Lake Tahoe Part 1

Today is our third day in South Lake Tahoe, California. Actually, I'm not sure if we're in California or Nevada...to be honest, I think the hotel might be directly on the line. We got here on Sunday afternoon around two o'clock pm. I was really nervous about the flights since I haven't flown in five years, but I did great! The trip was flawless and our bags followed us - everything went well!

The hotel is amazing. We're staying at Embassy Suites, which I think is a subsidiary of Hilton, and it's really nice. We're on the first floor in a king suite. There's a complimentary breakfast every morning, and we have all sorts of discounts because we're with the Ski Club we belong to.

The night we got here, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and just hung around...we were pretty wiped from the trip. Then, yesterday, we got up at 6:30am to get ready for skiing. We thought we were going to Kirkwood for the day, but the bus never showed up at 7:50am like it was supposed to, so Joe (our club leader) called the bus company and they had messed up apparently. So we switched things around and skiied at Heavenly yesterday, the mountain that we're right next to. Literally, we can walk out of our hotel, cross one block and jump on the gondola.

Now, it must be known that this was my first time skiing since I was maybe eight years old, and I hated it then. We used to go up to some friends' houses in Vermont and they are pro skiers pretty much. I remember being embarrassed because I was eight and going down the bunny slope in between my mom's friend's legs and her son, who was four at the time, was on one of the really experienced trails (I want to say black diamond, but I'm not sure if there's an age requirement for those things).

Anyway, Rod taught me a little in our hotel room the night we got here, and then yesterday morning we got on the gondola (which had beautiful views going up of the mountains and the lake) and went to the bottom of Heavenly Mountain, which had the lodge and the ski lifts. He had me practice on this tiny (and I mean really TINY) hill that was in between the lodge and the "Big Easy" ski lift to the top of the bunny slope (called "Easy Street" or something like that) and I fell twice. Just on this maybe four foot long slope that was really not much of a slope at all...people could ski UP it...which is what I tried to do at one point and that's when I fell forward with my legs twisted completely backwards under me and I started freaking out. It was not fun.

So, after that, I was pretty much determined not to ski again for the rest of the trip and just videotape Rod doing his skiing. I didn't want to get in his way, because he's an intermediate-to-experienced skier, but it seemed all he really wanted to do was teach me and watch me mess up and joke around and have fun. So after about an hour of sitting there stubbornly refusing to ski anymore, I finally agreed to go up this little slope that wasn't even the bunny slope, it was a slope that ski instructors were teaching adults on, and there was no ski lift except for this cable with handles on it that you could grab onto and it would pull you up the slope to the top or wherever you wanted to let go and start humiliating yourself.

The first time, I made it to the top of the slope and let go of the handle, and started to slide backward (as was expected) and let myself wipe out and laid there on my side for quite a bit until I figured out how to get up without taking my skis off. Luckily there was no one behind us on the cable thing. Then I fell a couple more times skiing down the slope sideways back and forth. BUT, I managed to teach myself how to turn a little and got more confident and had fun with it. SO, I decided to go back up and do it again, and the second time I got even better, I almost got all the way to the bottom of the hill without falling at all, until we got to the very bottom and it started to get steeper going down to where the lifts were and I started going too fast for my liking and instead of waiting for myself to turn and stop myself without falling, I just let myself fall so I could stop. :) But before that, I was actually skiing back and forth a couple times without stopping completely to start over, which is what I did the first time before that.

By this time I was exhausted. Even though I had only been skiing for maybe 20 minutes collectively, I had been out there standing in my ski boots and my skis for almost 3 hours. I was exhausted, and I have also been struggling with the altitude I think because EVERYTHING exhausts me, even going up one flight of stairs.

The only other thing I have to complain about is the dryness up here. It's great for the snow but HORRIBLE for your body, specifically your nose. My nose is so dry that it's uncomfortable, and the other day I had my first (sort of) bloody nose. It wasn't running blood or anything, but when I blew my nose there was quite a bit of blood on the tissue, and ever since then there's always a tiny bit whenever I use a tissue. But it's OK.

Other than that, it's GORGEOUS here and lots of fun.



We're doing plenty of other things besides skiing (Rod's out skiing right now and I might join him in the afternoon, but it's nice to let him ski on the bigger, more exciting slopes so he can actually ski haha). Tonight we have a Welcome Party put on by the hotel for our ski club in Joe's suite. Then we may or may not go to "Fire and Ice" for dinner, depending on how full we get from the hors d'eouvres they serve at this thing (it's a drink and appetizer thing, not dinner) and then tomorrow is our "Day Off" from skiing, and we booked a day cruise on this boat that takes you to Emerald Bay/Cove on the lake and we're going to take lots of pictures. Hopefully it won't be bad weather. I think it's supposed to snow a lot this afternoon.

Then on Friday, my cousin Kate and her boyfriend Logan are joining us for the evening. We'll probably have a nice dinner, maybe go across the street to one of these "Old Fashioned Photo" places where they dress you up in old-fashioned clothes and then take pictures of you. I've never done it, and I think it might be fun.

Oh and last night we went to the pool and jacuzzi, it was fun. Unfortunately, someone from our ski club broke her wrist yesterday. She wasn't even skiing, she went into the ladies' room for a moment and slipped on the stairs or something in her ski boots and broke a couple of bones and dislocated something, I don't know. We saw her in the elevator this morning and she was saying the doctor suggested she might need surgery when she gets back home. Ugh. Poor woman, and kind of ironic how it happened when you'd expect injuries from skiing, not from bathrooms.

Well, I've probably written enough! I'm sure I'll have much more to tell later. Right now I'm really online just to sign onto my classroom at Ashford to fulfill my attendance for the week. I'm probably going to go get my bathing suit on and do some laps in the pool, and then go to the gift shop and get some souvenirs and postcards.

Wish me luck this afternoon if I brave the "slope" again! :)

Walking to the WTC!

Today I decided to walk 135 miles from my front doorstep to the World Trade Center memorial in NYC. Well - it's hypothetical - I'll really be walking in our study on my "lady stepper" that Rod gave me for Christmas last year (Happy Holidays, by the way!). Some girls and I are all doing this as a sort of fitness challenge. We each picked a location a certain distance from us and are trying to walk/run that distance by March 31st.

So far, I've walked 1.25 miles of the 135 miles I need to. (I'm assuming each mile is about 2,000 steps.)

Wish me luck!

The work of a border collie

I stopped by my parents' house today to steal some of my mom's homemade minestrone, and, upon my arrival, here is what I found:

Current Events

I decided I wanted to start jotting things down here that are going on in the world today, so that I can look back and remember. To sum up... the economy was crappy for a while, but the recession is officially over! Things were bad, I guess the worst they've been since the Great Depression of the 1930s... although, maybe I'm just fortunate, but it didn't seem THAT bad to me.

Two other big things stick out in my mind right now. One is the spread of H1N1 around the United States right now. It's a virus nicknamed the "swine flu" because it is usually found in pigs, but occasionally mutates and becomes infectious to humans.¹ It is a harsher version of the flu, so I hear, and can be much harder to treat.

A friend of ours has a brother who is married to a Chinese woman, and apparently he traveled to China recently to visit relatives and was quarantined at an airport in China because he had a slightly high fever - he was taken away in an ambulance full of personnel in haz-mat uniforms! Crazy, but this thing really has people panicked.

The biggest thing I think that is important to share is that our president, with whom I have the utmost respect, Barack Obama, is currently working on a plan for universal healthcare. There are many reasons people are for or against this policy. I, personally, am for it, but Rod is against it. He, as many others do, feels that we should all have to work to afford healthcare for ourselves and our families, and that if you don't work hard, you don't deserve a handout. However, Obama made it clear to me in his addresses to the nation over the last several months that it will improve healthcare for those of us who already have it, as well as offer it to those who cannot afford it, whether because they're lazy and don't work or because (and more likely) they can't afford it for a reason that isn't really their fault. Not only that, but Obama makes a good point in reminding us that our taxes pay for uninsureds' medical bills, so universal healthcare will benefit us in that way, as well.

Anyway, that's what's going on right now.

Ecological Footprint

Right now I'm taking an environmental science class in school called "Dependence of Man on the Environment," and this week the instructor had us take the Ecological Footprint quiz online. According to my results, if everyone lived the same lifestyle I do, we would need 4.5 Earths!

This is truly, extremely disturbing.

What's even more disturbing is that my score were significantly lower than the country average! So, PLEASE go to this website:

http://www.myfootprint.org
(You do NOT have to provide a donation or your e-mail address - that is OPTIONAL.)

...and calculate your Ecological Footprint. It's very short, it won't take up a lot of your time, and it is worth it and important. At the end, there's a link to advice on how to lower your score.

It got cold so early this fall that I thought winter was coming too soon and the leaves might not even get a chance to change - they were already starting to drop without turning their pretty colors first! BUT, luckily, I was wrong and they ARE changing. Here are some beautiful bushes on our street:

(I would like to make it known that I stopped the car to take this picture with my phone...I was not endangering myself or others!)

Hooray for fall.

And....on an even (much) more exciting note:

ONE OF MY VERY BEST FRIENDS IS PREGNANT! K and B have one son, N, and are now expecting #2!! I am so thrilled for them and wish we lived closer to one another so we could share all the excitement with them in person.

They're due on July 4th. How neat!

Unexpected compliments

Pop came home last night from Maine for the winter. He got in around noon and we all went over to Dan and Daniel's for dinner which was mmm mmm delicious! Dan is one of the best cooks I know (check out Wright's Mill Farm in Canterbury, CT...he's the head chef)! It was great to see him and to spend time together, although the last time we spent together was two months ago when Sharon passed away.

Rod's working on a big case at work right now - a burglary. He wasn't too thrilled going into work last night because I guess doing this can be tedious. He'd much rather be out driving around dealing with things going on on the streets than sitting around in the office writing up reports.

I'm the opposite. I love sitting at a desk at a computer and doing random, relaxing but mind-challenging tasks. It's a good thing we even each other out with things like this. It's the same as how we are at home with chores, which is why he does things like takes our cars to get the oil changed and I sit at the computer and do our bills.

He's such a hard worker and is so darn handsome. I'm so glad that I have a husband I love so much. I think lately, we've been really happy and falling even more in love. It is true that the first year of marriage is a little hectic. Even if you've been living together for two years before you get married, like we did, there are still things to get used to in marriage, and it can be rough at first. But, if you're lucky, you make it past that one year mark and are still best friends.

I'm not the only one that thinks he's special. The other night at a McDonalds the cashier asked for his number! We both got a kick out of this, but it proves just how stunning and impressive he is. :)

I work for a Psychiatric APRN who specializes in child therapy and medication management. One of her patients is a young girl, late elementary-school age, who is very blunt. I really don't think she's capable of lying. One time, a few months ago, she came in and said something very straight-forward that she probably shouldn't have shared with anyone, but did...with the entire waiting room. (I can't remember what it was that she said, but even if I did, I wouldn't say.) I know quite a bit about this patient just by observing her, and I believe that she probably has trouble keeping friends because she says exactly what's on her mind even though it might hurt someone's feelings.

Today she had an appointment and afterwards, her mom came and sat down in the office with me to pay her bill. The girl - I'll call her Charlotte - was standing in the doorway. Today I'm wearing an old blue sweater and black baggy dress pants, and my hair is halfway up and hasn't been washed (I normally don't wash it every day anyway because doing so dries out my already-extremely-dry scalp).

Needless to say, I don't feel like I look my best, and I was honestly thinking to myself when she first came in, "Oh my gosh, if this girl blurts out that I look ugly or that something is wrong with me, I will seriously have motivation to make myself up more often."

Charlotte did stand there in the doorway staring at me, and after a minute said loudly and matter-of-factly, "You're a really pretty girl."

I love my job.