Wow, it’s been a whirlwind.
In February, the boys and I went again to Summit County Colorado for skiing. We had a great location right at the base of River Run Village in Keystone, and skiied Keystone, Breck, and Beaver Creek. We had snow several of the days with some overcast conditions, so I got fewer spectacular photos than usual, but above you can see the boys riding the lift at Beaver Creek and next to that, their beautiful form skiing on a blue slope at Breck.
Heather had a conference that same week, so our time overlapped and we had a few joint skiing days. Also, she taught my boys the wiles of Dice! They REALLY developed a big crush on her when she escorted them on several black bump runs and some blue-black bumps for Jamie as well. By next year, if I’m not careful, they really will be able to leave me in the snowdust and I’ll barely be able to catch them! Jamie’s newfound height (by February, about 5′5″) made him more agile if not more skier-pretty….he lets it run and has little fear and can hockey stop with the best of them. It was his first year with poles the whole time. Of course, Tristan also wanted poles, which are useful if you get stuck POLING!
But mostly, due to Keystone carving some way new paths and altering some well-known terrain, there was little poling needed. We easily trundled all around Breck as well and the kids tortured me making me ride that darn Peak 8 Express Connect that twists and turns more ways than should be allowed!
I got back very late after (of course) flight delays, but had promised myself to go see Jason Isbell one more time. My darling best friend had tried to set me up with the trax but I bought the CD off the band and got Tristan the COOLEST tshirt.
The band was rocking but after my long week working it out on the slopes, I was ready to hit the bourbon heavy and dance all night! Sadly, that didn’t happenn quite the way it would if I were independently wealthy or otherwise a lady of leisure….
Next up was the start of the futbol season, which included having both boys now on Challenge teams, the level where they have to try out but their teams are still a very mixed bag in terms of talent and motivation. Tristan’s team is purple while Jamie’s remains….Carolina blue. As usual, Spring soccer has included freezing during practices and games, with too many scheduled early.
Jamie winding up for a big pass
Tristan doing a practice drill before the game starts
There’s been naught to watch on TV except the endless news of recession, depression, etc. but for HBO….I was really into Big Love with really wild and compelling storylines. Tristan’s favorites are either Iron Chef or Good Eats! (because of course only a preteen could be enthralled by Alton Brown, although you gotta love his volume of food knowledge).
The major work news this month was that the stimulus package had big money to give back to NIH to restore some of what’s been lacking for the past decade…..what it stimulated for me, my department, and every research university in the land was a hastening of writing, or retooling, or amending, grant applications. I wrote for a solid three weeks beginning in mid February to prepare a few proposals….My team put in two supplemental applications and began working on a major grant that could work as a challenge grant (taking the first 2 years of a 5 year plan) or a full 5 year grant. Additionally, I’d already been planning a June application to extend our work on the prevention of Alcohol Exposed Pregnancy, so it’s all work all the time for the end of February into March and even into April…..though the chances of getting one of these grants is exceedingly slim. But we’ve been told “it’s easy to get grants right now…..” by the man who has the best hit rate I know of….
In other news, my Mom visited my brother and his family for about 6 weeks, and we were very glad to have her return!
At the end of February, there were birthdays for Erica and Jamie and my cousin’s son Sean, all who turned 13….all I can say is my patented…YIKES!
Recent Comments