Black Friday

It has been way to long since my last blog post.  Some of you who actually read my ramblings have said you missed my blog.  Tear.  Seriously, that really made me sit down and take note that maybe my ramblings are good for you, too.  Well, I've got a lot to ramble about. 
It's the day after Thanksgiving and I have no leftovers.  I didn't cook because I had to be at work at noon so the whole cooking thing was out for the day.  Jack and the girls were going over to one of my bff's for dinner w/ around 15 or so of our friends.  My friend  made the turkey and then everyone else was assigned a dish.  Jack's dish was a salad because my friends know what an excellent salad person I am.  I whipped up some pea salad I had never made before and of course I made some red jello and put little marshmallows on top because that is what we Minnesotans do.  After all, a Minnesota salad bar consists of iceberg lettuce and 5 different kinds of jello.  The jello was a hit but the pea salad, mmm, not so much.  I should have made my standard 7 layer pea salad but I went out on a limb and tried something new.  Change.  People do not like change. 

Work was great.  It was something like 20 below yesterday so I wore my bikini shirt to work for a laugh.  I walked into the kitchen, punched in and Chef and his staff of 7 were all working hard chopping, sauteing, grilling, whatever they do, and I walked through the kitchen frenzy and they all stopped and just stared.  Chef started laughing and rolled his eyes and since he calls me "hefnar" he said, "Hefnar, livin' the dream aren't you?"  I figured it was a good way to start our busy day and get everyone to smile.  I did just that. 
The kitchen staff whipped up a staff dinner for us and since this was the first Thanksgiving I have worked in almost 7 years I was so excited to sit down with everyone and eat my turkey dinner w/ mashed potatoes and stuffing.  Especially the stuffing.  Stuffing is my all time favorite.  I grabbed my plate and went to the chow line and looked at the plates of food in the window.  Brussel sprouts on the first plate, turkey sausage in gravy next, diced potatoes w/ onions, meatloaf and a spinach salad.  Now, that dinner was wonderful, don't get me wrong.  We get fed dinner every night and it's always good.  But, by God this was THANKSGIVING!!  I wanted some stuffing for crying out loud.  With gravy.  I didn't even need turkey.  Just stuffing.  I loaded my plate up and took a seat at the table with my co-workers and asked everyone else if they were bummed about the no stuffing thing.  Everyone was content and I said my peace.  My dinner was fabulous, as usual, and I had a huge serving of chocolate moose for dessert and I was stuffed.  It was time to get changed and start waiting on tables. 
We always sit down with our chef and go over the nights menu, since it changes pretty much every night.  Well, we were serving the normal 4 course dinner.  Choice of 2 soups, choice of salad or app, choice of 5 entrees, choice of dessert.  The entree selection was Veal, Lamb, Beef, Fish, Turkey w/ all the fixings.  Except there was no stuffing in all the fixings.  My jaw dropped and I let out a cry of "WHAT???"  I was literally in shock at this choice our chef had made and thought that every person who would be ordering the turkey plate would blame me when they were digging around their plate looking for their stuffing.  Since Dupster was the one to relay this message to us in the meeting I blamed him.  I said if anyone of my tables complains about having no stuffing on Thanksgiving I would be happy to send Dupster over and they could discuss it with him.  Dupster is a lowly waiter just like me so he has no control over that situation.  He was the messenger and I was about to kill him.  I did have a panic attack and was thinking maybe I should take a Valium but since I have never popped a Valium before, and I was at work, I decided against it.    I must have sold 10 plus turkey plates and not one person said a word.  Seemed no one cared two hoots about the no stuffing issue.  But man, did we ever have some good laughs over it.  That is how my job is.  Constant jokes, good laughs and great friends.  We have all worked together for years and years and we know each other so well.  It helps to be amongst good people if you have to work a holiday.  

They call this day Black Friday.  Black Friday is supposedly the hugest  shopping day in the country with the best sales EVER!   The commercials on TV are all about advertising Black Friday.   It's almost as bad as election time.  Keystone has black-out days meaning when it's a blackout day employees can't ski.  Jack tried to take Hannah out skiing a couple of weeks ago and it was a blackout day so they were denied.  Our plan was to go skiing today as a family.  Hannah has been so excited to ski.  She said to me, "Mom, to bad we can't ski on Friday because it's Black Friday."  I asked here how she already knew that they weren't letting employees on the mountain since this was back on Monday that she was saying this.  Her reply was, "because they are advertising it all over on TV."  A total Hannah ism.  It's not a blackout day at Keystone today and they are going skiing later.  She still wants to know what all they hype is about Black Friday so I am taking her shopping.  Happy Black Friday everyone.  I hope you all have some leftover stuffing. 

First Ski of the Season

We received around 7-10" of snow overnight and when I heard Jack grumbling about shoveling again I knew I needed to get out of bed and see for myself wether he was being a drama king or not.  He was being a drama king, because he always is, but he also was right to yell up to me and tell me to get out of bed because I needed to go skiing.  Someone should.  Might as well be me since I still have 10 days off before I go balls to the wall with work. 
I made the girls their lunches and said goodbuy to everyone and made a cup of coffee and sat down on the couch and covered up with a blanket.  As I watched it snow and snow outside I decided that Jack was right (I hate it when he's right).  I needed to go skiing.  It was a painless process, for some reason, gathering my gear.  Usually, I am walking to the shed, digging through bins and bins looking for my pants, jacket, neck gator, hat, etc.  Then I rummage around the garage for a good 45 minutes cussing because I can't find my goggles and boots.  Then I walk back up to the house looking for my ski pass which I usually don't have anyway and have to go stand in line to get.  Not this year.  For some reason, I was organized and all of my stuff was exactly where I remembered putting it.  And, we got our ski passes last week so we were set.    I was driving down the driveway, on my way to the mountain, at 9:30 am.  I got to the lift and they scanned my pass and there I was swinging my skis on the lift, bundled up, and enjoying the blowing snow on my face.  It always feels so good to be riding that first chair ride of the season.  Especially when you have the chair to yourself.  I am not into small chit chat and I really just wanted to enjoy the peace of the chair alone. 
It was a powder day and the snow was soft and fluffy and light.  The skiing was great.  I skied hard for the first few runs because I was all by myself and I was thoroughly enjoying it.  I ran into some friends just as I was thinking about leaving and I stayed and skied for another 5 runs.  My legs are going to be sore tomorrow.  I'm glad I have my yoga class. 
I left the mountain at around 12:30 pm and had some errands to run and picked up the kids at school.
It was a successful first day on the mountain.  I'm thinking about doing it all again tomorrow. 

Sunday Paper

Sunday, and I have no paper.  If I could get the paper delivered to my door I would be one happy camper.  But, that is why I love living where we live.  It's remote and if I did have things delivered to my doorstep, ie, the Sunday paper, take-out pizza, groceries,  I'd be a lot lazier than I already am.  I wouldn't say I'm lazy, lazy but I have pretty good lazy bones and I could take a nap everyday and I have no problem pouring another cup of coffee and watching the next morning show.  Some would say that's lazy.  I talk myself out of that term and say it's contentment.  I'm certainly content, that's forsure. 
I did get out today, because I forced myself, and made a fire in the pit in the backyard.  It was freezing all day and snowing so I bundled up and put on my snow pants, warm parka, hat, gloves and Sorels and tromped through the yard in the snow digging up wood to burn and un-buring the tables because I was thinking ahead and anticipating of one of our full moon parties where we need those tables.  I then decided that I would walk down the road a little ways.  The plow hadn't been up here so the road was completely snowy and I followed Jacks ski tracks to Rileyville where he took off up the mountain.  I was freezing because the wind was blowing very hard which brought the temp down quite a bit.  I turned around after a bit thinking I needed to start walking up and getting my blood flowing to get warm.  Glad I did.  I warmed up instantly walking home from Rileyville.  I then decided that my exercise level was sufficient for the day and when I got home I immediately got back into my comfy clothes and ate some left-over Tokyo Joe's.  After lunch it was definitely time for a nap.  I turned on the Vikings/Bears game and, bam!  Asleep.  It was a good 2 hour nap which I obviously needed after my vigorous day of freezing cold weather.  I am now enjoying the Bronco/Chiefs game with a glass of wine and the only thing that could make my day any better is if I had the paper and I could clip my coupons, read all about it and save the best for last, the travel section, so I could dream of all of the wonderful places I will see when I grow up. 
So, if you're on your way up here for some reason, bring me a paper, would you? (and pizza would be good)

Cozy

We woke up to cold temps and snow.  It is beautiful and has been all day.  The snow has accumulated to a few inches and it's time to shovel.  We haven't plowed yet and the driveway is getting nice and packed down.  I'm thinking tonight we'll need to do one sweep with the plow. 
It feels like I should be putting my Christmas decorations up.  But, I'm not one of those.  I always wait until December. 
Both of our stoves are burning and it is super cozy in my house.  I love days like today.  My dog, my cat and my blanket. 

Semper Fi

Happy 235th Birthday to the founding of the U.S Marines! Semper Fi! "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli" Thank you to all of the men and women who are and have served our country in all of the branches of the armed services!

Autographs

They say more snow is coming our way tonight. I say, please, more snow. We got our ski passes yesterday and when that takes place it's always the hurry up and wait game. Hannah is really excited to ski. Jack took Jordan, Hannah and Hannah's best friend over to Vail on Saturday to see some members of the U.S. Ski Team. Not only did they get to see them but they got autographs. Hannah didn't have her helmet or anything for an autograph so she had Lindsey Vonn sign her brand new ski jacket that she hasn't even worn skiing yet. She also got 2 other autographs on the same sleeve, in permanent sharpie. I'm not upset about it though. I thought that was a pretty good idea actually. But, those coats get so dirty and I wash them frequently through the winter so I'm afraid the autographs will wash off. We'll see.

We went for a hike up Webster Pass today, Teller and I. Teller was as happy as could be. We got home and he ran up to his new stolen stuffed animal and picked it up and ran over to me to show me his loot. He is a thief. He goes to town and looks around for squeaky toys or something soft, grabs it and runs home the whole way with his new prize. I'd love to know where this one came from. He sure is proud of it. The pictures of Teller show him with his new stolen toy.

If you happen upon this blog and recognize this Christmas dog, by all means, come up and grab it. If he'll let you.

Mucking Barns

Every muscle in my body is hurting. I am on the couch and I'm not sure I can get up. I have a party to go to tonight and I need to move. I'll blog instead.

Hannah and I worked at the Swan Center today. We got out there at around 10am. The other volunteers were getting the feed together so I went out and dealt with the hay. That job is pretty fun because you get to get hay off the bail and walk around with the wheelbarrow and place piles for the horses. 35 piles to be exact. The horses get excited and start walking slowly into the area I'm putting the hay. Sometimes they'll try to eat it right out of the wheelbarrow as I'm pushing it around. I'm not suppose to let them do that so it's funny trying to stop them.

After the hay was placed it was time to get all the horses to their feeding spots. One by one we lead them to their feed bin on the fence. There were a few barns that needed to be mucked so I volunteered to do that since it's a huge workout and I felt like beating myself up a bit. The two barns that I needed to clean out hadn't been fully cleaned out in quite some time so there were a few layers of hard muck I had to dig up. It was hard work. I took a pick ax, shovel, rake and between the three tools I got through. I had to then haul multiple 40 lb bags of pellets to place in the stalls. 11 bags to be exact. All of the muck that I dug up needed to be wheeled over to be dumped. Through the mud, over mud, around mud. After a few hours of that I was extremely whooped.

Those horses are so awesome to be with. Magic likes to have her head over the door so she can see whats going on. She's so curious. Somethin' pees on her fresh bed of pellets. Jett likes to chew on the fence. Snicker, she's naughty. She keeps trying to escape. Amigo breaks my heart every time I look at him. He's sweet and was tied to a tree during hurricane Andrew and survived. His coat is all scruffy and thick. They all have some story and they all have a different personality. It's fun getting to know them. What a great place to volunteer.

But, now I am seizing up and I can't move. Tomorrow will not be pretty.

The Morning After-Halloween

Whew. Glad that's over. We left the house in such foul moods and bad attitudes I almost turned the car around and blew it all off. We dropped off one kid and drove to Breckenridge to drop off the other. Once we did that Jack and I were in the car by ourselves looking at the mountains wondering what to do. It was kind of weird. It was our first Halloween not having the kids within a few houses. We got the local paper and checked out the 2 for 1 specials, which are plenty this time of year. We ended up at Mi Casa and we were thinking when the last time were were there. It must have been over 10 years or more. The food was good and we had a great time. The restaurant was completely empty and Jack and I were so relaxed and we talked and talked about our kids and how to be better parents and we talked, of course, about Costa Rica. We decided that getting the container delivered to our house sooner than later would be best. We are filling a container up with our stuff, shipping it off to Costa Rica so we have a car, tools, and whatever else we think we'll need. The talk over dinner, with no kids, was much needed. We ended up at a friends house, which is where we have spent the majority of our Halloweens, and it was party time as usual. Halloween in that neighborhood is a hoot. We sit around the fire in the driveway, on the hill while the kids walk up and trick or treat. It's a small neighborhood where everyone knows everyone and the mood is festive. We were all laughing at the parents, including us, because everyone has a beverage in hand, bundled up, although last night was fairly mild. It truly is a good time and everyone is happy. I was designated driver so I was behaving. It was time to drive to our meeting places to pick up our kids from their parties. We all came together at the end of the night and drove up the hill to our quiet house in the middle of the woods. It was a nice night and unfortunately, I did not get one picture. That's the one bad thing about not being with our kids for Halloween. I missed out on their costumes.
It's 8:30 am and I have already had 2 Reese's peanut butter cups. It goes well with coffee.