It's all downhill

Oh am I sore!

I finally got to go skiing for the first time in THREE YEARS! Even better – I got to go with my 17 year old niece, L.

It all started when I told my family that I wasn’t coming home for Christmas. The proverbial shh hit the fan. I reminded them that the interstate runs both East AND West and they are welcome to come out here any time. I mentioned to my niece in particular that I have mountains here, and that most people actually consider them quite appealing and worth a 10 hour drive.

I also reminded my brother that since I left home in 1988 he has never come to any town that I have lived in to visit me or see my home. Isn’t that all kinds of wrong?

About a week later my brother called saying that he thought about what I said. He realized on top of that, that he has never taken his kids on a family vacation either. It’s about time to teach them to ski before the oldest leaves home.

Yee haw.

ey drove out on Thursday, got everyone lessons on Friday, then Mr. Burns and I joined them on Saturday to ski at Breckenridge.

Niece L is a most promising skier. Mr. Burns is a great teacher and unbelievably patient. Quite frankly I feel he could coach anyone in anything! So Mr. Burns and I took Niece L up some Green/Blues (yeah on the second day she ever wore skis!) and Mr. Burns guided her out of the ridiculous snow plow position that the instructors teach beginners.

Pretty soon, she was turning naturally, gaining control and displaying great instincts. I was so proud! The kid is rock star!

Poor thing though, she worked so hard that she is terribly sore – sporting bruises and believes she threw her back out. But she’s thinking about coming to Colorado for college so I couldn’t be happier!

Also, this was the first time anyone in my family got to meet Mr. Burns. They were appropriately impressed by his kindness and good nature. My mom reports that my brother told her in a phone conversation that Mr. Burns is a really nice guy – undoubtedly a man of great quality. Since Mom hasn’t met him yet, she was so thrilled to hear this!

Since we spent the most time with Niece L, she really seems to like him too! (Niece T and Nephew C were under their parents’ wings on the mountain.) She was so grateful for his patience as a teacher and she managed to gang up with him to pick on me… so that’s a great sign.

Yay!