And here she is now:
That is to say: She has grown a titch.
Went skiing again on Saturday, and it was similarly successful. Janneke didn't go, though - claimed she had too much work to do. So I dropped the kids off at 9:00, bought us some Jiminy Peak Value cards ($42 each, but they give you $15 off every time you go up), bought an eight-hour ticket, rented skis again, and hit the slopes alone. Among thousands of other people, but alone.
Strange - the second time around, with so much better an idea of what was coming, I put probably a fifth the effort into it. I wasn't tired at the end of the day, unlike the first day, when I was exhausted, and every time I went up, I skied all the way to the bottom of the mountain without stopping to rest. This is probably the norm, but before, Janneke and I had always rested after a few turns, probably mostly so she could see how I was holding up. But it was great, if a bit lonely.
They have a board up at the lift so that anyone whose child has a problem in the Skiwee program can be alerted on their next trip up the mountain, but the kids' names never appeared, so I went another round. And on that second round it became clear: at the top of the mountain, there was far, far too much wind to be comfortable. My face and neck and nose were exposed, which was just painful. So I went into the gear store there, and bought an adult-sized and a youth-sized "Turtle Neck" - a fleece tube, essentially, that you pull over your head and wear around your neck and mouth, adjusting it as needed. One would go on Q, and one on T.
But at the bottom of the mountain, where T was going to stay, it wasn't really windy at all. So I found Q as he was about to get onto a lift with his teacher and had him put on the youth size one, and put the other on myself. And was far, far more comfortable.
Our friend Daniel came up to the mountain to meet me around 12:30, and he and I skied together until 3:00. It was just great -he's a great skier, having grown up in Williamstown and having learned in the very same program as Q and T, but he always happily went on the green and blue runs with me, shooting ahead sometimes or zig-zagging through trees, but always staying pretty much in my orbit. We would chat in the lift on the way up, pop into the lodge to warm up...It's a great hobby. Huge, huge amounts of fun...Don't know why I was always so down on it. Jealous, probably. It isn't cheap, after all, and I didn't grow up doing too many things that weren't cheap. But it isn't horribly expensive, either, and it's good exercise. I'm a little more mature now, and have decided that I am all for it.
So now we've ordered boots, skis and poles for me, skis and boots for Janneke, a helmet for Q, and skis and poles for T. Q already has skis and poles, and T already has a helmet. Janneke found this site where you get the same makes and models for 1/3 what you would pay in the ski shop. (We know - we priced them.) And next year, we'll get the season pass and really, really get our money's worth.
Had some friends over for brunch - they're going to France at the end of this month to live for 4 and a half months. They have four kids, so the adults were outnumbered, but we were able to keep them occupied with a movie ("Ratatouille") and a ping pong table. Their kids adored Skittles, as we do, and managed to caress and stroke her without coming to any harm. (Hobie, as happens during all visits from families with children, was confined to a back bedroom throughout.)
Probably the news I'm most excited about, though, is that I have pretty much figured out how to play "La maza" by Silvio Rodriguez, and Janneke sings along when I play it, resulting in a great deal of enjoyment and diversion. It was the rhythm with the right hand that had me floundering, but today I got it down, and over the last couple of days, every time I would start to play it, Janneke would hum along from wherever she was sitting, singing the melody. And today she pulled up the lyrics on a computer, and sat with me as I played it, and whattaya know, it really sounded good. So Janneke skyped her mother, and we gave her a little concert. It was really fun, and Janneke has been very generous with her compliments on how far I've come with the whole Latin guitar thing since December. Once we get a repertoire together, we'll film some, how 'bout, and include it on the next batch of videos that get sent to the families in DVD form. Youtube...? Not so sure. (Though we sound way better than most of the people we found singing it there today.)
T is sick. Coughed all last night, and tonight dropped into unconsciousness without even finishing supper. Q and I were just getting home from Q's Sunday night pickup soccer game (he was fast and active, though he could have been more aggressive - still, he got high praise from the U-12 coach, who was organizing the whole thing), and I just had time to smooch T's hot, red cheek before she started to snore, right there on Janneke's lap. If someone has to stay home with her tomorrow, it'll be Janneke, since she isn't teaching. Though there is a lot to be said for the philosophy that whoever is teaching should be the one to stay home with the little sick-o. She's been pretty well out since we put her down, though. Knock on wood.
OK, I've put off walking the dog too long. Gotta hit the bricks. Take care, brush your hair...
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