A hodge-podge of goings-on.

Been busy! Usually I'm experiencing the after holidays cool down about now, but this year there seems to be a continuous deluge of......stuff. My mom came out for her yearly visit and we had a fun yet short time with her. She arrived right during Kick-off week at Huz's work(New York Life) and was subsequently dragged to one of the fancy dinners. We thought she might enjoy the Petroleum Club and meeting some of Huz's associates. The NYL Head Honcho put her at a table with a couple suave young agents and she had a swell time! She has since been dubbed,"The Cougar".

I enjoyed the chance to wear the cute French Connection UK dress that Dea and I both coveted when we saw it in New York City last summer.

Found if on the super cheep at Ebay! I got to have 2 froo-froo fancy nights out in a row! The next evening was the Annual Awards Dinner. Remember? The one where I wait until the last minute and fret over what kind of gown to buy? I didn't bother holding a poll this year-I wanted a plum colored gown but the internets were lacking so I settled for a black gown with an intricate beaded....thingy.

Normally I don't wear black-cuz everyone else does-but the thingy made it unique enough. A few quick clicks around and it was a done deal. Mom stayed with the kids so Huz and I could attend the banquet and spend the night at the Captain Cook Hotel. Swank-ay!!!! 'Twas a gay affair, good margaritas, fun friends, a couple of awards given to Huz and NO WARDROBE MALFUNCTIONS!!!!

Back to Mom. Mom loves to take the kids in for haircuts, so we enjoyed MLK Day in town, shorn and shopping. The rest of the visit was spent hanging out, eating out, playing around, and visiting friends. We went for a nice snow shoe up the valley and were planning on heading up the Powerline Pass trail with her the next day, but she then realized that she actually had to leave that night, not the following. We were all bummed that the visit was cut short a day. It was so nice having my mommy out.

(Nanook takes on the mountains. Pretty good for 67 years old!!!!)

In the meantime, I seem to have physically started to discombobulate. My low back crap started acting up, both shoulders started to hurt, and one morning...intense pain down the left side of my neck into my rhomboids. Did I get into a car accident, you ask? Did I biff whilst downhill skiing? Get into a knife fight with a cagey broad in a downtown back alley? No. I hit 40 is all. Skate skied with the wrong size polls(grabbed Dea's by accident). One night my head snapped back when I fell asleep sitting on the couch watching a movie. I know, I know...HOW could I fall asleep watching Fight Club for feksake?!?! Chronic Low back pain, bursitis of the shoulders and whiplash.

40.

So I've been going in twice per week for a barrage of cracking, zapping, kneading(this part is goooooooooood), re-assessing, steroidal patch applying and icing. So far the low back feels a bit better-Oh! My x-ray shows that I have lumbarization. NOTHING about me is NORMAL. The left shoulder is almost back to normal, the right still sucks. Maybe I should take a break from the poi spinning?

And then there is ART. Creating. A sudden surge of ideas flowing in....a million tiny seeds of creation germinating...taking root, infiltrating my mind...but that's my next post.

Busy, busy.

A new year and late as usual!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Scenes from the annual neighborhood sledding party:

Our neighbors put on a fantastic fireworks display around 9pm.

Fireworks with the moonlit mountains made for a gorgeous sight!

ooooooing and ahhhhhing!

The infamous sledding run: grab a hold of one of the ropes tied to the back of our neighbor's 6-wheeler vehicle thingy called the Green Machine, get pulled to the top of the road, let go, turn and zip down past the tiki lights, make a right(if you can!!!) into the driveway, head down and make a sharp turn to the left( if you can!) and slide on over to the bonfire, drinks, food and fun!

a Blue moon AND lunar eclipse!!! You can see the shadow just starting on the moon's bottom left. Very cool!

At midnight, all down our valley, near and far, fireworks were going off! I've NEVER seen so many people doin' the 'works up here! There was even a group setting them off from the top of one of the ridges! Very impressive! What a great moonlight hike THAT must have been! Hmmmm..maybe a fun plan for next new years eve!