Doh! My Toe!

FEEL:  Methinks I broke my toe.  Right foot, 4th toe, distal phalanx.  It happened when I was overcome by someones over-the-top, Wasillabilly, Snooki style poof hairdo at work.  I walked into a chair.  I also walked into a door jam later in the day while talking to a client.  Weeeeeee!

SMELL:  Candy by Prada.  I think I may have found my new perfume.  I glommed a tester from Nordy's yesterday and spritzed some on this morning.  I'm not into the whole Pink Sugar, sickly sweet cake and icing fragrances, but this is just plain sex on the wrist.  The top notes don't blow my mind but after about a half hour a musky caramel/vanilla/Benzoin comes out...mmmmmm.

TASTE:  Miles and I tested one of my chocolate bocks- BOCKAHOLIC- out on the sunny deck.  It's been in the bottle a month now.  I'm a little bummed at the sparsity of head and the minimal chocolaty-ness I'm tasting.  I was hoping for stronger but am only detecting the vanilla and choc on the finish.  As far as bocks go, it 'taint bad and has a very nice roasted flavor and full mouth feel.  But as a chocolate lovers dream?  Eh.  We'll wait a couple of weeks to compare it to a bottle of the Sam Adams Chocolate Bock.

SEE:  My daughters kibitzing on the deck in blankets and sunglasses.

HEAR:  A friggin awesome live Lynyrd Skynyrd CD......One More From the Road.  I'm a moderate  Lynyrd fan, but goddamn!  This is tight and crankin'!

Miles's 49th!

On St. Patrick's Day.
The usual suspects.
Plenty of food and beer.
And it was GOOD!

Manna from the beer gods!  Made with the spent American Brown Ale grains and yeast from brewing the day before.  Waste not, want not!

Chillin', me and my hunny, on the sun soaked deck before folks arrive

Dylan made....and SO friggin yummy!

Make a wish and..!!!

Beer glasses at the ready!

Happy Birthday my WONDERFUL, silly, sweet, BFF and husband!!!!!
Oh, and F-YOU, Saint Paddy!

One extra day of Spring Break

Spring Eve...
 Willa and I played hooky yesterday.  ;}  I wasn't ready for Spring Break to be over.  And the sun was boomin', so, we went snowshoeing up Bear Pass.  Willa has hiked up there many times, but this was her first snowshoe to the top!  It was quite a challenge for her and I wasn't sure we were going to make it.  Despite the moaning and groaning she was inwardly determined to get herself up there.  And that she did.  We ate our lunches, explored and played around up top for awhile before heading back down.  Down is always the best part because you can slide quite a bit with your snowshoes!  Hearing her laughing and yelling out,"This is the FUNNEST thing I've ever done!" made my heart sing.  I'm so glad and honored that we are able to give her this magic.
WONDERFUL day....

Almost there!

HARDCORE KIDDO!!!!

Made it!  Whew.

So tiny against those mountains!

LOTS of people have been skiing and boarding here.  Tracks everywhere!

Snow angels

Biffed!  Dragon likes it, though!



And we get to LIVE here!!!

This morning's 3 am photo shoot!  After an auroral drought the last few years, this season's solar flares emitting class X coronal mass ejections have been giving us some beautiful displays!  Miles and I got Willa out of bed and bundled at midnight last week so she could finally see her first strong showing.  Afterward, still feeling zonked, I went back to my warm bed and husband but when I woke up in the morning I TOTALLY regretted not grabbing the camera for some shots.  After all, what's a late night now and then and how often have we  gotten to see such lights lately?!?!  So when Miles woke me up at not even the butt crack of dawn this morning I got right to it with my camera.  Geared up warm like the Michelin man, I stayed out in that magnificence until my fingers no longer worked-it was about 3 degrees.  SO worth the slight discomfort to stand outside while the valley slept...watching those ethereal waves dance and sway in the clear quiet.  The stars-and Mars-in audience.  Light wind...the occasional snap of a branch-ermine or moose?...the crunching of crisp snow. 
We get to LIVE here.
Fulfilled.

Light shower over our house

Straight up to the Big Dipper.

Snowshoe

HEAR:  Our African clawed frog croaking away.  He's either really happy I cleaned his nasty tank today, or really pissed off because he likes the tank stagnant and stinky and full of slime.  Sorry, Scoot.

SEE:  Myself surrounded by white and blue....

SMELL:  Hops.  We racked the Belgian Trappist Ale- Orval clone to the secondary.

TASTE:  Enjoying our Road Rash red ale at the mo.

FEEL:  Rewarded.  Cleaned the nasty tank, helped Willa with her room, went on a wonderful snowshoe with Miles up the valley, beer racked, Chicken parm in oven, LOTR on the tube....and hoping the clouds clear so I can take photos of the northern lights tonight!



Grrrd!

We rented a house in Girdwood last month for 3 days with some friends so that we could enjoy a couple full days of skiing. It was great to have a nice place to crash, have some hot soup and margaritas, and hang out instead of having to deal with the long drive back home, exhausted after a day of skiing.  The kiddos had lots of fun playing with each other and so did the adults!  We saw a great band at the Sitzmark Bar and Grill where Miles and I had our wedding reception.  The skiing was amazing-decent temps and conditions.  Willa's skills really improved after taking a couple classes and she felt confident enough to venture to the top on the tram with us for the first time!  Dylan blew us off the mountain as usual....but the old folks are happy at their current level of speed-I have a career depending on a functioning body, after all!  I'm loving my new updated skis...what a huge difference from the straight looooooong skis I'd had since high school!  No one stares anymore or says,"WOW!!!!  OLD school!"

 Spoiled we are now, after being able to sleep over in the happy town-o-Girdwood!  We'll definitely plan on this for next year!

Ready for ascent

The fam  on the Glacier Express deck-right on the spot where Miles and I were married almost 10 years ago.

Enjoying an IPA break on the deck of the Sitz

Silly kids

Silly adult kids and their Margaritas awaiting the 10pm show at the Sitz.  Can I just say that these recliner-type couches are the stupidest fucking things ever?!?  I mean...what a bastion of couch potato-ness!!!  Can't hold your Slurpee in your own fucking hand?  Rest that poor tired extremity by placing cup in the holder on the console as shown!  And what of your po-ta-to chips?  What to do with them when not munching?!  Pop up the lid on your armrest and store them there!  Yay!  And if you want to make eye contact while communicating with your couch partner, you'll have to either tandem un-recline those seats or engage those abs and lean FORWARD over the middle on the couch.  Otherwise you'll just have to speak louder through the mass of upholstery that will be in your face when you turn your head to the side.  Ridiculous.  Rant over.

Lovely view of the slopes from the house

Goodnight tired wee skiers!  (They enjoyed sleeping in the loft!)