G is for Gretzky

Contest here

While we didn't actually see the greatest hockey player of all time, we did take the boys to a professional hockey game in February. It was actually the first pro-hockey game for Dave and I as well!

I've been to tons of hockey games. When I was a kid, our dad used to get us season tickets to the Fresno Falcons. When I was stationed in Germany, I dated a guy (another soldier) that was on the previous American Olympic Hockey team (such a nice ass!). When I lived in Tucson, I went to several of the Gila Monsters' home games (it was a very short-lived semi-pro team). I have never been to a pro game.

Dave got upper deck tix for fairly cheap off Craig's list. We ate at a nice little fast-casual Italian place nearby and we had a great time at the game! We got to watch the Colorado Avalanche cream the Anaheim Ducks. We even saw Dave Mustaine from Megadeath! (On the jumbo-tron, but he was there!)

As we were leaving, T said, "I want to play hockey!" I said, "I don't know, T. It's really expensive! There's all this equipment involved and it's really rough. I mean, you see how hard they get hit! Let's stick with basketball for now, ok? For that you only need a ball, some sneakers, and shorts!"
T said, "And a shirt with no sleeves!"

We forgot the camera (as usual) but since I posted a pic of T when he lost his front teeth in a past Alphabet Soup post called Hockey, here's a pic of D2 who has also, finally, lost his front choppers. Jeez, the kid's almost 9!


And, yes, his hair is quite long. He's been growing it for a year now. He got it in his head that he wants to participate in his school's Locks of Love thing. I think once he realized how much it irritated Dave (and Dave's mom can't seem to get over it either), it was just a bonus. I think he looks like a kid from the '70s. I really like it on him! The MIL says he's too pretty to have hair that long. And every time we go out to eat, the waitstaff always think he's a girl. D2's a bit over it now, but he's still sticking it out. Long hair (as I am far too aware) is a pain in the ass. The Locks of Love thing is happening next month and there's supposed to be a news crew there, so if he gets on TV, I'll let y'all know.

Looking into season tickets for next year, Ruth!

F is for Fortunate

Have you met someone or heard of someone and their story moves you to action?

My school has professionals come and speak to the students about various subjects. The first speaker I ever saw was a woman named Sylvia. She spoke to us about testing for the RPR (that's the professional licensure test). She was very clever and funny and kind.

One of the teachers told me she was having trouble with her hands and couldn't work much anymore. Some kind of accident or something.

Fast forward nearly a year....

On the 18th of February, I went to a professional luncheon to network. There were 58 people at this luncheon, all of them in the court reporting profession in some capacity. I made it my mission to speak to each and every one of them. I had student cards made up and made it known that I was looking for a mentor. Of the 58, about 15 were fellow students. One of my classmates, N, wouldn't get out of her chair. She's shy and was petrified. I had to drag her out of her corner. I told her, "N, you didn't spend $35 to eat salad. At least meet the chairwoman who is handing out mentors!" That's the only person she met.

Anyway, during this lunch, it was made known that Sylvia is in a very bad way. It took a year for a diagnosis. They initially thought she had meningitis but finally concluded it wasn't inflammation of the brain sac but of the brain itself - encephalitis.

She can no longer work. She can barely tie her own shoes. She is nearly completely invalided.

Her sister is a Ph.D. in nursing and is taking care of Sylvia. To make matters worse, they have a brother who is also very disabled and the sister is taking care of him as well. He has a house they are trying to sell (they are all living together at the sister's house) but that's not going well in this market.

They are trying to come up with fundraisers as everyone adores Sylvia because she is such a gentle, kind, helpful person. The issues are these....

In Colorado, you can't hold a raffle or a poker night because you have to be a non-profit for at least three years to hold that kind of easy, money-making fundraiser.

I couldn't get it out of my head. There had to be some way to help her. I talked with my school's director (Sue) and she said she was already planning on having some kind of small fundraiser for Sylvia at the school.

Not enough.

Thinking...... obsessing... busting out the many notebooks to start writing things down.

I hit on it pretty quick.

Why couldn't we have a good old-fashioned garage sale at the school?

School Director was right on board with that! I contacted the woman who was trying to spear-head some sort of fundraiser and she's all excited about it, too.

I'm on the committee at the school to set this in stone. Well, I kind of AM the committee.

Anyway, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to have a good ol'-fashioned blog contest! It's been well over a year since I've had one.

I'd like to have donations of small knit items that I could sell at the garage sale. I was thinking of making really nice things to sell but with a garage sale, I'm afraid people will show up with that garage sale mentality and not be willing to spend money on that stuff.

I'd like things like....
coffee cozies
small butterflies to put on hair clips (either attach or send unattached and I'll do that part)
flowers that would make cute brooches (or more hair clips!)
I saw someone making these flowers to put in croc's
dishcloth/scrubbie sets
soaps covered in felt
Jewelry (bracelets and such)
stuffies/amigurumis
cozies for electronics/headphones

anything for babies or pets

Sewn items are also welcome!

Things like that. Things I can sell for between $5 and $10 dollars or even for $2. Anything you can or want to make. Most of these can be made with scraps and for nearly all of the things listed, acrylicrap is fine! Anything that doesn't sell at the garage sale, I'll put in my Etsy store and give sale proceeds to Sylvia's Wells Fargo fund.

Contest goes like this...
Send me any of the above items (or similar things you think would sell) - One entry per item sent
Link this contest on any social media of your choice (including your blog, if you have one) and send me a link of your...link. - Bad grammar aside, that'll get you one entry.
Donate cash and send me proof of donation (email it to me or mail me the receipt) - one entry for every $5 donation.

(Cash donations go here -
Wells Fargo Bank Bank by Mail
Sylvia Noneff Donation Fund
P.O. Box 3488
Portland, OR 97208
Please write on back: “For
Deposit Only.”)

The garage sale is on Friday, May 11, 2012. I'll need these items by Monday, May 7, 2012 at the latest so I can get them all cataloged and priced.

If you are sending me items, please send them to my POB:

POB 3832

Parker, CO 80134

And my POB is a 40 minute round trip, so please email me after you've sent so I don't make a trip for no reason - hah!

Prizes:

Obviously, my Stitch Savers will be a prize. I'll give a full set of Basic for one prize.

I'll donate a skein of good sock yarn from my stash.

My friend Skeindalous will also be donating a skein of her luscious sock yarn!

Enjoying my good fortune and my good health, Ruth!

E is for Entitled

So Dave and I are standing outside my favorite Thai restaurant (Indochine in Parker, CO) and there's 2 women also waiting. They are dressed to the nines and talking about how some guy is not a good man, blah, blah, blah. A third woman shows up and they all squeal together.

Dave looks at me and says, "I already hate them." I laughed. Dave hates high maintenance, well... anyone. These women looked like they just stepped off the set of New Jersey Housewives.

The doors open and we all get seated. Dave and I are seated next to the big front window and the women are seated 4 tables away where they are joined by another woman.

We are sitting there waiting for initial service, as are the women. It's actually a few minutes before the sign says they open, so no one seems to mind.

I hear a strange noise like a baby crying and the late woman says, "Did you hear my baby? Do you want to see her?" and pulls her giraffe print, square purse up to the table and pulls out a dog. Dave and I look at each other, aghast. I said, "OK, now I hate them, too."

One woman takes the tiny dachshund puppy out of the other woman's bag and they all ooh and coo and ahh. The waitress walks over to give them their drinks that they already ordered. She sees the dog and very politely explains that they can't have a dog in the restaurant. The woman who owns it sounds surprised, "Oh! We can't? What if I keep him in his little cage here?" The waitress again explains, with great tact and delicacy, that unless it's a service dog, it would be a health code violation to have a dog in the restaurant. The woman, still acting all surprised like this is something new in the world, tries to give reasons and ways she can keep the dog in the restaurant. AND the other women at the table take up her case! The woman tells her friends that she will put her precious puppy in the car during lunch. They all protest saying that it's too cold and the puppy is too small for this cold weather.

The waitress listens patiently, stands firm on her position, and makes a tactful exit. The ladies stay at the table, talking like nothing happened and making no move to leave. Apparently, they asked for another opinion as the other waitress has to walk over to them and, again, very kindly and patiently, ask them to remove the dog (a fucking DOG) from the restaurant.

They snottily said, "Well! We'll just go eat somewhere else!" To which the waitress simply said a cheery, "OK". They got up and huffed out. As they were leaving (which took a few minutes of them gathering up all their assorted accoutrement), the waitress came to our table to take our order. This is Second Waitress who had to confirm for these women the facts of health code violations. Before she can speak, I say, "Wow. How entitled ARE some people??" And she whispers to me, "They are being so bitchy about it." I go on, "What was she thinking?? They can go eat elsewhere but I can't think of ANY restaurant that would risk their license for her precious puppy." She laughs and takes our order to the kitchen.

By this time, the women are outside and one of them must have heard me because she walks over to us and flips off Dave and I (remember, we are by the giant window). I laugh in her face and shake my head.

The one who flipped us off is not the one who owns the dog. Even so, I can only imagine what these women must be like to live with. I keep thinking to myself, "So out of those three women, I can guarantee that at least three of them will NEVER come back to this restaurant. I would hope that out of the three, at least one is secretly embarrassed and hates the other three but is trapped by her lifestyle." In reality, I bet none of them come back and none are embarrassed about how horribly they all acted.

Don't get me wrong. I love dogs. I just can't think of anything much more presumptuous than to bring my dog (no matter how small and precious) into ANY place of business but ESPECIALLY a restaurant and assume that everyone else will just have to get over it and be OK with it. Seriously??

I wonder what restaurant they ended up at, Ruth!

D is for Delusional

Last year I made a huge list of knitting goals I wanted to achieve. I thought it was ambitious but doable since I have this job where I sit on my ass for 40 hours a week and have lots of knitting time.

Then I started school and my 40 hour week turned into a 70 hour week. I still sit on my ass and I've gained back every ounce of weight I lost about a year and a half ago. I've started working out again and I'm going to keep going until I hit my goal weight.

I joined the 11 in 2011 group on Ravelry. The 10 in 2010 group helped me focus my goals and I figured 11 in 2011 would do the same. It did somewhat but it wasn't until I joined the Starfleet Fiber Arts Corp that I really kicked it into gear. Apparently, a small bit of competition and compensation (points and promotions) was all it needed to get me knitting here and there.

I completed about 40 projects last year!

It was definitely the year of hats (and yes, they are still my nemesis). I made (or finished, if you count the UFO's) 3 pairs of socks. I got all my xmas knitting done on time and I even made my first charity projects!

I didn't achieve all my knitting goals from last year but they were lofty and insane so I'll try to do better this year. That's the thought I had in mind when I sat down to write out my goals. You may notice that a lot of these are the same as last year although some are now in a tasty WIP form. I was going to try to make more reasonable goals this year but apparently there’s just no reasoning with me….


WIPs/UFO

1. Gift Blanket
2. owls
3. Poet’s Pullover
4. Aleita
5. Vivienne
6. Thorpe Mittens
7. Washington Square Vest
8. Icarus
9. Habu lace scarf
10. Bamboozell


My Designs
1. Cat bed
2. Yellow scarf
3. Vest (handspun)
4. Reunion Shrug
5. Mitteny thing
6. Tart set
7. Habu Cowl
8. Socks
9. Colorwork Sweater


Blankets
1. Hemlock
2. Boy squares (2 each)
3. Girasole
4. Saffron Cables


Socks
1. Baudelaire - UFO
2. Dave’s Socks - WIP
3. Hex Mesh - WIP
4. Saxon the City - WIP
5. Gothic Temptress - Casbah
6. Naniboujou - Knit Picks
7. Abbey kit
8. Lakeside - my hydrangea yarn
9. Skew - Coraline yarn
10. Ugly Boot Socks - Tucan and white esprit
11. Tardis Socks - black/blue striped yarn
12. Swirl Socks - WIP
13. RoboSocks - skeindalous set


Hats
1. Bounce
2. Dorothea
3. Hannah
4. Turn a Square
5. Marsan Watchcap
6. Trilobite
7. Sutro
8. Caulfield
9. Claudia


New Sweaters
1. Arbor - Lamb’s Pride Cotton Fleece
2. Pioneer - Lorna’s Laces Worsted
3. #77 Vine Lace Top Down Cardigan - Knit Picks bulky
4. Whisper Cardigan - cashmere
5. #106 Shawl-collared Nipped-waist Cardigan - brown silk and wool
6. #90 Chic Cables and Lace Cowl Neck - overdyed Eco wool


Crochet
1. Organizer boxes (WIP)


Colorwork
1. Swirly Hat and Matching Mittens
2. Sugarplum Pullover


Neck
1. Flutter
2. #107 cowl
3. Pretty Thing
4. Darkside Cowl


Miscellaneous
1. No Sweat Pants
2. Felted Coasters
3. Kitchen Set


Gifts
1. Scarf for T

2. Scarf for D2
3. 4 more ornaments (8 really, 4 for each boy)


Goals
1. Assign yarn to suggested projects
2. Stash Only (except one planned purchase)
3. Use rolled sock yarn first - I read in an EZ book that she feels that rolled yarn loses its elasticity if it’s rolled for too long and I have about 8 skeins that have been rolled for years!
4. At least one pattern out of my copious pattern books (Gothic Socks?).
5. At least one pattern out of my copious pattern magazines (Whisper Cardigan?).
6. Hands on needles every day.
7. Knit with yarn that’s been gifted to me.
8. Dye every month.
9. Stick to knitting “schedule” (this isn’t set in stone but I like to follow this…. Monday - hats; Tuesday - socks; Wednesday - socks; Thursday - dealer’s choice; Friday - sweaters; Saturday - sweaters; Sunday - WIP’s)

Wow. I’m completely delusional.

I was going to link all these but then I remembered I wanted to actually finish some of these goals instead of spending the year making links.

Happy in my delusion, Ruth!

C is for Conversation

The boys were in the back seat, having a conversation about scary things. D2, as usual, was talking about zombies (he likes them as much as I do!)

T: Can they be seen during the day?

D2: Of course they can.

T: No, they can't. They can only come out at night.

D2: No, you idiot, that's vampires.

Me (in the front seat, trying not to laugh too hard): D2, don't call your brother an idiot.

Overheard this conversation between a large teenage boy (17?) and his dad. I was leaving the library and they were walking in....
Dad: You don't know. I'm OUT there, I know.
Teenager [said with disdain]: You work for the government. That's not "out there". That's a whole 'nother world.


Made me crack up!

When we were in Nebraska last year for that game we went to, we spent our last morning in a wonderful diner next to the motel we stayed at. Next to our booth, was a table full of women. It was middle-aged mom, grandma, and 2 young women. They also had a little boy with them. He looked to be about 5 years old but they had him crammed in a restaurant high chair as he clearly had some development issues. He was being a very good kid. He wasn't being loud or throwing food or anything like that. He was quietly talking to/amusing himself while he ate his pancakes.

We heard the girls encouraging mom to finish the boy's pancakes:

Girls: He's done, go ahead and finish them!

Mom: Y'all are going to make me as fat as that woman we saw at Walmart.

Now, mom is no shrinking violet in the weight department herself! In fact, the only one at that table who wouldn't be considered clinically obese would be the boy in question. I looked at Dave with a questioning look. He whispered to me, "In Nebraska, 'fat' is a relative term". (Not that Dave and I are in any great shape ourselves, right?)

A couple minutes later, we see the boy looking up and down and saying, "I don't see him, Grandma? Where is he?" She ignores him for a bit and so he keeps asking her. Finally, this conversation takes place...

Boy: Grandma, you said God was up, but I don't SEE him.

Grandma: You don't see him because you aren't being a good boy.

I looked at Dave, momentarily aghast, but then perfectly calm, ".....and so it begins....."

When I told my friend this tale, she said, "That poor kid. So, if he remembers the conversation, and takes it to heart, then for his entire LIFE, he'll never be a good boy, because he will never SEE God." I never even thought of that!! I wonder how "good" grandma is since you KNOW that old bat doesn't "see" him either.

A couple of months ago, Dave and I were watching American Dad. It's this episode where the main character (Stan) is organizing a wedding. The engaged couple are negotiating some marital terms when the woman says, "And we have to visit my parents once a week." Dave made a small sound - half shock, half disgust. My head whipped around to look at him.

Me: Oh, ha-ha.

Him: What?

Me: What was that sound for??

Him: I'm sure he's going to do that. ["he" being the groom]

Me (eyebrows shooting to the ceiling, mouth dropping open; mouth closing, eye's narrowing; then speaking verrryyy slooowly, so my head doesn't explode): Are you trying to be funny?

Him: What?

Me: Bitch, I've been doing that for TWELVE YEARS.

He really had no earthly clue what he was saying! He was so horrified about that "poor man" having to go to his in-laws every week, yet he didn't realize that that's what I've been doing pretty much since we met! WTF??

Men are so clueless, Ruth!

B is for Bialystok

I started this year with a stellar book. It's The True Story of Hansel and Gretel (a novel of war and survival . Have you ever picked up a book just because of the title or cover. Have you ever started a book and within the first page or two, you knew it was going to be good?

That happened to me with The Red Tent. It started out with a sentence.... something like....

"My sisters, you have been lost to me for so long." and I thought, "Wow. This is going to be good." And it was! I've read that book several times and I always find something new and lovely in it.

I was wondering around the library and saw Hansel and Gretel on a table of new books. I love the cover and the subtitle. I read the premise on the back and took it home. Same as with The Red Tent, the first paragraph, all I could think was, "Wow. This is going to be excellent."

It is a beautiful, deeply colored book. It starts with a paragraph or two from Magda the Witch, explaining that the story you know has been passed down and twisted through time and that now we are going to have the real story.

It's set in Poland and this family has escaped the forced ghettos of Bialystock. A man and his wife are on a motorcycle, fleeing Nazi's (also on motorcycles). The wife keeps urging the man to let his 2 children (riding in the sidecar) out. They are weighing the bike down and they will all die if he doesn't let the children out. Finally, he gives in to her urging and lets them out into the woods. The Stepmom tells them to use non-Jewish names, Hansel and Gretel, and for the boy to never undress in front of anyone so they won't see his circumcision. They run into the woods. The girl is 11 and the boy is 8.

After wandering awhile, they find Magda's house. She is the village witch (in other words, she is a healer and abortionist) and she takes the children in. Her brother is the village priest and she makes him get papers for the kids.

The story follows the kids and it also follows the parents and their struggles through the war. The Stepmom isn't as bad as she is made out to be and Magda is an old woman who puts her own life in jeopardy to take in these 2 small strangers.

The village has a Nazi but he's not too bad (as Nazi's go) and then the batshit crazy Nazi shows up and things start to go south for everyone.

The book is so compelling. I spent much of our small trip to the mountains engrossed in this book. I couldn't put it down. There's so many layers to each character in the book. It is a story of war, so yes, there are some truly heartbreaking moments, but it's also a story of humanity and love.

I, of course, have to buy this book now. I can't imagine a world where I don't have access to reread it whenever I want to!

At the back of the library copy, there was an interview with the author (Louise Murphy). She was born and raised in San Francisco and has no ties to the Jewish community. She researched for THREE years before she started writing this book. She also gave a small statistic in her interview that wrenched my heart out of my chest.

In the book, Crazy Nazi's job is to go from village to village and find children that look Aryan and take them from their families, sending them to Germany to be raised by Aryan German families.

Ms. Murphy's statistic that hurt my heart so, was that during WWII, Poland lost 20% of their children. TWENTY PERCENT. Either to hunger, bombs, or outright kidnapping. I can't imagine.

This book is easily the best book I've read in years.

Other books I've read lately....

I listened to Alice I Have Been on audiobook. It's a moving, if somewhat disturbing account of the woman that Alice in Wonderland was based on. It's one of those incredibly researched, fiction presented as non-fiction type books. Apparently, Lewis Carol was an inappropriate man and Alice's family actually banned him from ever seeing her again. Ew. The book was very good and the woman who read it is an excellent actress. Most audiobook readers have inflection and some can do a variety of voices for the different characters. This reader showed real emotion and there were parts (towards the end) where she was so devastated over events in her adult life, that I was actually crying while driving to school!

My knitting group is reading The Hunger Games for a mini-book club. I had already downloaded it to my ipod and already had plans to listen to it once school started up so it was perfect timing!

I have this thing about downloading books from the library. I use the CD's even though it's a pain in the ass. But that way, I don't run out of time on a download before I can actually listen to it! After I listen, I always delete it. So far, haven't found any audiobooks that I'd want to relisten to. Not that they're bad books - quite the contrary! It's just that none of them have been as moving as the above mentioned "real" books I've read.

The thing with downloading CD's is that the makers are on to us. They never download right. They end up out of order and then there's usually one CD out of say... 16 (looking at YOU, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) that doesn't have any info on it and you have to enter the 22 tracks manually.

With Hunger Games, I somehow missed Disc 5 out of 9. I loved the book and it was flying along from the very start! I went online to put the audiobook on hold again and there's 245 people on hold for it! WTF! I ended up borrowing it from my friend through our Nooks. I didn't even go back to the rest of the discs. I flew through reading the rest of the book in just a couple of days. I can't wait to read the other 2 in the trilogy!

Speaking of trilogy's....

I'm currently reading (hardback, borrowed from the library) the third of The Strain trilogy. It's very good! The first 2 moved much faster but it's moving along and I can't wait to see how it ends...

Also, my current audiobook is the first in the Dexter series. I have been watching the show for a couple of years now (love it!) and wanted to listen to the books it came from. So far the first book

is dead on to the show, so no real surprises, but it's well-written and the reader is very engaging. It's nice, mindless entertainment for my school commute.

Here's my reading goals for this year....

Audiobooks...

I have SO many books I've downloaded, it's mental. And, yet, I still get more (coughDextercough). I need to go through my ipod playlist, see just what I have and make a list of them. That way, I can get a better handle on what I want to listen to, when.

I will definitely listen to...

all the Dexter books

In the Garden of Beasts - Eric Larson (released 2011)

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty - Joshilyn Jackson (I've listened to her read all her books - love them!)

Nook books...

My friend turned me on to Project Gutenberg. Most of my nook books are from here. It's almost all the classics (Dumas, Shakespeare, Shelley, Poe, etc.) and they are all free! So far I've downloaded...

Complete Edgar Allen Poe

Alice in Wonderland

King Lear (and several other Shakespearean works)

Frankenstein

"Real" books...

Garden of Beasts - Jeffrey Deaver (released 2005) (isn't that weird? Almost exactly the same title and VERY similar premise. Bizarre.)

Hansel and Gretal - finished - see excessive gushing above

Eternal Night - 3rd in The Strain trilogy (currently reading)

Wolves of Calla - Stephen King (read all the Dark Tower series before this, need to keep going on it!)
DayWatch - more series books!
Fool - Christopher Moore (after I read King Lear on my Nook)
The Litigators - John Grisham (got this free as a buzz agent and feel obligated to read it)
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - got this in a swap and still haven't read it yet. Still obsessed with zombies so this is high on the list this year!
Looking Glass Wars - first in another type of series.

(Sorry I stopped with the links, but blogspot got weird on me halfway through writing this post and I didn't feel like fighting with it.)

Another book goal this year is to go through my bedroom bookcase and cull whatever I can. I have such a tough time doing that! I'm a total hoarder and I adore all my books and don't want to get rid of any of them. But that bookcase is getting truly out of control.

Looking for the next great novel, Ruth!

A is for Awesome

I know that my generation is the one who minimized and ruined the word "awesome". Gotta love the 80's! But this past weekend was awesome!

Dave has figured out that a last-minute trip is a much cheaper trip to take. He got us a nice condo in Winterpark for $100 a night. He actually haggled with the guy - so not like Dave! - and finally worked it out Friday night for our weekend trip on Saturday.

We spent more time than usual in the actual dwelling but there was a Husker Bowl game on Monday, so I don't know if that counts.

We left right after I got off work on Saturday (3p) and on our drive up, we weren't even all the way out of town when the wind was whipping across the highway so badly that we saw TWO semi's and one unattached trailer that had been blown over before we got there!! The hitch on the lone trailer was a thick twist of metal.

That made us a bit nervous about the drive up, but we arrived without incident.

We went to the condo, threw our stuff in and then kicked back for a bit, deciding where to eat. We chose Moe's BBQ (mostly because Dave's nickname throughout high school and college was Moe). It was an excellent choice!! The boys got hamburgers that were full size without being giant and very well cooked. I got the pulled pork platter with beans and coleslaw and Dave got the special of a 1/2 rack and 1/2 chicken.

Everything was so tender and delicious!! The BBQ sauce was a bit plain but when mixed with their special hot sauce it was perfect.

Then we went back to the condo and changed into snow clothes. We went to the local park because we read that they were having a family event for New Year's Eve. They had about 20 super cheap saucers and little plastic toboggans for everyone to use on their icy snow hill. There were 2 fire pits with fixin's for s'mores and also hot chocolate - all free! (The s'mores fixin's were marshmallows (some as big as your fist), wooden skewers, and those keebler cookies that are round and have fudge on one side - brilliant!)

We spent over an hour sledding and having a blast! There were about 60 or 70 people there and we shared our 3 sleds and used the cheap ones too (so much faster!!). At one point I was racing down headfirst, hit some killer snow ramp, and landed half off the sled, slamming my knees into the icy hill. Yea, that bruised beautifully! Half the fun was walking back up and dodging all the people coming down. The sledders were of all ages and everyone was laughing and sledding, dodging and being kind to each other, and it was a lovely evening.

The only thing that could've made it better would be fireworks. Good thing they had those, too! They set them off at 9p because it was a family event and there were lots of sleepy kids around.

We got home about 10p and the kids went right to bed. Dave and I stayed up a little longer and rang in the New Year right (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

Sunday we didn't sleep in too late; we ate at a breakfast place that had all the good reviews. It was pretty good. It's called Sharkey's and they specialize in benedicts. Unfortunately, none of us like benedicts. Dave got their biggest breakfast (the 18-wheeler) and I got an English muffin. We split his giant meal and the kids had pancakes. I'm of a mind that breakfast food is breakfast food and it's hard to mess it up - Sharkey's was great! They make their own jam and y'all know what a jam whore I am. They call it Shark Bait and it's a strawberry jam (maybe with some raspberry thrown in?) and it's a red not found in nature. It's a bit thin, almost like strawberry syrup and it's delicious!!

After breakfast, we went to the tubing hill. It's weird because there are two tubing companies RightNext to each other. We went to the one that had their shack at the bottom of the hill. They also had "snowscoots" - miniature snowmobiles for the kids. We tubed for an hour and then we got the boys on the snowscoots.

T cracked me up - he was riding really straight-backed with a big grin, lookin' like gentry....

D2 was all hunched over his snowscoot, very intense looking and serious.

That night we got movies and frozen pizza from the Safeway. The pizza was for the kids; for us, we went to a Chinese place (Pearl Dragon II) and got food for us. That was the best Chinese food we've had since we moved to CO. Wish there was a place like that near us!

We watched the Green Lantern and then we played the game of Life. It is super-complicated to start out with, but once you read all the rules, it's pretty easy. My brother and I used to play that game ALL the time when we were kids! I'd forgotten how much I love that game! We got it for the boys for xmas and I'm so happy I made Dave put it in the car to play on our trip! (T won)

The next day, Dave made his famous breakfast burritos for all of us and we did a whole lot of nothing. Just kicking back and messing about until the Husker Bowl game came on. (Huskers lost) There was a frozen river behind our condo which the boys were fascinated with. Dave was able to stand on it, so they wanted to play on it constantly, too. It freaked me out severely but I tried to hold my tongue and let them be boys and play on it. Even though the ice was easily at least a foot thick, I lasted about ten minutes then I made them come back inside (I was with them on the ice the whole time) and play Life again. The two of them played while Dave and I watched the game.

After the game, we took them to Winterpark proper (our condo was in Frasier) to look around. We were looking for Back Bowl Soup and we found it and it was delicious. Homemade soups and sandwiches. T and I had the Black-eyed Pea and Ham and Dave and D2 went around the corner for pizza (none of the soups appealed to them). Time was spent in a tiny arcade and then we took the boys and rented them some ice skates so they could skate on the tiny frozen pond.

They had someone out there giving "free lessons" and by that, they seem to've meant a nice lady giving tips, "Bend you knees".

Davis started with the stabilizer thing....

He kept falling down a lot and had a hard time figuring out how to get back up. The nice lady showed him how to get up and then he ditched the stabilizer for most of the rest of the time....

(See the lady in the background texting? Her daughter kept saying, "Look at me, mommy!" and the lady kept texting. So stupid.)

T picked it up pretty quickly without the stabilizer....

They had some speed competitions....

As always, the best of friends....

We got back to the condo and the boy's took a warming bath. Hot chocolate and popcorn were the dinner meal and we watched Thor (hot!!).

Dave kept looking in the ads at all the condo spaces for sale. 2 bedroom, fully furnished jobbies for like $100K. That's pretty cheap for that type of thing!

Then, the first night, the train came through every couple of hours, laying on it's train horn each time.

Ah.

But we had a sleep-number bed! That was kinda cool if for no other reason than I now know I'd never buy one. It was such a subtle thing and it didn't seem to make a difference in my sleeping. Fun to try out, though!

On Tuesday, we had donuts at a local shop (Ziggy's), then we went to the other tubing hill and spent another deliciously exhausting hour tubing and laughing. It was a much warmer day and we ended up in snow pants and short sleeves.

On the way down the mountain, we stopped at Beaujo's pizza. That seems to be a tradition we are starting. We've done it three times now. Another tradition is T getting all dramatic about being car sick. He doesn't throw up, he just feels awful and is all mopey and poopy until we get some crackers in him.

He and D2 said this was our best vacation ever! They say that at every vacation and it makes me happy that they think it's so much fun spending time with us!

Best start to a New Year ever, Ruth!