- Sunday night Tammy (who has the same headlamp as Jamie, and presumably didn’t want to be outdone) lost her headlamp. It too was found later, but the pattern raised some questions. Suspicious!
- Monday night, Jamie, Javier and I set up the tents at Javier's place so they could be hosed off and dried thoroughly. By the next morning, the tent stuff sack had completely disappeared and has yet to resurface. Dang!
Things Found
OK, so we FOUND a bunch of things too! Michigan really put on a wildflower show for us. In spite of counting ounces on most things I lug along on the trail, this is the second trip for which I brought a flower identification book – and was so glad I did! Here are the most exciting finds (and notice, please, that they are listed at the end and so can be skipped by the uninterested!):  | Swamp Buttercup (which I had mistakenly been calling a Marsh Marigold! Good catch, Jamie!) |
   | Canada Anemone – This is one I was really excited to see as I hadn’t identified one before! |
 | Canada Mayflower/Wild Lily-of-the-Valley These were everywhere: tiny, delicate, beautiful. |
  | Everlasting pea? Or some other kind of pea? We weren’t sure, but saw quite a few of these – and assuming the purple and white are just variations of the same plant?? |
 | Columbine – and a bunch of swamp buttercups. We saw lots of columbine our hike out. |
 | Starflower! These were everywhere, and beautiful, and I love this picture Jamie got of this one |
  | False Soloman’s Seal – ok, all this “false” nonsense kinda throws me – it’s still beautiful and exciting to find and identify! :) |
  | Thimbleberry – These were big and everywhere. We stumbled across the fruit on our last day at Lake Superior Provincial Park and gorged on the fruit – so it was fun to identify the flowers! |
 | Orange Hawkweed |
 | Pussytoes! This was one I found in the book, thought odd, but then recognized when we passed some on the trail heading out – crazy! |
Thursday, May 27, 2010
how to hem your jeans
I just spent the last 45 minutes trying to find a good description of the easy way to do it, and I give up. Actually - this girl does an ok job, but the video goes too slowly & skims the important bits. So here you go!
- decide/measure the length you want to shorten, and divide that amount by 2. (so, if you want to shorten by 2 inches, remember "1"). Good so far?
- fold up the jeans in a cuff until the existing hem is half the distance you want to shorten from the fold. (in the above example, measure 1 inch of doubled fabric from the fold to where the fabric touches the existing hem).
- pin in place, lining up the side hems (it will look like you've pinned the jeans in a cuffed look).
- sew as close as you can to the existing hem. It's counter-intuitive: you're essentially taking in a loop of fabric all the way around the hem.
- iron the fold of the fabric so it will lie flat.
- fold it up into the pant leg and iron again, this time along the hem, so the original hemmed edge points down, and the taken in fabric is hidden inside the pant leg.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
somebody please feel sorry for me
What are the major activities of strategic management? How are they linked together?
Explain and illustrate the possible benefits of strategic management. What types of health care institutions may benefit most from strategic management?
At what organizational level(s) may a strategy be developed? If at more than one level, how are these levels linked by the planning process?
How has the role of the strategic planner changed over the past several decades? What new skills will be essential for the strategic planner?
What is meant by the statement, "strategic leaders should try to create the future"?
What are the specific goals of environmental analysis?
How does the scanning process create a "window" to the external environment?
How does the window concept help in understanding organizations and the types of information they produce?
Why is the process of environmental analysis as important as the product?
What are some important technological, social, political, regulatory, economic, and competitive issues that are affecting health care today?
What are an organization's strategic assumptions? How may the strategic assumptions be evaluated as part of managing the strategic momentum?
And this is only Assignment 1!
I'm really tempted to go on a rant about this - but I'd best just get over it and get started.... I hope I appreciate my MBA properly, once I've finally earned it!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Colorado (or, “Snow, Skiing, and Super People”!)
It seems to be a pattern. I arrive in Colorado where the weather is beautiful and in the 70s, and the next day a major snow storm hits. Not sure if the state is trying to welcome me or keep me out, but either way, it sure makes things interesting.
Javier and I arrived in Colorado Thursday night. Patrick and his girlfriend Kim picked us up from the airport and we went to a march-madness-showing :) microbrewery for dinner. Friday morning Javier and I headed to Golden to pick up rental gear and run some errands, and we ended up at a sports bar that was showing the Wisconsin-Wofford game. (Wisconsin won – hooray! We won’t talk about Sunday’s loss to Cornell… ). Patrick finished work and joined us in watching the end of the game
, and then we met up with Aaron, who had just picked up Justin from the airport. We went out for Mexican and had a great time catching up, drinking margaritas, and catching snowflakes with our tongues.
Saturday morning we all met up and headed out of town. A few hours later we arrived at our launch point in the Never Summer mountain range. We unloaded our gear, tested our avalanche beacons, and headed in. On the yurt trip were (left to right): me, Patrick, David, Javier, Laura, Aaron, Andy, and Justin.
(Background: Patrick, Aaron, Justin and I were part of “game night” in Appleton several years ago – before Aaron and Patrick ended up out in the Boulder/Denver area and Justin ended up in San Francisco. Laura is Aaron’s fiancée, and Javier is a current Appletonian game nighter. David is Laura’s brother and Andy is Aaron’s brother).
Our stay this year was in the Clark Peak Yurt – a tad bigger than last year’s. We settled in a bit Saturday night, with some of the guys chopping all the wood we would need (and more!)
and the rest of us enjoying the break from schlepping packs up the mountainside and a general release from access to the outside world and the gajillion things we all have going on in our “real” lives. Laura and Aaron made shepherd’s pie for dinner (yum!) and we all played Up and Down the River (aka Oh Heck… or other names). Javier won.
After a half-way decent night’s sleep for most of us, we headed further up the mountain – this time with lighter packs. Here is the view from the yurt of where we went – to the right side of that “V” of trees at the top of the photo. We wanted to visit Ruby Jewel Lake, but due to concerns about avalanche safety, ended up taking a different route to a beautiful overlook. Visibility was great, and we ended up eating lunch, hanging out, and generally having a lovely time. From there, some of us headed further up the mountain (actually made it to the tree line at around 11,000 feet!), and others opted to start heading back.
All in all, the day included time to “play” (at least - that’s what it would be if we weren’t too grown up for such nonsense) including Andy and Aaron trying to start an avalanche from above, with (unfortunately?) small success, a few blisters, a sprained thumb (Aaron had to ski the rest of the trip with only one pole :( not an easy feat), a few near encounters with trees in the big fluffy snow, snowball fights, random flips in the snow, exploration of a promising snow cave, some fun photography, and all around good times. Oh – and some exhaustion!
Sunday ended with Patrick’s delicious ratatouille, more hanging out, and more card games – this time Up and Down the River and two simultaneous games of Euchre.
What Javier Wrote in the Yurt Journal
3/20/2010
Today is the 20th day of our discontent. Andy has eaten most of Aaron and no one can convince David to wear pants. The women have escaped to the outhouse. I smuggle them food when able, but I’m afraid Patrick has discovered my occasional absence. It’s been three days since anything has been heard from them. Our plan to catch dinner by running after it really fast has met little success. Justin has finally captured the rock that has tormented him for nearly a week, but the operation suffered several casualties. Rafael, Bruce, and Dean performed heroically during our entire ordeal. Their sacrifice has given some hope to those of us that remain. I’ve asked everyone to meet at the table for “Up and Down the River.” Hopefully, it reminds us of the civilization we left behind, and brings some sanity back to this god-forsaken camp.
Tell my kids that they’ve always been a disappointment to me. Alfalfa, Ripple, Twinkle-toes, Javier.
Monday morning was head-out-and-down day. We packed, cleaned up, set things in order, and headed down the mountain. It was great fun to have the skins off our skis and enjoy (except for the uphill bits) the fun part of all the hard work going uphill earlier. After re-loading everything in the vehicles, and piling our smelly selves in as well, we headed out of the mountains.
The fun in the snow wasn’t done (for everyone but Andy & David) - Tuesday was downhill skiing day! After showering at our respective places Monday night, we packed up again and headed for an overnighter in Breckenridge.
Laura’s mom Pat has a home there, and graciously allowed us to crash at their place for the night. We were within ski-boot-walking distance of the lifts, and were able to get an early start on the beautiful slopes. 
Pat’s boyfriend Lance volunteers as a ski instructor for skiers with all sorts of disablities, and not only did he get free lift tickets for the out-of-state-ers (me, Javier and Justin), but he also volunteered to instruct me 1:1 in the fine art of downhilling! His friend Joe is apparently a world-class ski instructor, and by the end of the morning, I felt heaps more confident on the slopes. No more “purple flurry” for me :) 
It was Aaron’s birthday, so we all had lunch together and sang to him before hitting the slopes again. Hooray for another year of Aaron being around! Yippeee!
After lunch, I was ready to be with the “big kids”! Well – sort of.
Aaron, Justin and Javier took on the Imperial (a crazy bowl-skiing adventure which requires using the highest ski lift in the country – it’s above the tree line!). It wasn’t made any easier by the complete lack of visibility and quantities of ice on the run – they came back with big eyes and wide smiles. 
Laura had decided to snowboard for the day so she would have fun on the same slopes that the “newbie” would be on, and Patrick was working on some slower telemark skiing moves, so the three of us stuck to blue (intermediate) runs until we met up with the other three.
Justin had to get back to the airport Tues. night, so we said our goodbyes to him, Laura and Aaron around 2:00. Such awesome fun people… hope it’s not too long till we get to hang out again. Patrick, Javier and I decided to stick around till the lifts closed at 4. Both of them were willing to play around on the easy stuff, so we stuck to blue runs for the rest of the day and (from my perspective anyway!) had a fantastic time. Downhill is so fun – and even more so when you half-way know what you’re doing!
The day ended in a rather unfortunate manner. It had been snowing pretty heavily at times throughout the day and traffic out of the mountains was so backed up that we didn’t get back to Patrick’s place till 11 when we (in normal conditions) would have made it by 7:30. Boo!! Javier had to be at the bus stop by 3 AM to head back to Appleton, and I had to be out before 8, so it would have been nice to have a relaxed evening to regroup and pack – but somehow everything got pulled together and we both made the shuttle bus back to the airport by the times we needed to be there.
I’m now on my way to North Carolina for the next bit of adventures, but if Colorado wants to keep me out in the future, it’s going to have to do better than a few snow storms to keep me away!
Javier and I arrived in Colorado Thursday night. Patrick and his girlfriend Kim picked us up from the airport and we went to a march-madness-showing :) microbrewery for dinner. Friday morning Javier and I headed to Golden to pick up rental gear and run some errands, and we ended up at a sports bar that was showing the Wisconsin-Wofford game. (Wisconsin won – hooray! We won’t talk about Sunday’s loss to Cornell… ). Patrick finished work and joined us in watching the end of the game
, and then we met up with Aaron, who had just picked up Justin from the airport. We went out for Mexican and had a great time catching up, drinking margaritas, and catching snowflakes with our tongues.Saturday morning we all met up and headed out of town. A few hours later we arrived at our launch point in the Never Summer mountain range. We unloaded our gear, tested our avalanche beacons, and headed in. On the yurt trip were (left to right): me, Patrick, David, Javier, Laura, Aaron, Andy, and Justin.
(Background: Patrick, Aaron, Justin and I were part of “game night” in Appleton several years ago – before Aaron and Patrick ended up out in the Boulder/Denver area and Justin ended up in San Francisco. Laura is Aaron’s fiancée, and Javier is a current Appletonian game nighter. David is Laura’s brother and Andy is Aaron’s brother).
Our stay this year was in the Clark Peak Yurt – a tad bigger than last year’s. We settled in a bit Saturday night, with some of the guys chopping all the wood we would need (and more!) and the rest of us enjoying the break from schlepping packs up the mountainside and a general release from access to the outside world and the gajillion things we all have going on in our “real” lives. Laura and Aaron made shepherd’s pie for dinner (yum!) and we all played Up and Down the River (aka Oh Heck… or other names). Javier won.
After a half-way decent night’s sleep for most of us, we headed further up the mountain – this time with lighter packs. Here is the view from the yurt of where we went – to the right side of that “V” of trees at the top of the photo. We wanted to visit Ruby Jewel Lake, but due to concerns about avalanche safety, ended up taking a different route to a beautiful overlook. Visibility was great, and we ended up eating lunch, hanging out, and generally having a lovely time. From there, some of us headed further up the mountain (actually made it to the tree line at around 11,000 feet!), and others opted to start heading back. All in all, the day included time to “play” (at least - that’s what it would be if we weren’t too grown up for such nonsense) including Andy and Aaron trying to start an avalanche from above, with (unfortunately?) small success, a few blisters, a sprained thumb (Aaron had to ski the rest of the trip with only one pole :( not an easy feat), a few near encounters with trees in the big fluffy snow, snowball fights, random flips in the snow, exploration of a promising snow cave, some fun photography, and all around good times. Oh – and some exhaustion!
Sunday ended with Patrick’s delicious ratatouille, more hanging out, and more card games – this time Up and Down the River and two simultaneous games of Euchre.
What Javier Wrote in the Yurt Journal
3/20/2010 Today is the 20th day of our discontent. Andy has eaten most of Aaron and no one can convince David to wear pants. The women have escaped to the outhouse. I smuggle them food when able, but I’m afraid Patrick has discovered my occasional absence. It’s been three days since anything has been heard from them. Our plan to catch dinner by running after it really fast has met little success. Justin has finally captured the rock that has tormented him for nearly a week, but the operation suffered several casualties. Rafael, Bruce, and Dean performed heroically during our entire ordeal. Their sacrifice has given some hope to those of us that remain. I’ve asked everyone to meet at the table for “Up and Down the River.” Hopefully, it reminds us of the civilization we left behind, and brings some sanity back to this god-forsaken camp.
Tell my kids that they’ve always been a disappointment to me. Alfalfa, Ripple, Twinkle-toes, Javier.
Monday morning was head-out-and-down day. We packed, cleaned up, set things in order, and headed down the mountain. It was great fun to have the skins off our skis and enjoy (except for the uphill bits) the fun part of all the hard work going uphill earlier. After re-loading everything in the vehicles, and piling our smelly selves in as well, we headed out of the mountains.
The fun in the snow wasn’t done (for everyone but Andy & David) - Tuesday was downhill skiing day! After showering at our respective places Monday night, we packed up again and headed for an overnighter in Breckenridge.
Laura’s mom Pat has a home there, and graciously allowed us to crash at their place for the night. We were within ski-boot-walking distance of the lifts, and were able to get an early start on the beautiful slopes. 
Pat’s boyfriend Lance volunteers as a ski instructor for skiers with all sorts of disablities, and not only did he get free lift tickets for the out-of-state-ers (me, Javier and Justin), but he also volunteered to instruct me 1:1 in the fine art of downhilling! His friend Joe is apparently a world-class ski instructor, and by the end of the morning, I felt heaps more confident on the slopes. No more “purple flurry” for me :) 
It was Aaron’s birthday, so we all had lunch together and sang to him before hitting the slopes again. Hooray for another year of Aaron being around! Yippeee!After lunch, I was ready to be with the “big kids”! Well – sort of.
Aaron, Justin and Javier took on the Imperial (a crazy bowl-skiing adventure which requires using the highest ski lift in the country – it’s above the tree line!). It wasn’t made any easier by the complete lack of visibility and quantities of ice on the run – they came back with big eyes and wide smiles. Laura had decided to snowboard for the day so she would have fun on the same slopes that the “newbie” would be on, and Patrick was working on some slower telemark skiing moves, so the three of us stuck to blue (intermediate) runs until we met up with the other three. 
Justin had to get back to the airport Tues. night, so we said our goodbyes to him, Laura and Aaron around 2:00. Such awesome fun people… hope it’s not too long till we get to hang out again. Patrick, Javier and I decided to stick around till the lifts closed at 4. Both of them were willing to play around on the easy stuff, so we stuck to blue runs for the rest of the day and (from my perspective anyway!) had a fantastic time. Downhill is so fun – and even more so when you half-way know what you’re doing! 
The day ended in a rather unfortunate manner. It had been snowing pretty heavily at times throughout the day and traffic out of the mountains was so backed up that we didn’t get back to Patrick’s place till 11 when we (in normal conditions) would have made it by 7:30. Boo!! Javier had to be at the bus stop by 3 AM to head back to Appleton, and I had to be out before 8, so it would have been nice to have a relaxed evening to regroup and pack – but somehow everything got pulled together and we both made the shuttle bus back to the airport by the times we needed to be there.I’m now on my way to North Carolina for the next bit of adventures, but if Colorado wants to keep me out in the future, it’s going to have to do better than a few snow storms to keep me away!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
a March-ing in
I’m in Colorado at the moment, about to embark on another Yurt Trip (<—check out that link for a description of what we’ll be doing!). So I’m going to try to cram a few updates in before we leave – please forgive if this is a tad scattered!
Then last weekend weekend, Dan was planning to come for the weekend – and he did, but it was rushed and crazy. He was supposed to fly into Appleton Friday night, and didn’t end up getting in till Saturday at 4 – and that was into Milwaukee! Grrrh! There were so many sca-fuffles with airlines and connections and baggage it could have been discouraging – but we really did have a nice time Saturday evening and Sunday till he had to fly out. And in the middle of that – I bought a kayak! 
Ok, we’re starting to pack up the cars – so more later!
Monday, March 01, 2010
Hello from March already
Hmm, realizing I haven’t put a “life update" out here in a while. Hello world! Let’s see, where to begin… Maybe pictures will best tell the story:
District Conference with the my church’s high schoolers in January
Pool & Wii with Game Night Crew
Super Bowl party with Bible study folks
“Winter Camping”
OK, this one deserves an explanation. My college roommate Jocelyn & I planned on doing winter camping a few weekends ago. When it came right down to it, it was too much to pull together in the midst of busy lives, so Joce came to hang with me for the weekend! We decided to “go domestic” and work on knitting/crocheting projects. I asked Joce to help me figure out how to put together an afghan that Katie and I had knitted a while ago for Ray & Becky’s wedding (we won’t talk about how long ago THAT was), and she ended up helping me actually do it! It was a lot of work, but we did get out for a ski and for some coffee – all in all a lovely weekend. And R & B liked the end result – yipppeee!
The winter has also included a few night flying trips with Javier, some other weekend trips to visit friends & family in various places, and heaps (though never enough!) of cross country skiing. I’ve had some perfectly marvelous times with my nieces and nephews, who are now 7, 5, 3, and 1 and sweeter and more precious than ever.
Oh, and I met a boy!
For New Year’s I headed over to Minneapolis to hang with Jen & Mustafa as I have for the past few years. This year we were invited to our friends Pete & Amy’s place to celebrate and meet their baby Aiden. Pete’s brother Dan happened to be visiting from Washington DC at the time, and we hit it off. Dan has now come to visit me twice, and I’m just getting back from visiting him for the weekend. Dan lives in Washington DC, so it will be interesting to see how things develop! Here are some pictures that hopefully introduce you a bit. He’s pretty amazing!
All in all things are going well… later this month I head to Colorado for another yurt trip and then to North Carolina where my baby brother is getting married! Looking forward to good times with friends/family in both locations. I’m also starting another class this month (yippee!) and hoping to finish my first knitted sweater before too long. Fun stuff, huh? :)
District Conference with the my church’s high schoolers in January
Pool & Wii with Game Night Crew
Super Bowl party with Bible study folks
“Winter Camping”
OK, this one deserves an explanation. My college roommate Jocelyn & I planned on doing winter camping a few weekends ago. When it came right down to it, it was too much to pull together in the midst of busy lives, so Joce came to hang with me for the weekend! We decided to “go domestic” and work on knitting/crocheting projects. I asked Joce to help me figure out how to put together an afghan that Katie and I had knitted a while ago for Ray & Becky’s wedding (we won’t talk about how long ago THAT was), and she ended up helping me actually do it! It was a lot of work, but we did get out for a ski and for some coffee – all in all a lovely weekend. And R & B liked the end result – yipppeee!
The winter has also included a few night flying trips with Javier, some other weekend trips to visit friends & family in various places, and heaps (though never enough!) of cross country skiing. I’ve had some perfectly marvelous times with my nieces and nephews, who are now 7, 5, 3, and 1 and sweeter and more precious than ever.
Oh, and I met a boy!
For New Year’s I headed over to Minneapolis to hang with Jen & Mustafa as I have for the past few years. This year we were invited to our friends Pete & Amy’s place to celebrate and meet their baby Aiden. Pete’s brother Dan happened to be visiting from Washington DC at the time, and we hit it off. Dan has now come to visit me twice, and I’m just getting back from visiting him for the weekend. Dan lives in Washington DC, so it will be interesting to see how things develop! Here are some pictures that hopefully introduce you a bit. He’s pretty amazing!
All in all things are going well… later this month I head to Colorado for another yurt trip and then to North Carolina where my baby brother is getting married! Looking forward to good times with friends/family in both locations. I’m also starting another class this month (yippee!) and hoping to finish my first knitted sweater before too long. Fun stuff, huh? :)
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