Do not adjust your screen!!

No need to adjust your screen or have your eyes checked....that picture is really one of me skiing.  I'll give you a minute to collect yourself from the shock you've just experienced.

All better now?  Great.  Ok, so for years Brian has been saying that I should try skiing.  I went skiing one time in high school...it was not a pretty sight.  I was cold, whiny, and overall just hated the experience.  Fast forward to this winter, and Jake has asked me a few times if I was going to go skiing with him.  I kept putting off the question, then finally a few weeks ago Brian pointed out that we were nearing the end of ski season, and it was supposed to be warmer during the upcoming weekend, so it might be a good time to go.  I'm such a sucker, I agreed to this plan. 

I will admit: it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be.  In fact, between us, I enjoyed myself.  I wasn't cold at all, which helped tremendously.  It was 42 degrees, no wind, and Brian got me some great cold-weather gear that really helped (I was actually hot after the first few runs!) 

The only bad part of the day was that I took a pretty bad fall on the 5th run or so.  I had been having trouble stopping, so we got to the top of this run and Brian told me to wait to go down, he wanted to go in front of me so that I could see exactly how he came to a stop.  Well, in the middle of him trying to position himself in front of me, I couldn't seem to stop (go figure) and ended up going down the hill.  So there I was, careening down the hill, and somehow I ended up turning backwards.  As you can guess, it did not go well from there....I ended up falling backwards, cracking my head (I actually felt it bounce off the ground, OUCH!  Thank God for that helmet!), and then landing in a heap of tangled skis. My head actually ended up hurting less than my back; I think when I fell I instinctively tried to land on my right side.  However, my skis didn't come off, so when I tried to turn, I just became tangled in them and my upper body moved, but my lower body stayed in the same place.  My back and neck were quite sore for a few days....along with the muscles in the rest of my body that haven't been used in an embarrassingly long period of time.

Here is a video, though it does not feature my fall (sorry to disappoint you).  It's my 2nd run:

 Here is a longer one a bit later in the morning (somehow, I still look just as awkward as I did during earlier runs), and also features Jake doing some small jump things at the end:

So, there you have it, internet world.  I skied.  I lived to tell the tale. I was only sore for a week. Funniest conversation of the day was as follows, while on the lift.  We had been skiing for about 2 hours at this point, and Jake was clearly having to slow down a lot on all of the runs to wait for me.

Jake: Mommy, did you know that some people like to hang out in the lodge?
Me: Oh yeah?  That sounds nice.
Jake: Yeah, it's true.  (pause)  You can hang out in the lodge, if you want to.....
Me: Oh that's ok, buddy...I'm having lots of fun with you and daddy!
Jake: Oh...well, ok then............

I'm pretty sure he was trying to get rid of his slow poke mother.  Jake's wish was granted though after lunch; once I sat down I really felt the soreness from my fall. And the warmth of the lodge called to me....so I settled in with my book and let daddy & Jake head back out for another hour or so by themselves.  He didn't say so, but I'm sure he was ecstatic!