My First Black Diamond

The skiing season is coming to an end and we still had one pass left for our local ski resort - so we dropped the kids off with Nana & Papa and headed up for our last hoo-rah for skiing.  We skiied a bunch of runs and ate our lunch at the top of the mountain in the little cafe.  We sat there admiring my cool helmet, talking about how warm it is and how I love it and can't imagine skiing without it (we really did).  Then Shayne convinced me that I was ready for my first black diamond.  I was skeptical - it wasn't the best snow, that's for sure.  But, I played the tough girl part well and decided to just go for it.  As I started over that "cliff" I had serious doubts of my abilities and wanted to even cry.  But, I stuck with it and got into a groove and found myself enjoying the ride down - I swooshed back and forth - kept those skiis parallel and was feeling mighty fine.  At the end of the run, the passage gets narrow.  There was an icy part - I did not like that part - but I managed to get past it.  Then at the very bottom, Shayne pointed out there was a little uphill pathway (nicknamed the pipeline) and that I would want to gather a little momentum to get up that path without a sweat.  I told him to go ahead so I could watch him and see how he does it - he swooshed out of sight.  I started down and I remember thinking, "UGH! of course it's slushy now, we're at the bottom of the mountain..."  and then I'm sleeping on the snow.  

I don't remember why I'm sleeping on the snow - but it's nice and cool and I thought it felt pretty great.  I hear someone skiing - two people and one is a child asking what happened and then a man says "Are you ok?"  I think to myself, "is he talking to me?  Because I'm obviously taking a nap and I really don't want to wake up" - I think I muttered "who me?" but I couldn't open my eyes.  I was trying to remember why I was sleeping there - or why people would be asking me if I'm ok, but I overhear the man telling the child, "We can't help her, so we won't touch her.  Let's go get ski patrol..."  and then the world is quiet again.  Soon I hear Shayne saying, "honey, what happened? Are you ok?" and there's another person introducing himself as ski patrol and asking me to squeeze his hand and tell him how I'm feeling.  I realize that my head hurts - A TON - and my neck hurts - and I still don't really want to open my eyes, but I really want to get off the snow and stop having people fuss over me.  I feel embarrassed and dumb.  When did I decide to lay down?  Why does everything hurt?  And can you just leave me alone to gather my senses?

They packaged me up on a board, with a neck brace, and put me on the back of a toboggan.  I remember him asking me how old I am - I chuckled - I remarked I rarely remember that on a normal day!  They covered me up, like a cocoon, and tell me it'll keep the snow out of my face since I'm riding behind a snowmobile.  It's the worst ride of my life.  I want to clutch on to something, ANYTHING, but I feel like I'm just rolling off of a mountain - out of control.  I couldn't see where I was going or what was going on and I hated that more than anything.  

I am loaded into an ambulance and Shayne and I are both wondering aloud - is this really necessary?  Can't he just drive me to the ER?  They STRONGLY suggest the ambulance ride - simply because of the neck and helmet injury.  OH, I forgot to mention, my helmet is cracked on the back and little chewed up from rocks or something.  It's not a gaping crack - but still, it's a solid, brand new helmet, and obviously took a hard hit.  I know it saved me.  So, I go in the ambulance and Shayne drives down in our car and meets me at the hospital.  The paramedic asked me my pain on a scale of 1-10 - it's 7 or 8, but wait, isn't there a Brian Regan reference to the pain scale?  The paramedic laughs aloud and I think, I'm not dying and I actually remembered something!

In the ER, I lay on that board with a neck brace for a couple hours - AWFUL!!!  I know why and I understand the reasoning, but honestly, it was no help for the pain I was suffering.  They did a CT scan and I was cleared to go home - concussion, yes.  Bleeding, no.  Cracked vertebrae, no.  They loaded me up on morphine and anti-nausea medicine - I still wanted to puke the whole way home.  No, it wasn't Shayne's driving - it was nauseating just sitting up.

The next 4 days I spent in bed - until I couldn't lay down anymore from the neck pain.  I finally got relief after visiting my chiropractor and switching to Aleve.  The fog lifted on day 5 and each day I progressively feel more like myself.  I wish I was running and exercising - but the head still spins when I do little things.

This week I've had a lot of help.  Help with my kids, carpooling, babysitting, and help with meals.  I'm not usually on this side of service and I have felt silly and lame for being there in bed, unable to do what I consider normal.  I can't thank my parents, Shayne's parents, my friends & neighbors, and extended family enough for their help, concern, and service during this past week.  I was truly blessed, protected, and cared for.  

Last night I attended the Women's Conference broadcast at my local church building, and I kept crying.  I felt the spirit so strongly as the speakers spoke about sisterhood and how we need each other.  I truly was in need this week and so many stepped up to help - the love and service truly brings me to tears.  I felt my Savior's love for me through the loving service of everyone around me.  I'm grateful to live where I do - I have wonderful neighbors who are my dear friends.  They went above and beyond to help this week be bearable.  I'm grateful to be close to family - what a blessing!!  

My new job

Rather than sit and watch Danny play Itty-Bitty ball, I decided to become a coach to play with him.  They provide free childcare for Skyler (sweet deal!) and I get to play with Danny and 8 other children.  This session consisted of a different sport each day - baseball, football, volleyball, soccer, basketball, and then a game day.  WHEW!  I have to admit... it's like herding cats. (really, try to imagine getting cats to do the same thing at the same time... it's impossible.)

UGH

This is the morning after we returned from our Surprise Vacation.

Luckily, it melted by the end of the day and now it's pretending to be spring again.

The secret weapon

Every time I have taken Skyler to get his haircut, he has cried and cried.  I end up holding him in my lap and the hairdresser has to work fast!!  This time, I was not looking forward to the fight and seriously consider the fancy (expensive) haircut place that gives kids balloons, treats, movies - the whole 9 yards - because maybe it's worth it if the kid doesn't hate you after the haircut!  But, I took him to our neighbor just one more time - maybe this time will be different.  Since the last haircut, Skyler has found a new love for GUM.  He LOVES gum.  Sometimes he does just eat it, but honestly, my 2 year old will chew gum for an hour or more and then throw it into the garbage.  And when I pointed out that the haircutter would give him a gumball after his haircut - he climbed up in that chair by himself and sat as still as a statue.  Gum is now my secret weapon.

A surprise vacation

Well, it was a surprise for the kids!  I packed the bags, the car, and the kids didn't have a clue.  After dinner Shayne said, I need to do some work in Vegas... who wants to go?!?  The kids looked us in disbelief but quickly understood they were going to miss a day of school (rare) and then we hopped in the car and drove till midnight!  We had a yummy hot breakfast then went to check out the pool facilities.  The pool was an iceberg - slightly melted.  But, there was a hot tub and we hung out there for a while.  Meanwhile, Shayne is prepping the kids with comments such as - gosh things aren't going as planned, we might have to go right back home, etc.  We sadly informed the kids at lunch time that we needed to go back home - our weekend in Vegas wasn't going to work out with Daddy's work.  So, we loaded the car and funny enough, the boys were very understanding and good sports about the whole situation.  We told them we'd be home before dark and thought at some point they would be suspicious considering we were in 18 lanes of traffic in California, or the fact that we drove next to the ocean for an hour.... nope.  CLUELESS.  We pulled into the Legoland Hotel and informed them that we were home.  When they finally looked out the windows...

"Legoland?"

"You drove to California!?!?!"

"Legoland!!!"

We spent that night at Legoland Hotel - which was a blast.  We did not go to the theme park (boys were a bit disappointed about that) but the hotel was definitely a highlight of our weekend excursion.  We went to that park a few years ago and we were not itching to go again... besides, we had other surprises up our sleeves.

Upon entering our pirate themed room, the boys had to complete a scavenger hunt to find a treasure.  This place was definitely made with kids in mind - loved it!  I think our favorite part was the elevator!!  Every elevator should have a disco ball and fun music after the doors close.

The next day, we went to the beach.  It was so great to be out in the sun and to be warm.  The water was COLD - but the boys still played in it.  It was a fantastic day to be on the beach, play in the sand, and just be together.  Skyler was one busy little toddler - running this way and that way - and every which way across that beach.  That's one busy little body!

After the beach, we drove back to Anaheim and once again, lied to our children saying that we'd be traveling home for the next couple days.  The pool at this hotel was FANTASTIC (it was warm) and we played in there for hours even after being on the beach all day.  A gentleman asked the boys if they went to Disneyland that day... they were once again CLUELESS that we were even in the vicinity of Disneyland.  They just said, no, we went to Legoland Hotel.  And they didn't even suspect anything.  Just before going to bed, Shayne wrote out "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" with a letter on each piece of paper.  Then handed the pile to them and said, figure out what we're doing tomorrow.  Unfortunately. he also left his "answer sheet" in the pile with the word on it... so they quickly got the word (ha, ha) but had no idea what we were alluding to.  Finally, we told them we were going to Disneyland.  

The next morning, we were on the first shuttle over to the park and we spent the day at California Adventures.  We wanted to see the new Car's Land and the boys were also excited for the Tower of Terror.  

Half-way through our day, our MOST AWESOME friends, Laura and Maynrad, came to join the party.  They treated our kids to ice cream (It was SOOOOOO hot, we were melting) and basically did whatever we wanted.  They were so patient and flexible with our whims and desires.  Love you guys - thanks for spending the day with us!!!

Two little monkeys...

The lot of us

Skyler was not a fan of the going down part on the ferris wheel - but other than that, he loved everything he was able to ride.

We were on the last shuttle back to the hotel at 11:30pm and this is what happened within seconds...

Our Surprise Vacation was a success!  I think the best part was that our kids rolled with the punches so well.  Who knows if they'll ever trust again though when we say let's get in the car and see where we end up!

a few pics from my phone...

Here we are enjoy the almost spring weather (it keeps teasing us!)  Hunter bought the roller-blades at the DI (no, they aren't the right size for him but he's awesome on them!) and Danny has been learning to coast on his bike without pedals.  Now if I could find those pedals for him...

Everyday I drop off Danny at preschool he makes me this little heart and says

"Te amo!"

"Te amo tu-mis-imo"  (he's trying to mimic me saying te amo muchisimo which means I love you very much in Spanish)

Hunter's basketball season

We didn't take very many pics of Hunter playing this year - but we had a great time watching him on the court.  There was a big change this year - he's officially on a full court and all the rules of basketball apply (there were only some rules up until now).  Hunter played hard in every game - he worked hard to rebound, be in open positions to shoot, and overall, was a great team player.  He did get some great shots (and points!) - but I wasn't counting.  There were also a couple players on his team that definitely have "stardom" in their future - but, I loved the fact that the boys included everyone and they all helped to have an UNDEFEATED season.  In the very last game (which I missed), their team was behind and the opposing team seemed like giants.  You can see the height difference below - 

Hunter's team rallied and came back in the final quarter to win.  Coach Brett was awesome with these boys and it was a fantastic season!  Double the pay for the coach!  (ha, ha, it's volunteer - but he definitely deserves the raise!)  

Secret identity

I have a secret life.  My life is generally filled with everything about my kids - raising kids, chasing kids, driving kids, changing kids clothing, washing kids and their clothing, and just lots of KIDS everything.  They consume me and my time.  So, when I got to attend a conference for all the music educators in the state for 2 days - suddenly I was a band director again.  I was thinking about rehearsals, about music, about discipline - funny - it's still about kids, I know.  BUT, there was also the catching up with colleagues I hadn't seen in a LOONG time and also just having adult conversations for 2 days straight was a strain on my brain, in a good way.  I get excited about the prospect of working again - I really loved teaching and I intend to do it again.  But, I also know it isn't that time/season just yet.  I'm just preparing myself so I will have the endorsements when needed.

Then came another conference - this time all clarinet.  2 days being a clarinet geek was great fun.  Talk clarinet, play clarinet, think clarinet - enough information to make my head spin.  Sometimes I think I'm doing a good job with my part-time job teaching clarinet, then there are days when I just don't know enough.  I wish I knew more and I wish I could sit and practice my instrument as I know I should.  I feel like a slacker because I can't even come close to those amazing people who attended the conference and they live that clarinet world all day, everyday.  I have amazing students - so many of them just blow me away (literally!) with their talents.  They aren't just clarinetists, they are honor students, bikers, soccer players, and they are super busy doing all the amazing things they do.  I'm grateful to be a part of this chapter in their lives.  And I find myself wishing I knew more about this or that - simply because there is still so much for me to figure out for myself.  Conferences are great - I learn a ton, and I also realize how much I don't know.  I just can't let that get me down.

So, a secret identity.  I guess it seems like a secret because my children and my husband aren't a part of it.  All the colleagues, associates, and people I talked to during those conferences were great fun to visit with.  I saw friends I went to college with, had discussions with amazing professors and professionals, and I felt like I was pretending to be a colleague.  For now, I'm a mom pretending to have a secret identity or a place in the world of music.  Perhaps those worlds will collide someday...  I'll keep wishing.