hey there!

Yeah… so… I’m still alive. I have survived the Neverending Cold that Sucked.  It took forever, although I’m sure I didn’t help things by going on a 3.5-mile run that left my hacking every time I drew a breath of air.  But, hey, I was fine while I was running!  I learned a lot about drugs and how they affected me during this particular cold.  I’m sure my next cold will be completely different and I will have to suffer from scratch.

Then, while still recovering from the Cold, we made the trek to Mammoth for a long weekend.  It was beautiful and snowy and this was the year I learned to turn on my snowboard!  This may not sound like a big accomplishment to anyone who is talented at snowboarding, but getting my feet to turn while staying upright on a moving snowboard is a feat that has taken me 4 years and 6 snow trips.  The upside is now I am no longer dog-tired at the end of the day because I’m not wearing out my leg muscles.  The downside is that I no longer feel like I’m doing any work at all and now we probably have to get up earlier so I feel like I’ve put in a full day of snowboarding.  Also accomplished this year?  No falling or crashing when coming off the ski lift!  Every year I dread riding the ski lift because I dread getting off because I seem to always crash and hurt myself.  But this year I didn’t fall once!  And half the time the lift operator didn’t even slow the lift down for me.  I owe all my snowboarding prowess to T, who patiently taught me and has spent the last 4 years spending most of his mountain time with me so I’m not all by myself.  Considering how many people I know who would leave their wives/girlfriends/etc to fend for themselves while playing on the more challenging slopes, I am very appreciative of this gesture.

I actually took it really easy in Mammoth, sleeping a lot and opting to not go out and drink into the night.  Then we came home and, after two nights of me not breathing while sleeping because of some weird drainage issue, I was better!  There’s still a residual cough, but it’s nowhere near as bad as it has been.  This means I am well enough to spend time cooing over the new baby without feeling guilty!

This also means I’m probably well enough to actually train and run the 10k in March.  For the last couple of months, I’ve been on-again, off-again doing various home workouts – mostly Jillian Michaels DVDs and some Tae-bo (you can mock, but they do work) – and apparently it’s actually improved my fitness.  Running 3 miles doesn’t seem like such a deathly chore anymore and I don’t feel like I’m going to die before I make it back home.  It’s kind of a cool revelation.

So, that’s where I’ve been.  T has a big birthday coming up and I desperately still need to shop for his presents.  I don’t know how to top a mounted raccoon, so I may have to get creative.  Even though we’re home for the next few weekends, they are looking to be crazy busy and filled with a lot of activities.

my birthday present