hitting the slopes

Skiing - something I love to do but never seem to get enough of. Each year I watch the new Warren Miller ski film and am motivated that this is the year I will get good and lose my fear of crashing.

So far this year is holding true to form and I still don't like to have a yard sale crash and I haven't gotten as good as I was hoping for. My nephew Justin just started skiing this year and he has no fear. I guess it does help if you are much closer to the ground though I do admit I am closer to the ground than others.

Justin just heads down the hill and wants you to follow him - he only stops when he crashes or runs out of speed. It has been fun going up with him though he does make me a bit nervous on the chair lift. I am a bit scared riding up the chair lift anyways since I have a fear of heights and adding a 4 year old to the mix can be a bit challenging. Justin doesn't have the same need to hang onto the pole for dear life as I do and enjoys swinging his feet - all of which make me remind him to hold on for dear life as I am doing. He pretty much ignores my pleas but so far he has stayed on the chair.

I am ready for another dump of fresh snow at Stevens and Mission Ridge. Maybe there still will be time this year to forget my fear and just head straight down the hills - no making the wide turns on those black diamond mogul runs, just point my body down the hill and go for it.

There is something about getting out on the slopes that is invigorating and freeing. My sister Janna used to have a quote in her room as a teenager that said "Socrates said no man is truly free. Socrates never skied." I think that sums it up perfectly.

beaches, sun, & great food

beach at Tulum
Sam & Kayla at Tulum
postcard perfect beach at Playa del Carmen
Carla, Tanya, & Kayla at Tulum
Mayan ruins at Tulum
Iguana posing for us
Somehow Dave found his own cart
glad someone caught us dinner

Carla, Dave, and Sam diving at the Cenote

Click image to see more of the Cenote Dive

What a trip it was to Playa del Carmen. 9 days of sun, beaches, great food, new adventures, and great company - my sisters Tanya & Carla along with their husbands - Corey and Dave, and Corey's brother Eric and his wife Jodi. I think we are now all ready to retire and live in Playa del Carmen during during the winter. Carla, Dave, Sam and I arrived 3 days ahead of the others (that is what you get to do when you don't have children) to scope it all out. The Caribbean ocean was the perfect temp - able to cool off without shivering too much when you jump in. Carla, Dave, and Sam were able to get in 3 days of diving while I worked on not getting too many freckles, applying enormous amounts of sunscreen, and devouring my reading material. Others weren't quite as successful in the sunscreen application and there were some pretty funny looking (though a bit painful) burns. In fact it was amusing to look at the tourists and see all the burns - am sure the locals get quite a few laughs at all the red noses and chests. It must have been a great vacation since I was able to get in several 3 book days. Sam claims I shed books - I leave them behind wherever I finish them and then use the room in my suitcase for my shopping purchases - this works out pretty well if you pack as many books as I do. Hotel was great though the disco noise across the street until 4:30 or 6 got a bit old - thought about joining them but that never happened, hard to be motivated to get out of bed when you are already in it. We rented a van for the day to drive us around and visit the sights. As the pics above prove we did make it to Tulum but it was HOT. We didn't bother with the tour and did our own very quick tour with pics - we had to hurry as we were all melting in the sun -guess we need a pool and a beach chair to endure the heat and sun. We went snorkeling in a lagoon and saw quite a few fish. I was able to snorkel without too much difficulty after Sam provided a refresher course for me. Food was amazing - pretty much ate our way through Playa. Had Mexican food at local hole in the walls, ate Mayan and Argentinian cuisine and even had some great Italian food. I am missing the pico de gallo even as I write this though now I need to start working out after all those tortillas. It was great to travel with a group of 8 of us even though Corey thought it was a bit like herding cats. Even got some fishing in though of the 8 only 2 1/2 were really successful. We will only give Dave 1/2 credit for the small fish he caught. Well am ready for a do-over on this one.

Addiction Alert

It is official I have a serious addiction. Okay well several probably including my daily diet coke, books, and shoes but now I must confess I have another addiction. It is my cell phone – and no it is not the cell portion of it but rather email, SMS, and the internet.

In fact I am very willing and even eager to let many calls go straight to voicemail. It seems I cannot drive anywhere without having my phone out of my purse and available to check for new emails. I know it is now illegal to text while driving but I don’t think sitting at a stoplight counts – at least in my humble opinion, will let you know if the police officer ever begs to differ from me.

How can I suddenly feel like something is missing if I don’t have my phone instantly available and not have the latest email. Okay if I was getting emails telling me I won something, my stocks increased significantly (okay huge fantasy here lately), or Nordstrom was suddenly putting all their shoes at half price I could see why I was so anxiously awaiting the next email but so far none of these have happened. Instead I am anticipating my next work problem, some spam mail, or some company wide email – none of which are really all that exciting or even for the most part time sensitive.

If I am not instantly checking I might somehow be missing something very important. And to think just over 10 years ago I only checked my email once a week instead of at every stop light or traffic jam. Good news is that we will be in Mexico for a week but unfortunately I already checked coverage and data service is available. Wonder if my emails will have the same appeal on the beach?!

a suit, a sportcoat, business casual, or jeans?

Sam is currently going through job interviews right now. Is there anything more nerve racking?!? Trying to be on your best behaviour, making sure you put on enough deodorant, your outfit hits the right note (wasn't it much easier when you wore your best suit - this casual dress thing really messes it all up) and predicting what someone else really wants to hear.

As someone who has interviewed tons of people, and salespeople at that, I know during an interview you are getting the best you are ever going to see out of that person. They will never dress sharper, be more agreeable, or be trying quite so hard - it is all downhill after that.

Maybe that is why I have been with the same company for 11 almost 12 years (yes I know I am an anomaly) is so I don't have to go on interviews and I can keep being the one who gets to do the interviewing. Though I can't say I really enjoy conducting the interviews myself - maybe it should be like matchmaking. You get paired up with your most compatible employees and then you take them for a test drive.

My part in this whole process is to be the cheerleader (so not me) and edit all the thank you letters. Seems easy enough but let me tell you I am getting a bit tired of editing - I wish you just had 1 or 2 interviews per company instead of the 8 we are going on now.

The good news is that hopefully this will be over soon as Sam decides which direction he will be going. In the meantime I am trying to frantically remember all the grammatical rules and punctuation I learned and hope it hasn't changed as much as our dress code has.

nissan pivo II

dreaming of a new commuter car

Sam and I have been checking out electric cars. I would love to have a commuter car that is small (yes most cars would be smaller than my Avalanche) and electric but safe because of our crazy Seattle drivers. When we were in Tokyo we saw the Pivo II concept car at the Nissan showroom. The Pivo is electric, carries 3 passengers, and best of all the cabin rotates 360 degrees. Am hoping something like this makes it to the U.S. soon - think about it - you would never have to drive in reverse again and parking would be a cinch. I could drive this to work but still use my Avalanche to get to the ski hill and transport Calvin in, of course this car may even fit in the back of the Avalanche.

finally we have succumbed

Yes we finally have done it and started a blog. Probably the last ones to do so but better late than never. Thought we would share what we have been doing and what our plans are. Not sure how often we will update this but at least we have started the process. I am going to add a few pics from 2007 as well. Enjoy.