Blog, blog blog

Quick post, too tired, busy and nuts to go beyond. Cindy is coming down to LA, like every weekend, ya know, like, it's so cool, ya know, to see and ya know, like hang out. So a week before St. Paddy's we hit the Irish Faire, interesting sub-culture, event at LA fairgrounds, the Inland Empire they call it, nuf said, right.












Then, a week later, St. Paddy proper. I wake up way too early and then run a 10k, worst time ever, overweight and too old and not training Skye ran in the Leprechaun Dash, good for her, and....













afternoon spent weeding hanging out with brother in law and then off to Yacht club opening brunch at 5pm. Yeah we missed the brunch. And then to UCLA play of nephew, Adam, youth of Cindy's sis Beth and in-law Dan. Long but Adam was a hit, 11+ rolling along and off to 40 b-day of Max. We get there just as they're getting ready to leave. Home late. Sunday spend sending people off. Week, too busy and crazed to get to. Homeschool Super Duper Show and Tell, Science faire. Very cool. We built a volcano and did the age old baking soda and vinegar eruption. They had quite a turnout and I was impressed with some of the exhibits. Must log out beggining to fade.

Settling back In—My Most Navel-gazing blog yet.

I’m sure that there have always been the same 24 hours in a day and that each hour still consists of the same 60 second minute and that 1440 of these minutes make up a day unlike money with inflation and memory with getting older. But somehow I am falling back on the proverbial treadmill on the verge of becoming an accidental heap of embarrassment on the gym floor.

Or I could simply say where has all my time gone?

I still have clean clothes waiting to be put away from before the last Nica trip. Skye regularly comes out of her room dressed and “ready to go” in clothes that are two sizes too small and in our constant rush I more often than not pretend like I don’t notice and whisk her away off on errands, promising myself that upon return I will take those clothes and all others that are too small and set them aside for the Goodwill or
Boys and Girls Thrift. But some how they make it back into the closet.

Or I could simply say that I am still unpacking from Nicaragua, Portland and Mammoth.

Ok, simply stated updates:

Home schooling: Good. Skye now loves it. We have met other home schoolers and she’s not so different for being the only person she knows who is not going to traditional school. Her self-esteem is back up. She seems really happy. She’s discovering and learning about lots of different things, some of them useful I hope. Those most important 3 R’s, let’s just say I am grateful for calculators, spell check and keyboards. No, honestly it is a challenge to build a solid foundation of said skills, try to not be the child that’s left too far behind and not become ridiculously bored and/or frustrated in that standard memorization process. Juggling many playdates and adventures. Monitoring progress, maintaining, adapting and trying to keep up with curriculum with our Distance Learning School, Laurel Springs is a feat within itself. I am learning more about myself, Skye and modern education than I have at any other point in my life. Overall-A

Weight Loss/Fitness: What the ---- is happening to me? Since my “resolution” which I have followed through with in a less than full out manner, I have gained weight instead of losing it. My intent was to maintain weight, maybe lose some while I traveled and then when back at home for a stretch, really ramp it up and lose those last remaining pounds. Well, after being away from my scale for two weeks, I have to face the sad fact that what used to be my maintenance diet/routine, simply isn’t working. Overall-D

Nica/Business plans ideas etc.—Charles and I talk regularly, get excited by the designs and the eventual outcome as well as much of the process. The same goes for Los Congos developer, Jeff. That being said in my mind the nuts and bolts of the process are figuratively speaking, lying all around my garage and house waiting to be organized and sorted, but no need to rush because the practicalities of the endeavor are still on Nica time. Overall-B

Socially-Since our return, we have had one sleepover/lunch/group-bike ride, joined the Y and geared up for racquetball, a Terrell Moore art opening, a park date that turned into an extended play date with a new friend, a doctor’s visit, a new temporary roommate, another playdate, a playdate/museum trip, catching up with friends on two evenings, an afternoon boat trip (I ended up falling in the ocean upon docking in a very Buster Keaton/ 3 stooges manner). And just verging on being social because I ran into several acquaintances, I went on a 4 hour job interview with Skye in tow, which I obviously had to turn down. We’ll be back for a week on Thursday. Overall- A or F depending on how much you value rest and sanity.

3 Blizzards and a beautiful day on the slopes

We left at 3 in the morning so that we wouldn't get stuck in bad weather in the dark. I came close to timing it almost perfectly. We hit some snow before sunrise but at lower elevations, so not such a big deal.


We hit snow up in the Shasta area that got pretty funky, almost had to chain up. We slid around, did a 360 and a 180 on a small road off the 5 interstate when we got off in search of gas, after we righted ourselves we hopped back on muy pronto. Slid a little getting back into traffic but from then on managed with the ice and frost and snow pretty well. Things got dicey and icey, a bit slushy through Tahoe which is where we ended up cutting over after having to turn back at a couple of other road closures. Amazing views coming down into Neveda.









These detours set us back just enough to put us in Mammoth at night, arriving just as it started coming down good. With a mile or less left after being on the road for 16 hours, the windshield froze up, the wipers skipping over ice, we slid around a little bit and finally cruised into a parking space in the nick of time. The next day the skiing was exquisite. Skye is coming along quite well coming down blue runs now. I am also just about ready to hit a blue run, she has been skiing longer than me afterall. Then back to LALAland the next day.