snow day!

 can you believe they found a vein in there?  it was a three hole day.

 a great way to spend the 18th.  my goddaughter learning to ski.

 we love skiing!

katy and i skied together for the first time 21 years ago at the same mountain.

there is nothing i love more than skiing.  not riding my bike.  not walking on the beach.  not napping.  not eating ice cream.  nothing.  not a thing.  the squeak of the cable through the pulleys on the lift, the speech from the tram operator at the top of hidden peak, the ways skis sound zooming down a steep groomer versus schussing through eight inches of powder, that feeling, that feeling.  some of my best memories are from ski trips, quick weekends in new hampshire skiing backcountry trails and laughing so hard it hurts, weeks in snowbird following bill around the mountain and skiing with the girls in the afternoons, hearing the chatter of spanish as the chairlift speeds us toward three feet of pow in chile.  when it comes down to it, all i want to do is ski.  the other stuff, while necessary and amazing in its own right (i'm looking forward to a sun-filled weekend in arizona right about now), just doesn't come close.  

of course, life gets in the way and i have had a run without too much skiing in the past year or so.  i will jump at the chance to go, and this weekend i had one of my best days, attempting to teach my goddaughter to ski.  her mom and i skied together in seventh grade.  her dad was dying to get on skis again.  it seemed the best possible way to spend the anniversary of a day i'd rather forget.  the goal for the day was to introduce her to skiing and end the day with her still liking it.  first things first, the boots - a lot of kids say no right then and there.  not this one.  she loved the robot boots, and seemed quite content stomping around in them.  we got out on the snow and even though the adults accompanying her had no idea what they were doing as far as teaching skiing went, we all made a bunch of runs down the bunny slope, daddy behind and lizzy ahead.  french fries!  pizza!  you could hear people all over the slope calling.  put your hands on your knees!  more pizza!  it was awesome.  a great way to spend a day skiing in the poconos.  the best part?  she was bummed when she couldn't ride the chair with daddy and lizzy for their last run.  she wanted to try it.  yes.  success!  a girl after my own heart.  i couldn't be prouder.