Wednesday, December 14

Still snowing a bit!  It is so eternally magical to wake up to new snow and snowfall, with the light all bluey and glowy.

JC got up at 5 to ski a few laps in Ophir before work and I snoozled until 6:30.  Last night was my work party for the holidays, dinner and drinks at the Peaks.  It's kind of nice when you know a lot of the people working the event, my next-door neighbor Robin, Little Suze, Jody, Asa... it just brings a nice relaxed element to an already pleasant event. 

We have been having some money/work conversations recently about our near future and it seems like the local economy is getting suddenly leaner than even a few years ago.  It seems like everything scaled back to a "normal" way (from overinflated), everyone got used to that, but now it feels as though things are shaving down to a below normal level and we are starting to feel that pinch as well.

So it was kind of nice to see how my work party can provide a night of good income to a few friends in the community.  Fall and early winter is a tough time when you account for ski passes for everyone, ski P.E. for the kids, hockey, gear... and then just when you feel you have gotten over the hump - Surprise!  It's Christmas!

We were chatting with the Toughers last night, haven't seen Ryan since the Phish shows in Denver over Labor Day weekend, and we revisited our decision not to plan a big trip this spring.  Maui last April was stellar for a thousand reasons and even with a free place to stay and a free car to drive, it is a huge dent in our annual finances.  Because of the way the seasons work here, there is a fair amount of pressure to have a huge great exotic vacation when the ski area closes and the kids are out of school for 2 weeks. 

As much as I would love to be one of those people planning a tropical surf trip, it makes a lot more sense for us to stick with our desert camping trips and keep exploring the areas so close to home and only spending money on a few tanks of gas and the food we would eat anyway. 

Skiing again today on my lunch break , then getting a lesson on Saturday from Albert.  I need a breakthrough!!