A day at the zoo

Logan and Maya ride the snow leopard with cousin June.

So Paige's sister Val and her daughter June are up for the weekend, staying around for tomorrow's Inauguration Party tomorrow morning. Yesterday the ladies went over to Bainbridge Island to wander around Winslow while I hung at home and watched the Cardinals beat the Eagles and kept the kids from destroying the house. Today, while Paige made bagels for the party tomorrow, Val and I hauled the kids to the zoo. And a fine day at the zoo it was! If only I'd remembered the real camera rather than the camera phone, I might have taken more and better pictures. But I didn't, so the only evidence is this shot of them riding the Snow Leopard statue. Ah well!

First day of ski school

God, I've been slacking on the posting! Didn't even finish out the year with the Blog 365 thing. Made it on number of posts, but the end was lacking in umph.

Anyhow, to attempt to get back in the swing, here's a description of the first day of ski lessons. No photos, 'cause I'm a freaking moron and forgot the camera. And was too lazy to try to take any with the phone. So, whatever.

Got up way too early (now that I'm not really working "way too early" is 6:30, an hour after I used to get up for work...), loaded the car, ate, got the girl up (boy isn't doing lessons this year and I agreed to give him the week off), then our carpool mates arrived and we piled in to the Subaru and headed east.

On the off chance that you've been ignoring the news of the great North West, we've had a winter and a half so far: Big snow in the lowlands, followed by big rain and melt everywhere. Snoqualmie pass was closed for three days this week because of avalanches, flooding, and other natural disasters, but today was open and the ski area was running full steam. We got to the parking lot at around 9, parked in the Carpool lot (closer to the walkway to the area, which is a good thing...as was the free bags of granola for being nice carpool people), put on the ski boots and headed up the hill.

Peter, the dad of the two kids along with us, took Kyle (a friend of Logan's who is taking lessons for the first time) and June (a friend of Maya's who was along for the ride and to play in the snow) off to the ski school chalet to get Kyle set up with gear while Maya and I headed for the Holiday chair. As you might recall from my post recapping my birthday, the last time Maya had skiied wasn't the best. Today was much better.

First off, the boots fit. Second off, we took Holiday, the "easy" chair, and she didn't panic when we got off. In fact, she made several great turns, and we probably could have fit in another run before lessons but I didn't want to be late. So instead we skiied over to the Webbski chalet to line up and wait for her class. Or, rather, to find out which class she was in, then hike up the hill 25 yards or so and ski back down a couple times.

Once she was hooked up with her class I headed off to ski. The snow was OK, there were some rough patches that had iced up and run off, but the grooming machines had done a pretty good job. I did one run on the "Central Express" high-speed quad chair, then headed over to Silver Fir to try out the new quad chair on that run (they replaced an old slow triple with a new high-speed quad). It ruled. I think I skiied that side 6 or 7 times, and the longest I waited in line was 3 minutes. Most of the time it was ski up, get on the chair, ride up. Much better than the old chair, although my legs did appreciate the 10-minute ride before...

The other two things that made the day good were the weather - early in the week they'd forecast rain, but instead it snowed the whole time - and the Sansa. I hadn't skied with music in a couple years, and it was very nice to have something I could easily turn down when I got on the chair, and that I could easily read if I wanted to change songs. Not that I did that too much...the random shuffle only came up with a couple songs I didn't feel like listening to.

Eventually it was time to head back to Webbski to pick up Maya. She'd had a great lesson - entirely on the Magic Carpet, but that was good 'cause she felt more comfortable - and had made a new friend (whose name I forget). Kyle had also had a good lesson, and June had enjoyed playing in the snow, but everyone was ready to head back home. So home we came, with a brief stop at Burger King for lunch. Because really, after a morning of skiing everyone needs a Whopper™.

iTunes Oracle

So the Galavanting Monkey tagged me on this one on Facebook, and since I've been wicked lazy on the blog of late I figured it would work here. So here goes the iTunes Oracle meme!

1. Put your iTunes (or any other media player you may have) on shuffle. Hmm...have to chose between Zune and Sansa...Sansa's closer, so we'll go with that

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer. OK...

3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS! Jeez, you don't have to shout...

4. Tag 10 friends who might enjoy doing the meme as well as the person you got the meme from. Yeah, I think I'll skip that part. Although you're welcome to go with it if you'd like.

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
Crash - Dave Matthews Band Hmm...not sure what that means...

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Wind Power - Thomas Dolby Sansa, are you trying to say I talk too much?

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
The Secret Kind - Screaming Trees True, a little mystery is a good thing

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
You're No Good - Van Halen Ouch!

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Yesterday - The Beatles Again, ouch!

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
What a Day That Was - Talking Heads Jesus, I'm beginning to feel like my life is over!

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN?
Satisfy My Soul - Bob Marley & the Wailers Hmm...is that what it is? I thought it was "what's for lunch?"

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Stand - Blues Traveler Uh...not sure what this one means either

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
The Game of Love - Santana w. Michelle Branch Well, now, this would depend. After all, I like more than one person!

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Underground Angel - George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars So true. My secret is out. Thanks a lot, Sansa!

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
I Get Wild/Wild Gravity - Talking Heads OK, I'd settle for "employed", but "wild" is cool.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
It's Coming Down - Cake Again, depends on the person. And what it is that's coming down. If it's the same person that The Game of Love was talking about we can only hope "it" refers to pants. Or a top. Or both. God, Paige better not read this...unless SHE'S the person I like...yeah, I'll play it that way.

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Life Is a Highway - Tom Cochrane Hmm. Maybe I should have moved out of the house sooner.

WHAT WILL [DID] YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
We Work the Black Seam - Sting now THAT is a flat-out lie! We danced the Hokey Pokey! Or maybe to "Brick House". It was a while ago. I was drunk. Sue me.

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
668 The Neighbor of the Beast - Travis Shredd & the Good Ol' Homeboys I would be totally fine with this

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Cry Freedom - Dave Matthews Band To be honest, I don't cry much.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears That's not much of a secret. Clearly I'll need to start being more exciting.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Get Up - REM Hmm...that's probably true when they've overstayed their welcome. Or if we're at a game and there's yelling to be done...

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Shiny Happy People - REM God, that's totally true. Fewer things are worse than the Shiny Happy People.

Happy Birthday, Maya!

Today miss Maya Chicken turned 8. She ate donuts for breakfast, had a pool party with her friends, was showered with gifts, had a totally screwed up cake, was showered with more gifts, and ended the night with a walk in the snow. All in all I think she'd say it was a pretty darn good birthday!

Good Lord! A week?

Man, a whole week off? What the hell was I thinking? And it wasn't even a busy week! Well, it was busy with Wii playing, and snow melting, and a birthday, and a lot of drinking, but still. Jesus! Now I've got to waste the first post of the year on a boring-ass recap of the week. Assuming I even remember the week...well, I'll try and hope it's not too boring-ass. Or not boring. Not much chance it won't be ass.

Sunday: Sunday marked the final defeat in this insanely futile Seahawks season. At least Holmgren got to win his final home game as Seahawks coach, even if they couldn't pull it off in Arizona. And to rub it in, there was a quote in the post-game interviews by either Warner or the Arizona coach saying "In the 2nd quarter we finally started playing like the Cardinals." WTF? If they were playing like the Cardinals they should have lost. Clearly they're playing like some other team. Whatevs. On to Monday.

Monday: The wife gave me my birthday present on Sunday (two days early), in the hopes that I might get it installed before we went up in to the mountains. No, not snow tires, something far more cool: a Sirius satellite radio! So I read up on it and decided I'd stop by CarToys on Monday morning and get their advice on antenna placement. I was thinking near the tail gate, 'cause getting the wire in to the car would be a cake walk, but I was concerned that the skis and bikes and whatnot on the rack would block the signal. So the CarToy guy suggested right above the windshield, then run the wire around the window and push it in from the engine compartment. Which I can't figure out how to do, so here it is Friday and I haven't done anything about it.

Anyhoo, after running more errands, I put the ski racks back on the car, loaded up the skis and family and bags of clothing and whatnot, and drove over the pass to Easton to spend the night with our cousins. Which, in spite of heavy snow and gusty winds, was great. Well, maybe not the drive, but the spending time with them and watching it snow.

Tuesday: Tuesday was my birthday, and it started out pretty darn well. Woke up well rested, the cousins made us blueberry pancakes, we loaded up the car, and headed off on the 10 minute drive to the ski area. Which is when things started going sideways. First problem: Maya's boots, which we rented in early November, no longer fit. They hurt to put on. She can't even get her foot half-way in. So while Paige and Logan head off to make some runs on the easy chair, Maya and I stand in line for 40 minutes to rent new skis. Then once we get them I make the mistake of taking her up the slightly less easy chair, and she completely falls apart coming down. Hmm...note to self: let her warm up on the "magic carpet" bunny slope first.

We meet Paige and Logan on the way down, and I say "hey, I'm going to go do a run a little higher and will come find you, then we can go to lunch." So I do, it's good (the snow was great for December 30th), and I catch them after they've gone all of 100 yards or so down the hill. We head down and eat a fairly cold lunch sitting out side, then Paige and Maya head to the magic carpet for a bit while Logan and I go up the high-speed quad. Which is when he starts complaining that he's cold and doesn't want to ski any more. Great. So we come back down, I park him in front of the fire pit, and head over to find Paige and Maya and tell them where he is before heading off again to ski on my own. I get in one or two runs, and am heading up the "Triple 60" chair, when the phone rings: It's Paige, they're in the car, and it's time to go home. Sigh. Well, at least dinner and the cake were good...

Wednesday: New Year's Eve was actually pretty good. I spent a bunch of money on medical supplies trying to spend down the FSA (why they won't let me use it for new Levis I don't understand...), our friends who had threatened to bring their in-laws over for New Year's Eve came by themselves, and we got some good Wii action in. Oh, and I drank like a fish, which always makes the evenings go quicker.

Thursday: Another good day. Went with my friend Steve to see The Spirit, which was good if you didn't go in expecting it to be deep...very campy, very 40s, very stylish, and kind of weird. Oh, and packed with babes. Then that evening some friends from college and their son spent the night, which was also great: stayed up way too late talking, drank too much again, and the kids had a good time playing Spore.

Which brings us to Today: Not a lot going on today. Went to Joe's Outdoor to swap Maya's boots for some that fit (and thankfully found a pair, 'cause they were almost out of kids' sizes in the season rental), hit the library to pick up a book, and finally updated the blog. Finally.