Sometimes You Just Need a Day

To take a random Wednesday off, despite certain urgencies at work. To hit the road with your baby in the back seat and a couple of towels in a bag. One day to leave the laptop at home. To use the phone to take pictures only.


To splash in the waves.


To dig in the sand.

To run.

To fall.

To laugh.

To make memories.

Today I went to the water with my boy. He is such a beach baby, lucky for me. It was just me and him and that gorgeous ocean air. I wish days like this could happen more often. But then maybe they wouldn't feel so special.

Mountain Mama

I apologize for the long break between updates. We've been away for a long weekend with family to the mountains. Lots of fun in the snow, gorgeous scenery, and hanging out by the fire with the people I love most.






It was a blast. Some much needed time away from reality.

I went skiing for the first time in my life. Although it wasn't so much skiing, as it was hysterical, out of control zagging down a mountain, and then falling every 30 feet. Cuz that's how you stop, right? By violently hurling your body, your skis, your poles, and the last stitch of your pride into the snow?

Tony said as he was watching me, there were times he could hear my thoughts saying, "OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT."


Hey, at least I looked the part.


Here's me on the chair lift, mere seconds before I panicked, stayed on too long, and finally flung myself off in a frenzy, forcing the operator to press the big red IDIOT button and halt the lift for everyone. Aint I precious?

Despite my assertions that I would never put on a pair of skis again, I will keep trying. I want to like it. I want it to be fun. I think I CAN do it. Eventually, with lots of practice. The first time was just... wow. A clumsy, discouraging, painful disaster. Tony said I surpassed his expectations. Not quite sure how to take that. Either I did better than I thought, or his expectations were very, very low.

He spent the day on a snowboard, his first time as well. And he was like a graceful swan, the bastard. Sometimes it's really annoying how quickly he picks things up.

We have a chance to go to a smaller, more klutz friendly mountain in a few weeks. We'll see how it goes.

Nature

The theme of the weekend was nature. We barely left the house, but it still came barreling in on us from all sides.

It started early Saturday morning when we had some visitors.



Lots of visitors. I think 22 was the final count. We had seen these guys before. They're regulars in the neighborhood.


They're quite entertaining. As long as they stay off the roads and stop giving me a heart attack with all the cars honking.

Later that afternoon we had an ice/rain storm. Because you know, Mother Nature hadn't bared her teeth in a few days. She wanted to make sure we were still paying attention. We listened to the sounds of sleet and freezing rain against the vinyl siding, combined with booming thunder and flashes of lightning. It was actually kinda nice from inside the house.

Early Sunday morning as we slept soundly in our beds, the echos of Mother Nature were making themselves known again. In the form of a HUGE BOOM that shook the entire house. Being woken so suddenly, we were totally confused. I assumed it was another clap of thunder. Tony's thoughts went to the large trees and the potential for branches falling on the house. He ran into the baby's room to make sure he was okay, like the always-thinking and quick-on-his-feet parent. At least one of us is. All was well and Des barely noticed the noise.

The boom was so loud we couldn't figure out where it came from. Tony grabbed a flashlight and began looking all around outside the house. I'm surprised the neighbors didn't call the cops with the flashlight beaming in a dark house. Maybe they thought burglars wouldn't be so conspicuous. Tony finally came upon the culprit... a massive ice dam from the upper part of the roof had fallen and landed on the roof below. The next morning he assessed the situation.




Luckily the roof was not damaged.


Apparently these giant blocks of ice were very heavy. Strong husbands are useful in these situations.

And still later that day, we had another brush with nature, inside the house this time. I couldn't get a photo because I was busy standing on a chair with a broom in my hands, living up to every cliche in the book. Yes, we had a mouse.

This house is no stranger to mice. Despite there always being at least one cat around, they love it here. Although since the renovations, they mostly keep to the walls and ceilings. We can hear them scurrying around. I don't mind. As long as they don't make their presence known in any other way whatsoever. So when Tony caught sight of one running toward the play room, out came the traps. And yes, I sleep just fine at night, thank you very much. No bites yet, but I'm sitting here twisting my mustache and rubbing my palms together like a true villain. That little bugger cannot resist the power of a dollop of peanut butter much longer...