Mid Century Architecture Tour

I encountered rams and ewes on my walk this morning and was a little 

confused about how to proceed. Are they aggressive? Was I safe to pass?

I ventured forward and they completely ignored me.

We went on a mid-century architecture tour this morning and got to tour

a home that was Frank Sinatra's

(he raised a Jack Daniels flag when he was in town and hosting a party),

His pool is famously in the shape of a pool.

But no so famously, the architect who designed the home and pool said it definitely isn't.

Another beautiful home with a huge yard.

(Currently used only once in a while as a guest house by the owners who live next door.)

And finally, a 750 sq ft home that was designed and lived in by architect, Albert Frey.

Yes, that's a boulder half inside and half outside his home!

Another gorgeous night for outdoor dining.

A Winter Break

We're spending the weekend in Palm Springs with some friends.

It's impossible not to love California when everything is green,

beautifully manicured and smells like citrus.

We women chatted at lunch and out by the pool while the men golfed.

 

Braced Up

 I wasn't very impressed with the ortho I saw in Park City on Monday.

She concured I had arthritis in my thumbs, but when I asked about the clicking in my wrists,

she roughly bent them back and forth and said she didn't hear anything.

I told her I heard it click every time she moved them and she begrudgingly gave me a prescription for an MRI.

However, this morning I had much better luck!

The ortho took his time, explained things in detail and was patient with my questions.

He also said I had arthritis, but then when I asked about my wrists, he didn't just rush, but examined them carefully and gently manipulated them and found the clicking. 

He said whether the ligament damage was confirmed in an MRI or not, the initial protocol would still be the same -- wear braces for six weeks. 

He gave me a scrip to have custom supports made and a website of local PT's who make them,

and YAHOO! my PT I've been seeing was on the list!

Double Yahoo, she had time to squeeze me in today before I leave out of town!

I feel like all the stars aligned to move forward in the healing process.

Also... eating with braces is very challenging. 

I'll not embarrass myself trying to eat with no thumbs while with friends this weekend.

I'd take a picture, but it's impossible to photograph your own hands, 

and Dan is out of town until late tonight.

Also, I got my proofreading back from the new company.

We did a round of proofing before formatting. Because, why not?

And this was the most validating e-mail I've had from a writing professional.

Book Club Reunion

Last night we had a reunion with my book club friends.

For fifteen years--up until Debbie's move to Oregon, my twice monthly WorD meetings, 

the onslaught of 2020, and lives getting surprisingly busier as children got older (very unexpected!)--

I met with these ladies monthly and gossiped and gabbed and saw each other through 

ups and downs, career changes, new babies, growing children, school drama, PTA and more.

Love these good friends so much.

Novel Reveal

Today I posted on Instagram my news that I'd written a book.
I received so many supportive comments, cheers and congrats I've been practically flying!

There was a time I didn't tell anyone I was working on a book.

Didn't want to share my dream. What if I couldn't actually accomplish it?

And now... six years later, I've done it.

Let's Make a Deal

I have searched for years for this video of my mom and dad

on Let's Make a Deal in 1971!

Searched the media database at Temerlin McClain in 1994.

The internet.

YouTube searches.

And yesterday, I googled it, and boom, there was my mom's picture.

Their dealings start at 6:56.

My mom is so darn cute! 

And my dad is surprisingly serious. 

Let's Make a Deal (SYN/1971):  Big Deal-$9,119

Life and Death

At the end of December, my friend's husband died 

while they were serving as mission leaders in France. 

Today was his funeral--a sad yet inspiring celebration of his life.

We sat with "The Ladies" and our husbands, cried and laughed and cried some more.

Afterward we went to lunch at the Thai restaurant Jason loved.

Oh, life. The sweet and tragic intertwined. 

My heart grieves for my dear friend, Jennie, her children, his siblings,

his parents and all his missionaries who they loved so dearly.

Solitude Ski Day

Carol and I had a great morning skiing at Solitude.

The day was gray, our favorite canyon closed,

but I was toasty warm, my feet relaxed with my new insoles and my legs were strong.

So glad because after that powder day in Beaver Creek, I was wondering if I still knew how to ski.

We went to dinner with the Froerers who we haven't spent time with in years.

Anne came to Courtney's baby shower and it was so good to catch up,

but not enough time, we made dinner plans to continue the conversation.

 

Validation

 Yesterday I saw the ortho for my hands.

Only it wasn't the ortho at all, but his PA.

He felt around my palms and thumb for soreness but didn't check my wrists,

examined the x-rays didn't see a fracture and said he could tell from the x-rays 

that the ligaments were fine.

He declared I had stage 2 (out of 4) arthritis in both thumbs

and mild carpal tunnel.

We discussed treatment options--getting a cortisone shot--which I declined, 

he gave me a brace to wear while "canning and gardening"

and other activities which aggravate it

 (yes, these are the words he said without asking what activities I actually spend time doing),

said he was glad my finger was better

(to which I said, not really, the bump is still there)

and asked if the tennis elbow had improved,

and I responded that it hadn't and wondered if the problem 

with my hands and wrists and tennis elbow could be aggravating each other,

and he said, no. Not possible. But I would probably be a good candidate for tennis elbow surgery,

which he described as relatively simple with an easy recovery.

I left feeling pretty discouraged because he wasn't nearly as thorough as

the physical therapist. 

This morning I made three more appointments with other orthos

(verifying I would see them and not their PA's),

and reported my experience to my PT and they rolled their eyes, said they didn't like

that PA at all, were shocked he didn't get an MRI, approved of the other three orthos I'm meeting with and 

told me to make sure to tell them that Kelley, my PT, says there's a concerning clunk in my wrist.

And then they slapped their faces at the canning and gardening comment.

Respect to my good friends who do both!

But, I feel like a doctor should ask what activities I enjoy and give me specific advice at how to modify--

not just assume based on my age and gender that I'm a full-time gardener and canner.

(If he'd asked, I would have told him I love road biking but it's very painful.)

I came away from PT very validated.

Nurturing Relationships

You know I'm missing Antarctica when I'm photographing pretty dirt designs in the snow.

It was very cold out this morning when I went on my walk with my weighted vest.

I bought the vest so I could walk outside but also get my heartrate to 75% of max.

Unfortunately, it was so cold, I struggled to keep it above 136 bpm.

This afternoon I went to my mom's house and was supposed to help her with a project,

but instead we talked about her different plans for improvements and walked through

a new house open house. We weren't productive, but we did have fun together!

And rounding out the fun, we met Goldsberrys and Burgoynes for dinner at El Cholo.

Goldsberrys are almost empty nesters. To think we've been friends since high school--

and known each other's husbands since college. Almost 40 years!

Wildlife

Captured two bucks in the yard and later when re-watching the video ,

discovered there were actually three.

Also in the middle of the night I got up for the bathroom and heard footsteps above me.

Either we have someone secretly living in the house with us,

or there's a raccoon or other critter crawling on the roof! 

 

The Cutest Icicle

Emi's first ski day ended up being a frigid 1*!

We were all bundled so much we felt every bit the marshmallow she looked.

Emi had a lot of support with her mom and dad encouraging her

and Grammy, Papa and Uncle Chris cheering her on.

When she was tired and cold, hot chocolate came to the rescue!

I took Emi back to the condo so Marty & Lizzie could ski a few runs together and 

Dan & Chris could hit it hard.

Emi and I returned her skis on our way back to the condo.

Emi: Grammy, tell him to put my rainbow skis by the other rainbow skis.

Me: That looks like where yours go because they all match. 

But he's in charge so we're going to let him do his own plan.

😂

We were going to play some more rounds of grocery store,

but Nick called and we got to hear all about his new area near Otovalo.

(He loves it. Gorgeous views, a big ward, a great comp. 

Members feed you lunch. Doesn't even bother him that he doesn't have hot water here either.)

The view from his bedroom window.

Pretty soon Marty and Lizzie arrived home (frozen) and

Dan and Chris joined the call from a food shack (also frozen).

Look at my three boys all together!

After lunch, Marty and Lizzie packed up and left for home.

Chris and Dan were kind enough to come back out with me for a few runs.

We rode the gondola up so we could stay warm for longer and skied the runs close to home.

My feet definitely feel better with the insoles and my thighs appreciated the break yesterday.

Then we packed up and said goodbye to our Colorado ski adventure.

Kershaw stayed with Morgan this weekend and had her dog, Louie

and a couple of neighbor dogs that looked just like him!

Sunday Funday

Instead of skiing today, we took Emi sledding!

We found a golf course just outside of town and a little hill, perfect for Emi's size.

And was surprisingly fun for us big kids too!

Chris getting thrown up in the air by Marty so he could be just like Emi.

These two crack me up. 

As you can see, most of my pictures are of Emi.

We're simply enamored with her.

But being a mom of big kids can be equally as entertaining.

I love my kids, so much!

Today we had a big brunch, watched zoom church, sledded, 

while everyone napped, I rented skis for Emi for tomorrow (and got the purple goggles!),

and we played several rounds of Yahtzee and Monopoly Deal and got gelato.

Every night Chris goes out to buy us a new flat of water and a few treats.

(double-stuff Oreos have been a favorite this trip.)

Emi delights us with her imaginative play (pretending to get ready to take a nap, shop at the grocery store, making ice cream cones etc.). Her memory and observation are off the charts. She loves to help whoever is cooking and pulls up a chair to be close to the action.

She loves sitting in everyone's lap and calls everyone by name which is sooo cute (Uncle Chris. Uncle Mimi (Michael), Grammy & Papa).

And her little voice saying, "thank you," and "I love you, so much" and "Hmmmm," is so precious.

She sings non-stop: The Wheels on the Bus and Itsy Bitsy Spider.

And Uncle Chris and Uncle Mimi are champs, singing along with her.

Marty and Lizzie are the best parents! 

And enjoying Emi so much gets us all counting down the days to get to meet new baby Petersen. 

Courtney and Michael are also going to be the best parents. 

Dan and I love being grandparents and Chris loves being an uncle. 

So. Much Fun.

Tortured on the Mountain

Fresh powder this morning made everyone happy, but me.

I'm super unconfident skiing in powder, made worse by my ski class a few years ago

where I supposedly learned to ski powder. I tumbled multiple times and then lost my ski.

What I learned about powder skiing is I hate it.

Lizzie opted for a reading morning while Emi went to childcare 

and the rest of us went to catch first tracks (much to my dismay).

I began with a positive attitude, encouraging the boys to take the challenging way down

and I would take the blues/groomed blacks and we'd meet up at the bottom of the lift.

What ended up happening is I was so nervous in the powder, 

I pizza-d along a relatively flat traverse to the hill, totally terrified of losing control.

I had to stop every few feet to rest because my quads were killing me even though yesterday was

an easy day -- kinda like when you lift weights really slowly, it still works those muscles.

Either that, or I'm in worse shape than I thought.

My feet were screaming, strangled inside a vice. I mean boot.

I valiantly carried on, until I found myself at a lift, but not the right one.

I called Dan and left him a voicemail to continue on without me.

I'd made a wrong turn, I hate powder, my feet and quads were being tortured

and I was heading home. And I felt great about my decision.

Unfortunately I had to essentially cross-country ski across those dang cat tracks.

What was so fun yesterday, were sticky and slow today, but the only place on the whole mountain that was groomed. Making my slow way home was nothing short of a critical life test and I had to use all my strategies to make it, self-talking the whole way:

"This afternoon I'll be sitting on the couch and what's so hard now will be a distant memory."

"Don't think of this as a slow slog, but as cross-country skiing which is great exercise."

"Look around at the pine trees and snow and be grateful for how beautiful it is. I'm lucky to be here."

"Just keep pushing through the pain in my feet and my quads. It won't last forever."

"I'm not really going in slow motion. I am making progress. It just feels like slow motion."

All the while I was also problem solving why my feet hurt so bad, like they had in my old boots, when my current boots felt great the last two seasons. I determined it must be an insole issue.

And eventually I did make it home. I stopped at one point to text Dan, and good thing I did because he hadn't got my voicemail and who knew how long he was waiting at the bottom of the lift for me.

(Fortunately he sent the boys for a lap so they weren't all waiting for me as I would have been no where to be found.)

I crawled through the condo door (practically), broke free of my boots and collapsed on the couch

next to Lizzie (ever so sorry to interrupt her solitary time, but I was desperate).

I attempted to read but feel fast asleep.

After lunch I considered going back out but only for half a second.

Especially since Michael and Marty both were calling it a day.

Chris and Dan would have a lot more fun skiing without me 

and I would have a lot more fun not skiing at all.

But I did go to the boot store and buy new insoles.

Also made it for 3:00 cookies

Imagine several chefs bringing trays of cookies to crowds of people,

freely giving away two, if asked, and happily handing out more to the kids who came back over and over.

After Emi was in bed, we played Marty's new Christmas game, Acquire,

a vintage real estate board game that was really fun.

Dan got a notice from Delta that Michael's flight might be delayed and suddenly the quest was on to consider different flights due to an impending storm in the east, and would Michael be able to find an Uber if he left tonight (instead of on the shuttle early tomorrow as planned)?

A driver agreed to the 2-3 hour drive and soon he was packed, we said our goodbyes

(we have LOVED spending so much time with him the last few weeks),

and he was out the door. Thirty minutes later he reported they were stuck on the road because of an accident. By the time they were moving, he wouldn't make it in time for his midnight flight.

He swapped to a morning flight and had his Uber driver take him to Marty and Lizzie's instead where he spent the night.

Good thing, he changed his flight because a storm did hit the east and his original flight was delayed and then got diverted to Washington D.C.!

What a day!

Family Ski Day

Emi got to go to childcare this morning

(Beaver Creek was the only resort in the area that had a childcare!)

and the rest of us skied together.

Lizzie tried to encourage everyone to take harder runs and she'd take the easier,

but everyone preferred to stick together. 

It was a beautiful morning with long, cruisers and cat tracks exploring a few different lifts

and getting the lay of the land. 

We went back to the condo for our traditional ski weekend lunch...

paninis (yes, we brought the panini maker!) and soup.

Then Lizzie picked up Emi from childcare (she loved it and they loved her!)

and the two of them napped,

Marty, Michael and Christopher found the ski park and "the good stuff"

and Dan and I checked out the beginner section to scout a place for Emi to learn,

and got lost following a cat track and ended up at a dead end at the road.

Fortunately we didn't have to hike down the road too far to get back to the resort.

Our condo is ski-in/ski-out but requires some trekking/cross-country skiing and out-of-the-way lifts.

We found the way back, but I think in future days we'll just use the escalators and walk.

At 3:45 we all went in search of the famous Beaver Creek cookies, but discovered

cookies are given out at 3:00. We'll try again tomorrow.

Emi got cute little flowers pained on her face at daycare today.

She wanted to call Aunt Nono and show her. And then we called cousin Reese and chatted with her.

After dinner, I gave Emi her bath and let her slide down the back of the tub

as many times as she wanted until we were both laughing hysterically.

Papa had to come check on us and see what all the commotion was about!

Grandbabies are the best! So are baby bedtimes.

We played Rook and chatted and just hung out catching up.

I love our family, SO MUCH! (As Emi keeps saying!)