Monday, October 27, 2008

You'd Think I Had More to Say

But I don't.

I wanted to thank all my fantastic friends who left congratulatory comments and sent me notes about getting our house. Both Hubster and I really appreciate them. :)

I also want to thank my lovely SP12 pal, Heather, for the incredible package she put together for me. She put all kinds of goodies in there, including a hand-knitted pair of socks and knitting bag/purse. I'll be posting pictures of the loot as soon as Hubster gets the camera set up again.

Speaking of cameras, here is tonight's gratuitous shot of the pot roast.


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Emma thinks she's human.

Mrs. Q, this little story is just for you. When I went cross-country skiing with my ex, we went to Yosemite to accomplish this feat. John had also grown up in Colorado, had climbed every peak in the Rockies, and also taught skiing at Copper Mountain. I figured he would be the ideal person to teach me how to do the old cross-country. He started out by getting me to layer my clothes. Then he got me the proper boots and skis. Finally, he brought along a bota bag of wine and a bunch of cheese. Good thing we brought those last two items - a snow-clearing machine had skidded and gotten stuck - sideways - in a snowbank. Since it stretched across the road, there was nothing we could do but wait for it to be towed out. After draining the bota bag of wine and eating all the cheese, we snuggled under a couple of blankets to wait it out. Finally, the beast was extracted and we were on our way.

After we arrived at the place he wanted to ski at, I saw all this pristine snow on the ground. Flinging my car door open, I was already in mid-flight as he yelled, "Don't jump in ... ". Too late. As gracefully as a hippo, I soared through the air, fully expecting to land on the snow and run around like an idiot. Nope. Since you, Mrs. Q, were raised in the Rockies, you know what happened.

I sunk down to my waist in powder.

Hm. Snow didn't act in real life like it did on TV.

After getting me pulled out of my snow grave, John sat me back in the car and got my skis on. Of course, I was three sheets to the wind from all the wine I had consumed, so I didn't feel a thing. Off we went, John carving out a path for me to ski in. Then I toppled over to the side (it felt like it was all in slow motion) and landed flat on my back in a POOF! of snow. It was also actively snowing, so little snowflakes were dancing off my face. I remember thinking how lovely it all was. John told me to plant my ski pole in the snow and use it as a lever to push myself out of my new snow grave. No problem. I pushed so hard that I not only catapulted out of the hole, I shot straight upwards and fell on the other side. Now I was laying there laughing so hard that I wasn't capable of doing anything other than getting buried in my new snow grave.

We finally got back on our way, and I understood why he had me layer my clothes. This was hard work! Apparently, cross-country skiing wasn't like it was on TV, either. People on TV glided across the snow with their snowflake and reindeer-decorated sweaters, hats, and mittens with nary a bead of sweat on their brows. I was huffing and puffing like an ox pulling two laden carts. He saw that I was in distress, showed me how to do some maneuver which I've forgotten the name for (it's turning on your skis), had me jump down a mini-hill (it was about 5" high), and we headed for the car.

I think you know what happened next. He got my boots off and snow spilled out of them. The dude at the store hadn't fitted them properly. My feet were frozen to the point of being absolutely numb. He turned the heater on high, wrapped my feet in a blanket, and frantically looked for something for me to drink. I didn't understand what the fuss was all about until my feet began to thaw out. OW OW OW OW OW. At least when I was potted, it didn't matter that my feet were about to turn a hideous shade of black and blue and fall off.

Thus ends my one major experience with snow. The other times, I saw it falling on our car as we tried to get to Reno before I-80 closed down or we lost traction and flew off the side of the mountain.

Think I need some practice in both driving and walking around in the stuff?

The only other thing I wanted to tell you is that I've posted a new vendor, "Fuzzy Fiber", and added acrylic needle cases to Craftiness. Tomorrow, I'll be adding a lot of items to Hide and Sheep, as well as adding the rest of the vendors Hubster has photographed. Check back in the late afternoon to see what's going on. Remember that the sale ends Wednesday at midnight.

I guess I had more to say than I thought. If I get another artist listed in the shop tonight, great. But I'm getting tired and think I might sit down to knit for a while. Maybe I won't break another DPN like I did last night. At least I didn't drop any stitches.

Now that I've said that, you all know what's going to happen tonight.

I'm going to wake up drooling all over my sock which will be dangling from the stump of a previously 6" DPN.

3 comments:

Qutecowgirl said...

=) sounds similar to my first time skiing (although I was just a kid and my father had to keep hauling me up the hill like a sack of potatoes)

Thank you for the memory =)

That pot roast of yours is getting big!!!!

CatBookMom said...

I'm LOL here; your experience is a lot like my first try at cross-country. I fell over in all 4 directions, got dreadfully cold all over (I only had jeans to wear!), and hated every single minute of it. And cursed my 'friends' who'd talked me into it and wouldn't turn back and take me home. I hope your toes are OK.

Mrs.Q said...

Wow, that's way better than any snow story I have! My favourite way to deal with the stuff is to stay inside & get the hot chocolate ready for the nuts who are out in the weather. I may or may not save some Baileys for them...

(Though to be honest, your story reminds me of the one and only time I went downhill skiiing...I wiped out and ended up with the back part of one ski sunk up to my boot, while I was on my back hanging headfirst down the hill. And that was on the easiest run. Once I got myself vertical again, I went straight to the ski lodge and stayed put, inside, for the rest of the day.)