Rocky Mountain High

Ten days ago, Jacob and I jumped into the CRV after school and set off to Colorado. We spent a few days with Adam at his apartment before heading up to the mountains to do some skiing and snowboarding. On Tuesday, our friend Tree flew to Denver from Michigan, another friend Dennis arrived from Oregon, and Jim winged in from Texas. The six of us made our way to a spacious rented condo at the Copper Mountain Resort. We skied - and Adam snowboarded - on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, encountering varied weather conditions that ranged from heavy snow & gusty winds to sunny skies & fresh powder. We all had a great time both on and off the slopes. Jacob and I drove back home over the weekend and were extremely lucky to encounter dry pavement for our entire road trip. Now if only some of that Colorado snow would make its way to the east - I'm still waiting for any sort of accumulation in southeast Michigan this winter.

Jim, Tree, Dennis, and Jake posed near some picturesque pines.

Dennis relaxed at an appropriately-placed picnic table.

The gang at 12,400 feet.

Jacob reluctantly stopped with me so Jim could snap a photo.

Dennis and Jim spent a lot of time in the condo kitchen cooking and cleaning.

Snowfall Shortfall

Winter in Michigan this year has been lame. Dull. Unexciting. Last year when Jacob and I spent much of January, February, and March in Texas, the snow was flying out of control in the Great Lake State. During the 2010-2011 winter, Detroit received 69.1 inches of the white stuff. This year we are lucky to be pushing the 20-inch mark. In addition, the temperatures have been above average, so each time it does snow, it quickly melts. Even though lots of people like this no-snow trend in the weather, I do not. (Nor do the ice fisherman or the southeast Michigan ski area operators or the organizers of our local cross-country ski-and-snowshoe event.) Jacob has not worn his winter coat at all yet this season - he just wears his thermal hoodie everywhere. I have only needed gloves a few times. Neither of us have donned our boots, which could be a problem if Jacob outgrows his brand, new winter boots without ever having put them on his feet! We are heading to Colorado over winter break from school, and, fortunately, the snow totals in the Rocky Mountains have been much more impressive than around here. Maybe when we return from our ski trip, Michigan will finally have a blizzard or something. We deserve at least one six-inch-or-greater snowfall this winter.

Hypothyroidism

I went to the doctor last week for a check-up. I typically only go when I run out of blood pressure & cholesterol medications and need refills. The week prior to my appointment, I visited the lab to give endless viles of blood for my annual complete blood work-up. My numbers were all good, with the exception of one thing. My thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) result was way out of range. Normally the number should be between .4 and 4.50. Mine was a whopping 57.20! Oddly, the high number indicates an under active thyroid, or hypothyroidism. Allegedly I am supposed to feel tired & sluggish, have unexpected weight gain, experience an increased sensitivity to cold, notice muscle aches, and be suffering from a myriad of other symptoms. With the exception of being cold, I feel pretty much the same as always. The doctor decided to error on the side of caution and redo the TSH test, plus check my T3 and T4 levels as well. (I still need to research what these T things are!) The redone blood work came back wacky, so on Saturday I began taking a small dose of Synthroid to try to regulate my numbers. I will have my blood checked again in six weeks to see if the meds will need to be increased. In the meantime, the doctor has told me that even though I feel fine, the symptoms have probably come on so gradually that I haven't noticed them. He promised that I will feel "a lot better" when the Synthroid kicks in. A friend who has hypothyroidism has told me the same thing. In addition, my friend told me that the meds helped her easily lose 10 pounds. So far, I feel exactly the same, but I am expecting a burst of energy and a shapely, toned body any day now. (Big ha-ha!) We'll see how all that works out!

Chopstick Challenge

Tonight I ate at a Chinese restaurant for the very first time. Jacob and I met up with Richie, Steve, Nancy, Laura, and Rob at "New Peking" to celebrate Steve's upcoming birthday. Apparently Steve is no stranger at the establishment because as soon as we waltzed through the door, the hostess and several waitresses called out "Steve!" (Yep, just like when everyone shouted "Norm" on Cheers.) After perusing the 8-page menu, I chose to order the safe-sounding entree of Chicken Fried Rice. It was surprisingly yummy and the portion size of the meal was enormous. I only managed to finish about one third of my dinner so I have a ready-made lunch for tomorrow. Unfortunately, no matter how hard we tried, Jacob and I could not master the art of using chopsticks. With practice, however, I'm certain that I will be able to properly utilize them the next time I eat Chinese food. It definitely adds a fun spin to the dining experience when you are expected to lift your food with two thin, tapered, wand-like pieces of wood. I'm already eager to try again.

Jacob poked around with his chopsticks, but was unsuccessful at ever transferring any food into his mouth.

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

It has certainly been a strange winter in southeast Michigan so far. Officially, we have received only 12 or 13 inches of snow, and whenever we do get some it doesn't stick around for a very long time. Which is too bad, because I really do love snow. In addition, we have had more wind and rain than usual this winter. Icky, cold, driving rain. I just hope that we at least reach our normal snowfall total by the time spring arrives. We have a lot of catching up to do.

Below is a picture of Irma at her birthday party last week. Following that are a few pix taken at our New Year's Eve bash at Wayne & Carol's house. I really need to stay a bit more up-to-date with downloading my photos. There's nothing like looking at New Year's Eve pictures when Groundhog Day is right around the corner.

Irma's 88th birthday.

Jacob got sweaty during the New Year's Eve air hockey tournament.

Muffin was decked out in a party hat and his snazzy, new glasses.

After beating numerous opponents, Steve came out as the annual air hockey victor and took home the "Millennium Cup."

Showers of Fun

We have been plenty busy around our house lately, and, luckily, it has not been all work and no play. Last weekend, we were invited to several parties and had an awesome time at each of them. On Saturday afternoon, I attended a baby shower for Cobra's daughter, Marilyn. Marilyn was just as cute as a button waddling around with her own little girl ready to pop out any day now. She received so many adorable baby clothes that if her soon-to-be-born child isn't named to the baby best-dressed list something is seriously amiss. Following the shower, we went over to Cobra's house to party with the guys who had been hanging out there with Cobra's hubby. We continued to consume the leftover shower grub until we could eat no more. Everyone had a great time chatting, drinking, and watching football. On Sunday, the family met up at Nancy's house to celebrate Irma's 88th birthday. I actually have photos from all of these shindigs and will add some to the blog as soon as I get a chance!

Jim was in Michigan for the long weekend and flew back to Texas this morning. While he was at the condo, we managed to finally put away our Christmas tree and holiday decorations. We are hoping to clean out our "basement" room next week when Jim is in town so we can think about moving our very old furniture down there from the living room. While our couches are still quite comfy, if we did not have rugs and blankets underneath the cushions they would probably sag right through to the floor. I think it is about time to replace what Adam mockingly refers to as the "garish blue" furniture.

Next week, Jacob has his mid-term exams at school. He has so much studying to do for those, yet his teachers insist on giving him tons of additional homework. What are they thinking? Besides his regular school work, he has a formal essay for world lit and a history project (10 pages - ugh!) due on Friday. And, he was just given those two assignments last Friday. Could they not have squeezed them in earlier in the semester instead of right before mid-terms? Oh well! It will be work, work, work for a few more weeks, then Jacob gets a week off for his mid-winter break in late February. Nobody is looking forward to that more than him!

This and That

When Jacob, Adam, and I arrived in Houston last Tuesday, I was delighted that the temperatures were above normal and the sun was shining. I spent a lot of time outdoors, wore t-shirts & flip-flops, and marveled at the fact that none of our neighbors opened up their windows to let the lovely 77-degree air into their homes. I threw open our windows, went for some walks, worked a bit in the yard, and played 18 holes of disc golf with Jacob and Adam. On a negative note, we were annoyed that the internet at our Texas house was once again not working - that happens far too often - and we had to have a repair person over both Wednesday and Thursday before it was finally fixed. On Friday night, Jim, Jacob, Adam, and I went out to dinner, then to a Houston Aeros hockey game. The Aeros are the minor league team for the Minnesota Wild, and one of Jim's co-workers was able to score us some awesome seats. It was a fun evening despite the fact that the team lost pitifully to the last place Rockford IceHogs.

On Saturday morning, Jacob, Adam, and I hopped back into Adam's Jeep to begin our drive to Colorado. After 10 hours or so on the road, we were finally out of Texas and crossing the border into New Mexico. We got a room for the night in Raton, NM and hoped that the weather forecasters were wrong about a winter storm headed for that area. Luckily, we woke up on Sunday to find everything clear and dry, although Adam assured us that even if there had been snow he had the utmost confidence that the Colorado road crews would have no problem keeping the freeways open. We drove from Raton to Denver in three-and-a-half hours, enjoying the beautiful Rocky Mountain scenery enroute. Adam dropped Jacob & me off at the airport for our flights back to Michigan, then he continued on to his apartment. Jake and I had a 40 minute layover in Minneapolis on our way from Denver to Detroit, and, even though we landed in MSP on time, after taxiing and deplaning, we ended up with only about 10 minutes to bolt from gate C9 to gate F10 to catch our connecting flight. Who is the genius in Delta's scheduling department, anyway, who makes flights with short connection times and puts them three concourses apart? Thankfully, Nancy and Steve offered to venture out at midnight to pick us up from DTW, and Jacob managed to squeeze in about 5 hours of sleep before waking up for school today. Now it is back to the old grind!

At the Disc Golf Course, Jacob's first throw landed his Frisbee about 12 feet above our heads in a tree. Adam was able to eventually knock it down with a really long stick.

Unlucky in Kentucky

I brought Jim to the airport on Monday morning for his flight from Michigan to Texas . Shortly after that, Adam, Jacob, and I hopped into Adam's Jeep to begin our 20-hour drive to join Jim in Houston for the week. Despite a few snow showers and an unexplained traffic jam that slowed us down a bit, our cruise through Ohio was not too bad. We crossed the border into Kentucky just before 3:00 p.m. and everything went quickly downhill.

We had endured snow squalls while tooling through Michigan and Ohio, but other drivers were competent and the roads were treated with salt where necessary. A few miles into Kentucky we came to a complete stop and did not really move again for over an hour. We later found out that the jam we were in was caused by at least one - and possibly several - multi-car pile-ups that had closed the freeway. As we sat waiting for the traffic to clear, it started snowing. When at long last we were able to creep forward a bit, the roads had become very slick. Jacob was our driver at the time, and even though he has had limited experience operating a vehicle in winter weather, he did a wonderful job maneuvering on the slippery freeway. At 5:30, we stopped for gas and dinner, and I took over the task of driving. Sporadic snow squalls continued and the roads alternated between safe & dry and treacherous & icy. Whenever we came across a stretch of ice-covered roadway, all the cars slowed to about 20 m.p.h., which was actually a good thing because even at that speed the Kentuckians managed to skid, slip, and slide into the ditches on both sides of the expressway. Right before our very eyes. Over and over again. In all honesty, the freeway was very perilous at times, but with more experienced drivers and a little bit of salt, everything would have been fine. Throughout it all, however, Kentucky road crews were nowhere to be found. At least not on I-71 or I-65. What should have been a 3-and-a-half-hour drive through the state took us over 7 frustrating hours. We didn't get to our Monday night Arkansas destination until 2:45 a.m.CST instead of our planned 11:30 p.m. arrival. Ugh.

Our ride on Tuesday was much smoother and we reached our Texas house in time for dinner. The Houston weather today was warm and lovely, and it is very odd to hear lawn mowers buzzing and air conditioners running in January. It also seems strange to see our neighbors' houses decorated & aglow with Christmas lights right next to blooming petunias and impatiens. Just typical life in the south, I suppose.

Bowling

Twelve bowlers and five spectators showed up at a local bowling alley on Tuesday to help Jacob observe his 15th birthday. Despite a few, um, fairly low scores, everyone had a fab time. (And some people actually did quite well.) I just love the automatic scorekeepers that are now standard at all bowling establishments. I only wish they would have had those back when I was on a league!

Steve, Jacob, and Muffin prepared to roll a frame.

There was a lot of smart-alecky hugging going on - especially between Jacob and Adam.

Soon others joined in on the hugging thing and numerous group hugs ensued.

On the Go

We have been as busy as bees this past week preparing for, and then celebrating, Christmas. All of our hard work paid off handsomely, as our holiday ended up being tons of fun. Jim has been in Michigan for ten days now, and Adam showed up at our doorstep on Friday morning just as we were all waking up to get Jacob off to his last day of school in 2011. Adam's solo drive from Colorado was filled with one obstacle after another, including some inevitable snow squalls and a stop by an over-ambitious Iowa state trooper, who asked him to unzip his snowboard bag to prove that it did not contain a gun. Adam was let go by the officer with a "warning" for going 3 miles per hour over the speed limit. Whoa - slow down, Speed Racer!

Tomorrow is Jacob's 15th birthday and the plan is to meet up with a group of family & friends at a local bowling alley for some fun on the lanes. The rest of the week will be filled with more parties, get-togethers, and general end-of-the-year hoopla. Then it will be on to Texas for some southern-style delight before returning to the old grind in January. Giddyup!

More Birthdays and Such

This afternoon we gathered at Richie's house to celebrate the birthdays of Richie and Jacob. Jake does not officially turn 15 until the 27th, but seeing as the next few weekends are both kind of busy, we had his party today. Everyone ate KFC, cake, & ice cream, and had a grand time. Jake received a few of his presents, but Jim & I saved most of them to give him on his actual birthday. It is certainly a gift-filled time of year for him. He opened a few packages at the bash, will get more loot on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, then will get the rest of his birthday presents next week. For Jacob, it really is the most wonderful time of the year!

The almost-birthday boy.

Richie holding a gift card and some empty candy wrappers.

Last, but not least, a shot of Adam at his party two weeks ago.