Slalom, Slush, and Snowplow

Last evening, my sister-in-law, Karen, took Amy and Heather to The Wisp to go skiing for their very first time. I haven't had a chance to talk to them, but the videos Karen posted looked like they had a blast!

I am glad they had fun. I am pleased that their first experience on skis was a positive one. I sure wish mine had been...

When I was in 5th Grade at Accident Elementary School (at least I think it was 5th grade), our class went to The Wisp Ski Resort in McHenry MD for the day. Despite not owning any "official" ski clothing or having any experience, I was excited.  That morning, I layered on lots of clothes and headed to school. Soon, a busload of happy kids was headed for the slopes.

Upon arrival, we were fitted with boots and skis and shown how to put them on and also how to stand with them on. This skill of attaching your ski to your boot was a very necessary one for me to learn, because every single time I fell down, which I might add was frequent, my ski would fall off. I spent half the time there on the ground reattaching equipment.

Once we had boots and skis, we headed out in small groups to the beginner slope to have a ski lesson. You know, the basics. How to start, stop, snowplow, reattach skis, etc.

My instructor liked everyone in our group but me.

No, really. When a student learned the snowplow technique, he would move them to the next group to advance their skills. After a few attempts, not counting the one where I got turned around and was going backwards towards the parking lot, I figured out how to snowplow. I never got moved up to the next level. He never even told me I did a good job.

Oh, the heartbreak of a 10 year old on skis.

After the lesson, we were on our own. I was off to tackle the rope tow. It certainly looked easy enough. Just grab ahold of the rope gently and as you do, it will pull you up the hill. 


For the record, they lied.

Every time I got the rope and did what they said to do, it would violently jerk me forward, and with my face planted in the snow, would begin to drag me up the hill. I could hear voices yelling, "Let go! Roll out of the way!" They didn't need to tell me twice as there were people behind me, successfully managing the rope and they would've skied right over me.

The next thing I tried was walking up the hill (still the beginners slope), turning around and skiing down. I think that only happened twice. The first time, I plowed into an unsuspecting person and knocked them down, nearly skewering them with my pole. The second time, I ended up in the row of pine trees that divided the slopes.

The best part of the whole day was eating lunch.

My grand ski adventure never got off the beginner's slope. And I never tried it again.

Watching my girls ski made me think that maybe I should try it again. Maybe I could actually ski. Maybe I should add that to my list of life goals. I've never broken a bone before; what better way to try?

And maybe, just maybe, that ski instructor is retired...

Love,
Dianne

A Kitchen Table

The kitchen table. Just those three words brings am image to everyone's mind.

Our kitchen table growing up was a white rectangular oval with a chocolate brown border on which each corner (as if an oval can have a corner!) had an emblem of sorts. Very mid-century modern looking. I wonder where it is now?

As newlyweds in our Springs apartment, we used a table that had belonged to my parents. Again, it had the look of the 1970ies, straight lines with a laminate top. We didn't own kitchen chairs at first and we sat on two coolers, but it worked, and we didn't care. Once, as Leo was trying to impress me with a manly pose in the kitchen, he leaned on the table and the metal legs collapsed leaving my man in a pile on the floor. I will admit to laughing (somewhat hysterically), but only after making sure he was okay. Ah, the memories.

When we moved to the trailer with two small children, I think we had the oval, brown-edged table. When we redid the kitchen there, we put in a table/bar and the oval heirloom went...away...I still wish I knew where.

In Louisville, we had a kitchen table and a dining room table. The kitchen table was another throwback from the 1960-1970ies. What I remember about that table is the metal legs that were at such an angle that you were always catching your toes on them, Not just stubbing them, but STUBBING them with vengeance. There were a few choice words yelled at that table during the time we lived there! The dining room table was huge and could seat 600 easily. Well, okay 12-15 easily. It was heavy and wooden and had probably lived in the house at Bonnycastle Avenue since it was built. A lot of different people have eaten around that table and if it could talk, oh the stories it could tell!

Then we moved to the Farm. The first time I saw the house and got to go in, we sat around this oval, wooden kitchen table covered with a red checkered tablecloth and talked to the owner of the house. The table just fit the house, and I hoped that he would leave it for us to use.

Fifteen years later, that oval table is still in use at our house. Daily.
It is made to seat six, but we manage to get all 7 of us around it. A part of me wants a new table that seats eight, but I am reluctant to part with an old friend. Despite the wobbles, and the fact that it needs refinished, I love it; it. is a member of the family.

Lots of laughter and teasing have gone on around it's edges as well as arguments and a few tears.
Quite a few of us have laid our heads on its surface after a long day and fallen asleep.
Through the years, it has been used to eat on, do homework on, cut fabric for a pattern out on, paint, scrapbook and color on (not literally on the table, but you know what I mean!). Lately it has been a racetrack for Ryan and his Cars.

This is my table this morning. I could've cleared it off so it would look pretty, but that would've been cheating. So this is it. I am painting a desk so there is painting stuff on it, as well as Ryan's homework that he forgot to put in his backpack, other misc. papers, my Pampered Chef order, Heather's gym bag, and there is almost always a coat on the back of a chair or two.

For now, I'll keep the table. I know her and her quirks. Definitely not perfect, but a perfect fit for us.

Love,
Dianne

Saturday, Then and Now

Saturday.

When I was a kid, that meant cartoons and cleaning house. My sisters and I would watch The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Pink Panther and Bugs Bunny. Later came The Smurfs. Once Mom was up, the dusting, sweeping, cleaning sinks and toilet, vacuuming and mopping began. This all took place throughout the day and then in the evening, it was bath time and time to watch "Hee-Haw".

Does anybody else remember "Hee-Haw"? The donkey at the end with his mouth wide open with the credits rolling? The corny jokes and hillbilly mentality? The women with the short shorts and low-cut blouses? The men in bib overalls? Watching it was a Saturday Tradition in the Bender household.

Today, Saturday's in my house don't quite follow the same traditions. For one thing, my work schedule doesn't allow for much consistency with weekends. The other reason is that I don't always like to save one day for housecleaning; my house needs it way before Saturday rolls around.

So what is a "typical" Saturday like? I have no idea. But, today...
Leo and Aaron are at a safety class of some kind for work.
Adrienne, Amy, and Heather and Ryan were up between 7-9AM. They were watching Curious George on PBS and checking out Facebook online.
I got up around 10AM and we all made brunch. Scrambled eggs, Chai Tea, Sour Cream Pancakes with either blueberry sauce, peanut butter or maple syrup.
We all did the dishes and straightened up the kitchen.

Now, I am writing this and drinking my coffee.
Heather is listening to music and looking up something for school.
Adrienne is cleaning out her "treasure box" of childhood keepsakes.
Amy and Ryan are watching Adrienne.

What's the rest of the day going to be like? I still have no idea. But, what I'd like to accomplish...
          Finish painting the dressers in Heather's room and get the wallpaper border up.
          Exercise.
          Laundry.
          Help Ryan clean up his pigsty, err, I mean bedroom. Oink.
       
My today resolution: Whatever I do, I need to do it with an attitude of gratefulness. I have been blessed with much.

" ...But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15


Enjoy your Saturday!
Dianne

       

"Ooooh, I'm drivin' my life away..."

As I sit to write this, the snow is starting to fall again outside; not heavy, but enough that it is in the air with the potential to be more. I am glad my vacation starts and I can be snowbound.

When I was a kid, winter's lasted a long time, and it was really awesome! My sisters and I loved playing in the snow and could spend hours outside digging snow tunnels, sled riding, throwing snowballs and playing fox and goose. We didn't have official "snow clothes" to wear. We just layered on long-johns, pants, another pair of pants, a couple of shirts or sweatshirts and a winter jacket. Oh, and don't forget the mittens, hats, scarves, and at least two pairs of socks. Getting ready to go outside was such a chore! Maybe that's why when we did go out, we would stay out for hours.

I don't remember my mom ever complaining about all the dripping, snow-encrusted clothing that we would hang up all over the utility/mudroom and kitchen. I would think about that when my children were all younger and spending time playing in the snow. I'm pretty sure I was not always so gracious when it came to the snow puddles on the floor and the piles of clothing on the radiators drying.

Beside the house I grew up in, out in The Cove, was "The Field". Long and hilly, it was perfect for sled riding. We would call the neighbor boy to come up and join us and then the fun would begin. First, we'd have to make a sufficient sled track. The best was when the snow was deep enough that you could work it into a winding groove down the hillside. This took time to get it done, but when it was complete....LOOK OUT! Sometimes we'd go down all connected like a train, other times we'd make a couple tracks and race.

And we would always sing an Eddie Rabbit country song, "Oooohhh, I'm drivin' my life away..."

The worst part was walking back up the slippery slope. It took 10 times as long to go up as it took to fly down. Where was the snowmobile when you needed it?

I remember one time it was all icy and you could see the grass trapped beneath this thick layer of clear ice.  Now that made for some fast (I think it was almost illegal, it was so fast!) sledding. Usually we didn't make it all the way to the bottom of the field where a fence separated it from the neighbor's yard, but that day we did. You couldn't stop yourself and had to lay flat or get caught in the barbed wire. Oh, it was fun!

Tomorrow is Saturday. Snowman making day? Sled-riding? (Of course sledding is a little boring when you live on Level Acres Lane.) Fox and Goose? It has been a long time since I just went out and played in the snow. Maybe tomorrow....

2 years ago

Me and Leo built this one down on the dock to the pond.

Ryan did this one without any help. I think they are both adorable!