Skiing was Great!

Tim, Mike, Jessica E., and I had a real experience of "THE GREATEST SNOW ON EARTH" during the recent Utah ski week. Actually only four and a half days - but what days they were!

We were blessed with cold weather and blue skies the first two days, but because of a recent snowfall of four inches a few days earlier, you could ski anywhere, even between the groomed runs, which means tree skiing! The resorts felt much different when you could go virtually any direction and be in decent snow.

During that second day we tried a new area called Powder Mountain, out past Snowbasin. It was worth the longer drive and we had a great day. Jessica skied her first black diamond run and you should have seen the glow on her face! Tim and Mike were roaring down the tree runs and yours truly was "carving 'em up"! Lots of pix on Facebook!

At Mass later that evening, we heard a homily about "transfiguring moments" and the priest actually used the analogy of skiing a black diamond run for the first time as an example of a grace-filled experience which reveals the love and glory of God!

Then the snow came...we skied at the Canyons in a blizzard and had a blast. As the visibility worsened, the snow got better and better! The mogul runs softened up and we skied some pretty interesting stuff off the top of the highest lift, "Ninety-Nine Ninety", representing the altitude of 9990' at the top! Jessica manged to pull off two "firsts", first mogul run (thanks to me for taking her on an ungroomed powder bump run) and her first deep powder run (thanks to Mike for leaving her behind). But she survived and thrived! Way to go, Florida girl! Must be the new skis!

The next day, our last, was at our favorite, Solitude, where we remembered Aunt Paula (Solitude was always her favorite) and skied as many runs as we could using the express lifts. Burned our legs out before noon, but kept skiing anyhow :) You should have seen Mike and Tim blasting through the moguls. I mostly stuck to the groomed once the powder areas were skied out...until the end of the day when Mike had the bright idea to take me down Milk Run, a double black off the back side, er the dark side of the mountain! I felt like an old man, thrashing around in the deep stuff trying not to kiss the trees...oh, well, it WAS beautiful in there. Thanks, Mike! We'll try it again someday!

Next year in Colorado! Hope to see alot of you there. Keep the dates free - February 27 thru March 6, 2010. Begin thinking about which half of the week you can make it. By splitting the week we can give more people a chance to come.

Another Address Update

Hey there! Chrissy and I are making the long trek (ok, really only about a mile) across the river to Brooklyn. As of April 1st, we will live at 20 Schermerhorn St. Apt. 1, Brooklyn NY 11201

Our new apartment is on the ground floor and has a backyard, a rare treat for New Yorkers. We'll be grilling all summer, and our home is always open if anyone wants to visit!

Long Lake!

UCF just posted the class schedules for Summer, Fall, and Spring. I don't have to take Summer B classes!! So, we are definitely going to Long Lake!!! (Can you tell I'm excited?) We can't wait to see everyone there!

Scrabble Blast Contest

While Dad was down here in Florida for a few days he got me hooked on this Scrabble Blast game. It's like Scrabble, Boggle, and Tetris all in one game. You can play the free version here. I think we should have a little running contest here to see who can get the highest score (3 level version only for now). Post your scores as comments to this item. My best so far is 1622.

Address Update

Hi everyone! Just wanted to update you on our new address, for those of you who keep track of that sort of thing. We are currently living at 119-B Prosperity Ave. SE in Leesburg, VA 20175. Have a happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Love,

Barbara

new clown on the block

hello there, andy is standing over me making me do this and laughing at my cluenessess. hopefully i will be able to stay in touch more and figure out what in the world i am doing. i hope this doesn't take away from time playing computer games.......

hi phil.....

Utah Invitation

We have Aunt Paula's Condo in Park City this year March 7-14. I am opening up the "request list" so we can coordinate who's coming when so we can have enough beds for all!

The condo sleeps 8 in the following way:

queen sized bed in master bedroom - 2
bunk beds at the top of the stairs - 2
single beds in separate bedroom downstairs - 2
sleep sofa (either in the bed or on the cushions on the floor) -2

I would prioritize in the following way:

married couples get the queen bed upstairs or the private room downstairs.
old geezers don't get the top bunk.....
everything else is flexible, but we shouldn't exceed the maximum number...

Remember there is a great pool with hot tub and sauna :)

I would expect some $ help with food and car rental. In addition, I would hope we could all pitch to help cook. Hint to Mike and Jessica: I really liked the fish dinner you cooked last year!!!

Unfortunately, I really can't afford to pay for all the plane tickets and lift tickets, so, my grown up children, start saving your money. I will help tune up your skis :) and I will take you places on the mountains you have never seen before !!!

I will only be there the first half of the week: saturday march 7 through half of wednesday. I am flying out Friday night, March 6, and staying at a motel near the airport. From there, I will ski Saturday then check in at the condo. If anyone wants to join me that night, I have two queen beds in the room........ let me know. I am looking for someone to "host" the second half of the week, and do the final cleanup and turn in the keys... Any volunteers?

I hope many of you can make the trip this year! Please "sign up"!