Faux Cumulonimbus or Maybe She Just Needs to Get Her Eyes Checked

My sister-in-law, Jean, flew home last evening after spending the week working in Texas. I saw her around 10 p.m. and she shared a story about her flight. As she was looking out her window on the airplane, she noticed some interesting cloud formations on the horizon. She was fascinated by the way the clouds swirled and churned, billowing one above the other into layers. She wondered what type of clouds they were, assuming that Adam would be able to identify them if he were there. She spent a long time enjoying a splendor seen only by those fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time. As the plane progressed along, however, something gradually became evident to Jean. The stunning clouds that had appeared so remarkable minutes before turned out to be some sort of smoggy vapor rising from two smokestacks off in the distance. So much for the beauty of nature.

Let It Snow

Spring officially arrived last week, yet it just keeps snowing here. Tonight the weather service has predicted 3 to 5 more inches. That will move us into 4th place in the “Snowiest Winter” record book – we will most likely top 70 inches. See, it is handy to have a meteorology student in the family when you desire vital stats like that.

Spring has also brought allergies to our house. Jacob’s have been the worst, with stuffiness, headaches, coughing, and laryngitis. Adam and I only have the congestion and headaches. Even with the unseasonable weather, there is still plenty of tree pollen in the air. On the other hand, maybe we all just have colds. (Nick??) It is hard to tell the difference, but we will know in a week or two. If we have colds, they will go away. If our allergies are acting up, the symptoms will linger, and linger, and linger. I’m pretty sure these are allergies, though, because the same thing happens to us every March. Through November.

Happy Easter

Our first weekend of spring 2008 turned out to be very busy. Friday night was quite wintry. The official snow total reported at the airport was seven inches, which put us into 5th place in the “Snowiest Winter of All Time” record book. Jim, Adam, and I were all out on the road separately during the storm traveling to various places and the driving was s-l-o-w. On Saturday afternoon, Pattye hosted the March family birthday party. Nick turned 10, Jenna, 12, Muffin, 3, and Jean, uh, (should I say on this public forum?) turned *cough* 52. Saturday night we utilized Jim’s JLA work suite to watch the CCHA (Central Collegiate Hockey Association) playoff games. U of M won the championship – Go Blue! On Sunday, we went to my mom’s house for Easter lunch. Good food and lots of Taboo & Outburst. I tried to follow Norm’s lead with my eating, and think I did fairly well. I have not been exercising very often, though, and, as a result, have not lost any more weight. Boo! Hiss!

A Snowy Weekend

With Adam’s assistance, I was able to create a video of our recent ski trip. Truthfully, I merely told Adam where to edit it, and he did all of the technical work. The video is about five minutes long. I pared it down from 15 minutes because I did not want to bore you all to tears!

The clip begins with Adam on his snowboard. Jacob is easy to spot because he has bright yellow ski boots. I am in the black and blue coat, and Jim is wearing a brown jacket and red hat. One highlight is at approximately 35 seconds into the video when I am waiting for Jim to pass the camera over to me. Jacob is in the background performing a rather flamboyant wipeout, while Jim & I are completely oblivious! (Impressive parents, aren't we?!) Shortly after that, Jim takes a humorous tumble, too.

Please note that I am NOT very good at videotaping, especially while schussing down a bumpy run. At least you can get an idea of what we do to entertain ourselves. Hope you enjoy it!

Schussing

We are at the ski resort now, and, primitive place that it is, there is no internet available in our condo. Adam was kind enough to allow me to bring his laptop to the lobby to access their wireless connection. I took some movies of the boys skiing today and if I ever learn how to post them here, I will. We are also noticing, and scoffing, whenever we see skiers on those archaic, skinny skis - you know, like the ones we skied on two weeks ago.

Today is our 22nd wedding anniversary. We went skiing on our honeymoon, so I suppose it is appropriate that we skied today. Adam had a hard fall yesterday and was grateful that he was wearing a helmet. Today he hurt both knees. Too bad I didn't get any of those spectacular spills on video. Maybe tomorrow.

Old vs. New

We are going up north again this weekend, and, believe it or not, it was Jim’s idea!

While we were skiing a few weeks ago, we noticed that almost everyone on the slopes had a pair of those new-fangled, wider skis. I don’t quite know when they were first introduced into the ski market, but, year after year, there have been fewer and fewer skinny skis like ours around. Jim and I had both bought our skis before we went on our honeymoon – ahem, over 20 years ago, ahem – and they still worked just fine. But we were really starting to feel ridiculed and out of place. Then, to add insult to injury, someone sharing our chairlift recently compared our equipment to "really old cross-country skis." Well! After that, we half-expected people to ask us if we had an 8-track tape player in the car.

Jim and I finally decided that we should step out of the 80s, and buy some new skis. Ok, not brand new skis, but rather new used ones. We went to “Play It Again Sports” and found skis for Jim, Jacob, and me, and spent less money than if we had rented equipment for a day. (No need to feel sorry for Adam; he got his new used snowboard last year.) We are now eager to assess our fancy, modern gear, and Jim suggested that we hit the slopes up north. I know better than to dissuade him when he wants to travel, because opportunities like this are far and few between. We are heading out on Friday, and, since this is the end of the ski season in Michigan, I was able to find a fairly reasonable lodging & lift package. Which is a good thing, otherwise I’m certain we would just be schussing down the little hill by the local high school.

Anyone in the market for some decades-old skis?

Old vs. New!

Yoopers Rule!

On Saturday, we were eating breakfast at Denny’s when a large group of high school boys strolled into the restaurant. We were surprised to discover that the kids were the Calumet Copper Kings hockey team. We went over to say hello to the coaches, who informed us that they were in town to compete against Flint for the state high school championship hockey title that afternoon. Jim, Adam, Jacob, Nancy, Richie, and I decided to attend the game. Lots of people had driven down from Calumet - hundreds, as a matter of fact. The game was thrilling and action-packed, and the Copper Kings ended up winning in overtime. We were waiting in line afterwards to buy t-shirts, and the team members began emerging from the locker room to mingle with family and friends. The coaches remembered us from Denny’s and chatted with us again. I enjoyed that game more than I have any other this season. And, between the Red Wings, Whalers, and U of M, I have actually gone to eight or nine games this year, so, obviously, I have vast experience when it comes to recognizing an exciting hockey game when I see one. Jim says the game probably seemed more entertaining to me than usual because they were playing for a championship title. Maybe. I’m just happy that Calumet won!

Progress

The cut on my knuckle is finally starting to mend. Hurray! I have used my splint almost daily and that seems to have made a difference. It is approximately 75% closed now. I am worried, however, that if I move my finger too much the slit will reopen. I’ll just go easy on the knuckle-bending for a while, and hopefully it will heal completely. Insurance invoices have recently begun arriving in our mailbox. My initial visit to "Urgent Care" to receive the stitches cost close to $700, and the suture removal was another $200. Seems a bit excessive – especially for treatment that was not even remotely successful. By the way, skiing with an injured middle finger is no problem. I just slapped waterproof tape over some gauze and all was well. I decided to forgo using the metal splint, though, because I really did not desire frostbitten fingers. Pattye inquired as to why I have not yet posted a picture of the hideous laceration, and all I could come up with was that I simply never thought of that. I promise to start taking more photos for the blog in the future.

On the Road Again

Debbie decided last week that she was tired of driving her mother around, so she gave Bev back her car keys. Jim expressed his disapproval, but it made no difference. Bev is also smoking more and using her oxygen less. When I last spoke with her, she was panting and out of breath. Jim is convinced that she will eventually end up right back in the hospital. It is somewhat bizarre for us to watch Bev willingly self-destruct before our eyes. But what can we do? Just hope that she does not harm anyone else in the process, I suppose.

WWND?

I initially lost 8 pounds on my WWND diet. Then everything came to a screeching halt. I could not figure out why I wasn’t losing any more weight. Finally, I acknowledged that while I was eating less, I was not exercising regularly, as I had before. Unfortunately, I conceded that exercise must be the key to weight loss. Exercise. Ugh. So, I'll be pedaling my bike and/or hitting the pavement once again. Quickly, too, before I gain back any of those stinking 8 pounds. Some people - like Jim, for example - actually like to exercise. They boast about how wonderful they feel afterwards, how they maintain their physical health, blah, blah, blah. I usually find myself hungry and tired following a bike ride, not refreshed and invigorated. Maybe I am doing something wrong. Norm told me recently that he has walked over 650 days in a row. Six hundred fifty successive, uninterrupted days! Now that’s commitment. I wonder if he is rejuvenated after he walks?