Spring Break 2010

I have been back from Utah for over a week now.  If I wait until I get everything done before I write about this trip I might have to wait until after Christmas.  First, I want to thank Deanna and her family for allowing us to crash at their house for the week.  We had a great time.

The week started with Joe Caringella's Eagle court of honor. We are so proud of Joe.  Everyone in the family pitched in and it was a fun and enjoyable evening.

Our Joe  is in 6th grade and we were able to get him a Utah 6th Grade Ski Pass.  We went to a different resort everyday.  What a week!

Monday, Brighton

Joe, John, Bob, and me.

Joe Caringella and Deanna.

Tuesday, Alta

Joe and I prepare for the day.

Bob and Bonnie. 

Joe treats Flat Stanley to lunch.

We just couldn't get too many pictures of Flat Stanley.

John, our Alta-holic.  We were all tempted to get the Alta-holic t-shirt but no one wanted to spend the $20. Alta is nice for skiers because there are no snowboards.

On Tuesday we stopped to see the Fishers.  I was struck by how tall Joe was compared to Alise.  This was funny to me because when Alise was living in Dallas Joe as a preschooler or a kindergartener.

Wedensday, Solitude 

We just kept having gorgeous weather. 

We thought about doing Honeycomb Canyon but decided we did not want to take the chance of Joe freaking out half way through.

But Joe took Flat Stanley on the other side of the double black diamond ropes.

Thursday, Sundance

John borrowed Joe's aviators for the Top Gun picture.

We never tried Bishop's Bowl.  It looked like an icey mogul field to me.  Joe did a face plant at Sundance and ended up with a really deep rasberry scratch on his chin.  We had to go to ski patrol for a bandaid.  While at Sundace we met up with the Poulsens and Ryan Thorsen.

Friday, The Canyons

Deanna was able to come with us!  We really liked the Canyons.  Deanna fell out of love with the place when she forgot to clamp a boot and ended up taking a hard fall on Another World.  We think she bruised her tail bone. 

We would cross paths with John occasionally while we were skiing, but I have to admit he likes to ski the double black diamonds and I have no desire to kill myself.  Joe has no desire to be taunted about snowplowing down a mogul field, and though Bob has the skills to keep up with John, he lacks the stamina, or, as he puts it, "John needs to ski with people who have fresh legs." 

It was pretty cold on Friday.  We had to wear extra layers and goggles because we got quite a bit of snow.  All in all it was a good week.  My knee that I twisted at Alta has healed and I am not limping anymore, nor am I taking 5 ibuprofin every 4 hours, and I was able to take off the knee brace on Sunday.

In N Out

One more picture of Flat Stanley with Joe, Joe, and John.  We love In N Out Burger and went there several times while we were in Utah.  We also went to Cafe Rio a few times during the week.  We also stocked up on See's candy.  Unfortunatley, it was all consumed before Easter.  Now if we can only get In N Out in Dallas...

Here Comes the Sun

I was up at the school today and I overheard my freind Karen Fields talking about her June wedding,  What!  I am the mother of a 6th grade boy who doesn't run home and tell me all of the relationship news.  She has been engaged since Christmas Eve to Tom Evans.  I am so happy for her.

I am also happy that we have had three days with sunshine in a row.  There isn't even an icey breeze to take away the joy of the day.  Spring is coming.

Congratulations Karen and Tom.  Love the beautiful ring.

Cold, Hungry, Blind and Mean

If you are in a good mood, immediately close this post.  I must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning because I have a bunch of complaints. 

The Answer is Blowin from my Neighbor's Yard and Gutters

Isn't it amazing that when my neighbors hire a bunch of Mexican illegals to do their lawn that all of the sudden I have twice the leaves at my house?  And what happens to all of the leaves that the school grounds crew blows away from the school?  I am sick of being the repository for all of the neighbor's leaves.  Here is the deal.  Leaves don't dissapear when the blower blows them away.  If you are so intent on getting the leaves out of your yard then bag them or blow them into the storm drain and let the city deal with them.

I am Tired of Wearing a Woolen Burka to Church

When I woke up this morning I was depressed and hurting a little in anticipation at what church was going to hold today.  I do not know why the church keeps the temp set between 55 to 63 degrees.  It is flippin' freezing.  I have to wear layers and keep my knee length winter coat on the whole time, along with keeping a blanket around my legs.  I have thought of how funny it would be if I came to church naked under my coat because I have had to wear it to church every Sunday for at least 5 years.  I don't think anyone has ever seen any dress that I own.  I would do it too, but, did I mention how cold it is and how I have to wear multiple layers under my coat to aleviate the hypothermia that I experience every Sunday.  Some may think that the church is just trying to conserve energy.  I don't think so.  The summer temps inside the church are just the same.  The only redeeming quality about summer is that I can go outside and sit in the car with the windows rolled up for 5 minutes in the Texas summer to warm up.  Fast Sundays are the worst.  You don't really realize how food helps to keep you warm except for when you are sitting there freezing and starving at the same time on Fast Sunday.

They Can Put a Man on the Moon...

I hate the attittude of Optomitrists.  I have been to several trying to get optical correction so that I can see up close and far away.  With out fail the doctor says, "You are going to have to sacrifice some of your distance vision if you want up-close correction."  Okay,  What the heck?  That is like saying, "You are going to have to lose your thumb if you want to use your fingers."  Why can't they develop the technology to correct up close vision with out sacrificing my ability to read road signs.  On top of this, the correction gives me headaches.  So I have to have headaches and blurred vision in order to avoid wearing reading glasses?  I am also annoyed by the fact that they hand me contacts that are deficient and tell me that I might get used to them.  Yeah, right.  If they don't work in the doctor's office, how is time going to improve my blurry vision.  Am I going to say, "You know, I really don't care if I cant see very well,"  after running into things for a week.  Again I ask the question, What the heck?  They can put a man on the moon.  We can see individual rocks on the planet Mars.  Why can't I get contacts that do not require a sacrifice? 

I could continue complaining, but then I would have to name names and embarrass family members.  So I will end for now.  I will probably be more patient tomorrow or maybe later today after I eat a good meal.  If I were anyone else I might avoid me for a little while.