Our First Time Skiing

We went on our first ever ski trip last weekend with the British School. It was in Sirdal at the ski slope beside the Marathon cabin. We were fortunate enough to get the cabin for the weekend as well, so it made it very easy to get to the slope.

Sidney, Kimber and I all attended ski school. Sidney was in a separate class from us, which was a good thing. We probably would have spent most of our time telling her to stand up and stop eating snow rather than learn anything ourselves. Not that we learned a lot anyway, but more on that in a minute. Sidney did well in her class and seemed pretty comfortable on the skis. Her favorite parts of class were making a "pizza slice" (snowplowing) and the "Ski School Boogie" (a form of the "Hokie Pokie").

As far as the adult ski school, well, we hurt in places we haven't hurt in for a long time. I am convinced that learning to ski definitely gets harder with age. Kimber did better than I did, mostly because she figured out how to stop. I got the award for the most dramatic fall, but did not injure myself or anyone else in the process. I did learn how to turn, and the instructor reluctantly told me that since I couldn't seem to get myself stopped snowplowing, just to turn and stop instead. He said he had never told anyone that before, and I was glad I was able to give him a unique experience. After that, I was able to relax and enjoy it, and I didn't fall anymore. We will see how the ski trip in March goes. I still don't think we are ready to invest money in our own ski equipment.

Things are going well with my play practice. We have rehearsals tonight and tomorrow, and the first performance is Thursday night. I have most of my lines memorized, and feel like I should be okay by Thursday (I hope!)

For those that have been thinking about contributing to the Haiti Relief effort, I can suggest a way. A friend and classmate from nursing school, Melody Webster, is going down with a group called MercyWorks. Here is the link to the organization: www.worldwidevillage.org. If anything, please pray for them and their efforts, and for the people affected by this tragedy.

Finally, an update on our forecast. The snow that arrived just before Christmas is still here, though it has turned to ice in many places. We are forecast to get an inch or so of snow tonight, but the temperatures warm to a balmy 6C (43F) over the next couple of days, with about an inch of rain as well. Thursday is to be clear and breezy. Hopefully that will be enough to get rid of the snow. Since Stavanger Commune has gone through their next three years of budget for snow clearing (and the streets are still bad in places), I am sure everyone will be happy to see it gone!