Thoughts and Prayers

This beautiful boy, my nephew, was in a terrible ski accident today.

His back is broken and he has some crushed vertebrae.

Thank God he is alive, can move, and will heal.

And thank God he had his helmet on.

He always does.

He is an amazing skier, very skilled. He was skiing with his buddies up at Snowbird, Utah when he was cut off by another skier or boarder, he became airborne and hit a tree.

Luckily ski patrol was nearby and was able to brace him and then rush him to the hospital.

My poor sister and brother-in-law. That had to be one of the worst phone calls to receive.

They were able to rush to the hospital right away.

Please say a prayer for him and that he has a quick recovery.

And please say a prayer for his family as I know they are sick with worry.

We love him so much and feel so helpless being so far away.

I wish I could be there to comfort my sister and help somehow....

Thoughts and prayers and lots of texts and phone calls will have to do.

He is a senior in high school, an accomplished swimmer, a stellar student, a wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, and friend.

I am so glad and thankful that we still have him.

And I am so glad he always wears his helmet.

How come?

While we are walking down memory lane and as I look thru old pics...

I wonder,

How come we had to wear bathing caps?

It was explained to me by my Grandpa that it was to keep long hair from clogging up the filters of pools.

But in the top pic you can see my mother wearing one in a...lake.

And you know what?

We're talking the late 60's early 70's here. Many, many boys and men had long hair.

In fact, I seem to remember a perfectly, ghastly pixie cut my mother gave me that was far shorter than any guy's haircut.
So how come we had to wear them?

And then...

How come everyone stopped wearing them?

Did the filters in the pools get better?
And, we also ( being Catholic) always had to wear a hat or veil to church. On Easter we really jazzed it up, obvs.

My mother was twenty-five years-old in this pic...

Hats can age you I guess.

How come we didn't have to wear hats or veils to church any more?

I know the answer to that one!

Styles were changing in the late 1960's/early 1970's and the fact that women covering their head at church was not mentioned by the Vatican II... well little by little the practice lapsed.

Thank goodness because I could never find a bobby pin to keep my veil on!

Who is watching the children?

July 1963?

That means I was just under 31/2 years-old.

(I am the unsupervised little girl at the TOP of the jungle gym)

My sister was not even two years old.

( she is the one at the bottom of the pic, about to scale the jungle gym, unsupervised)

Hello child protective services?

Did you exist in the 1960's?

Because I promise you there isn't a parent alive in 2010 that would allow two cute, topless little girls to go higher than a foot without Mommy or Daddy hovering.

And about us being topless...

I know for a fact that little girls DID wear shirts in the 1960's!

Where were ours?

At least I had a groovy pair of sunglasses on.

Name change, Can you blame them?

I would imagine that anyone with the last name of Hitler changed their name immediately after WWII.

I read in the paper yesterday that a daughter-in-law of Madoff has filed for a name change.

She asked that she and her children's last name be changed from Madoff to Morgan.

Interesting.

She is still married to the jailed and disgraced financier's son...

I wonder what he thinks?

But,

Can you blame her?
As for this guy,

Many of his family members that live here also filed for and changed their last names.

Can you blame them?

Can you think of any other notorious surnames that beg for a change to protect innocent family members?

Snow day

Hello!

This is the ONLY type snow day I want to see.

Hockey gifts

Hockey gifts

http://www.preppyplayer.com

It's that time of year.

End of the season hockey banquets

Championship games

Thank you Coach dinners

This is when my website gets busy.

I have hockey gift wrap, thank you cards big enough for the team to sign, and posters perfect for framing and to give to the coach.

It was all his...

Or as he would probably say,

"the road to glory..."

We have been watching A LOT of Olympic ski events, obvs.

Skier Rainbow

Blogger meet-up

While on vacation I had coffee with Somer, my fav blogger in Utah.

So good to catch up, compare blogger notes.

Expect big things from Somer.

I have a feeling that she will become the go-to girl in the CF community.

Want to know what I mean?

YOU can go to:

http://lovetobreathe.blogspot.com/

We're back!

Something I said I would never do again? The red eye. Yup.

Snowbird today. Having a great time, wish you were ALL here! Miss my hubby and gi- it's not the same skiing without them. Also, I miss postin

twitter like posts

Ina from Alaska is correct!

I feel as though I'm twittering or is it a'twitter?

I haven't figured out how to properly post with my new iphone. ( got it for my birthday!)

AND, I am on my Dad's computer and can't post the pics I want from my iphone, I know there is an app for that- just have to figure out which one!



So, an update.

Obvs we've been skiing.

Had an event at my sister's

Got to see Somer, my fav blogger in Utah. http://lovetobreathe.blogspot.com/

More skiing to come.

Lots of visiting with family.

Love it.



Which brings me to...

My dear sister in Germany- The Frau.

It is so weird being here and not seeing her or her family.

And now I just read her blog and I can tell she is very homesick and down.

Some of you have already sent her words of support and encouragement,

Thank you.

But if you haven't?

Head over to :

http://fraukmwest.blogspot.com/



And please give her a big virtual kiss from me!

Alta rocks!!

Utah- blue sky, sunny, great day of skiing

ski trip necessity

So the most important thing I am packing for my ski trip?

My helmet!

Because like most my age, I didn't grow up wearing a helmet while skiing- I was slow to start wearing one.

I made my children wear them.

I suggested and urged my student's parents to make sure their children wear one.

It wasn't until another helmet wearing adult suggested, very gently...

that maybe I should wear a helmet since I am out there teaching and serve as an example. He pointed out that helmets not only protect us from errant skis and snowboards, other skiers, riders, trees and rocks...

They are really warm!
So now I do. I can't imagine not wearing one.
So does Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn!

Please get a helmet if you don't have one. I promise you won't regret it.

Improved

Yes, the process of getting a passport has certainly improved!

In fact it was painless.

A far cry from when I had to drive to the county courthouse, wait on long, long lines and then worry if my passport would be mailed back to me in time for my trip.

Today we went to the local library where a young man named Eugene took our son's picture, made sure everything on the application was just right, all in a timely fashion.

The best thing was-

he reminded me that my passport would be up for renewal in five months and that this may give me a problem on our trip to Europe.

Really?

Yes, according to Eugene, no problem going to Europe but it will be a hassle coming home. For some reason even though the passport is still valid reentry into the country can be sticky...

He suggested I renew.

I did.

Thank you Eugene.

Skiing in Utah!

I am stoked!

Even though my knee can act up, I am anticipating lots of long runs and tons of bumps.

Are any of you going to be in Utah skiing President's week?

Don't be shy. Let's meet for an apres de ski drink, doesn't have to be alcohol.

Although mine will be :)

I will be at Alta, Snowbird, Deer Valley, and Brighton.

At least that's the plan. I'm flexible.

I'm looking forward to visiting with family, skiing, a sale at my sister's, and quality time spent with my youngest.

And, possibly skiing with...

You!

Le saboteur

Is always... there.

lacrosse gifts, original art posters

Lacrosse posters, original art
More lacrosse gifts? Of course!

The college season starts at the end of the month.

A real Spring season, right.

Anyway, I wanted mothers of 7- 12 year-old boys to know that our Lacrosse posters rock!

If you want to still be in control of your boy's room decor AND you want him to be happy too,

Order one now!

They fit a standard size frame And they are a great price- $12.99

( Soon to be $15)

Click here to order.

A little birdie...

So, how nice was it to get all these lovely birthday greetings this morning?

Very nice.

Some were from bloggy friends and many have been from people I don't know.

Hmm.

And, I notice a huge amount of traffic coming from a certain blog out of Germany.

I investigate.

"A little birdie told them so"

Now I know what that old phrase means!

Thank you my lovely sister, friend, blog buddy, kindred spirit.

I love you :)

And thank you to all for the birthday greetings and for introducing yourself to me.

Any friend of the Frau's is a friend of mine!

Denim addendum.

So it wasn't just my imagination. Check out today's New York Times Style section.

Karin Nelson's Pulse section says:

"Cowgirls, Get the BluesSAY what you will about the double-denim look, but, as the fashion blogger Mister Mort wrote on his site in November, it “is not always wrong.” To illustrate his point, he posted a pic of a young Johnny Hallyday, sprawled on his side like a Calvin Klein model, the collar of his denim jacket popped and the cuffs of his blue jeans rolled. Maybe it has to do with the economy, but that down-home country cool still has appeal — and, as is visible on the streets and the spring runways, it’s having a moment."

Can you guess...

who I'm rooting for?

26 years

For a couple's 25th anniversary you are supposed to give Silver.

For the 26th you are supposed to give...

An original picture.

Huh?

It's true that's what those in the know say!

( some of you have seen this one before, but I was too lazy to scan a new "original" pic.

Oh, and know that my guy cut his pony tail off a few weeks before this pic was taken- this is him with "short" hair!)

The plan...

Do you have the same problem that I do?

You sit down on the computer and somehow, you look at the clock and 5 hours have gone by?

And you haven't accomplished anything?

So here is my plan.

I am setting the kitchen timer 30 minutes. and then I will clean.

When that goes off I am setting the timer for another 30 minutes and I get blogging time.

Then setting it another 30 minutes- do bills.

Another 30 minutes- phone work.

Another 30 minutes-computer work

another 30 minutes- blogging!

And so on.

I am, basically, structuring myself.

Someone has to.

Spring things

Right?

Bee pollen

So the bee pollen supplements...

Good News!

I went to my Doctor for my physical. She noticed my weight loss and I told her that I had been taking the bee pollen supplement and of all its benefits, besides the weight loss.

After a complete physical with everything being Perfect, she took my blood. I asked her to please check all organ function and to check my blood for any metals as I was afraid that since China is one of the most polluted countries that the pollen gathered for this product may have some toxins. She said that was a good idea.

The results are in. No toxins or metals in my body. My liver, kidneys, thyroid, etc are all perfect.

And I've lost 20 pounds.

Head over to...

http://cottagecabindesign.blogspot.com/

If you want to see what this image means to me right now.