My First Attempt at Skiing

We spent the day in Paoli yesterday. We left early to make it to the 9:30 service at the Mennonite church. I really like going up there. Everyone is so nice and welcoming. As always, all six of us were invited over to someone's house for lunch. It was the best meal I have had for a long time! (no offense to the culinary talents of my housemates). After stuffing ourselves, we went skiing at Paoli Peaks at absolutey no cost to us, thanks to those who had us for lunch (the husband works there, or he used to, or something). Luckily I wasn't the only one who had never been skiing. It was Alisa and Katie's first time too. They hooked us up with a lesson. Thank God for that because I would have been completely lost without it. I was horrible enough with the lesson! The first time off the ski lift I ran into a wall, but then I got the hang of it. After I mastered the bunny hill and figured out how to stop, the three of us decided to go down the "Family Trail", the eaisest one. Well not too far down I lost control and was rushing toward a fence that was blocking a big drop, so I forced myself to fall. And then I couldn't get up without taking off my skis. My nice housemates waited for me in a flat area. A staff person saw me fall and decided to help me. Alisa and Katie kept going, and the nice staff man tried to give me some pointers. But I wasn't doing too well and he had to keep catching me. I had another nice fall where I knocked my jaw with one of my poles. I was doing so bad he suggested I take off my skis and walk down the hill to the lift (and I couldn't even do that without falling!). He rode with me on the lift, probably thinking I couldn't do that by myself either. Then he told me I should not try that trail again. So any confidence and dignity I had left was crushed. So while all my housemates were skiing on the real trails, I went down the beginner's hill with all the kids a few more times until I was very bored and done with skiing. However I knew it would still be at least two more hours before we were going to leave. Luckily Katie & Alisa came back and kept me company. Oh yeah - another great fall of mine. On the other bunny hill, they had a conveyer belt thing (like the moving sidewalks in airports) instead of a lift. Everyone got on one by one and you were supposed to just stand there until you reached the top. However, the little kid behind me decided he wanted to walk. Since his skis were on top of mine, I had no choice but to walk as well, and keeping my skis straight while walking were another thing I was having trouble with. So of course one of them gets caught in the conveyer belt and I wipe out while doing the splits. They had to stop the belt and help me up. Stupid kid. I was slightly less embarassed when I saw that Alisa did the same thing! So although I failed horribly at skiing, I still had a lot of fun. And I am very happy it was free. Since I now know how much I suck at skiing, I don't think I could justify paying a lot of money to try it again. Looks like someone will have to pay my way to get me back on the slopes. In my opinion, I think it is one of those things that is a lot harder to learn as an adult, like a foregin language. After we were done skiing, we were invited to stop over to someone else's house. It happened to be just at dinner time, so of course they fed us. The hospitality of these people amazes me! So all and all it was a great day. And boy am I sore today.

The rest of the weekend was good too. I worked with Cameron for the first time on Saturday. Well technically I observed another therapist for two hours so I could learn his programs. It is very similar to what I did with Will, so I don't think I will have trouble catching on. However, he uses sign language, which I don't know. But I think I can catch on fast. After a couple more times with someone I think I will be comfortable by myself. And this little boy is so cute! He already started giving me hugs and holding my hand. I will enjoy working with him. And he does have some behaviors, but they seem like nothing to what I have dealt with in the past. Saturday night we went to a free concert at the public library downtown (I really love free things). The performer was Dar Williams and she was amazing! I had never heard of her before, but was assured by everyone she was wonderful, and I was not let down. I would classify her as folk/rock. She had some great songs, and told great stories in between them.

Work has been pretty fun lately. Thankfully today was easy since I am so sore! This past Friday it was my turn to plan "Fun Friday." We had a dance party and it was very successful! It was your typical middle school dance mix, complete with the YMCA, electric slide, etc. and of course some current hip-hop music (that's actually clean, had trouble finding those!) I had so much fun dancing with the kids. Let me tell you, African kids can dance! They definitely showed me up. And it was a good workout. I danced for over an hour straight and was definitely breaking a sweat. If only I could do that every day as my workout! Speaking of exercising, I have decided I am going to work out every day for at least thirty minutes and do stretches to help my back. This is quite a decision since lately I have not been working out at all! So far I have made it four days in a row. (I am counting my dance party and skiing). Because of my schedule and the fact that work often drains me (physically and emotionally), I just stopped exercising for the most part. So let's see how this goes. I need to be healthier, and maybe I wouldn't be so tired after work if I am getting my exercise. At least I hope. Or something else might be wrong with me. I am just exhausted all the time. Anyways, I thought I would share this so you guys can hold me accountable. Isn't this around the time the Bluffton Health Challenge usually started? I could really use that right now! This whole exercising thing would be easier if I had access to exercise equipment or a gym, or had a bike or liked to play sports or was able to run (a couple things prevent me from that). But I need to stop making excuses. I just have to be creative! And lots of exercise videos. Hooray for cardio salsa and Pilates. And I did Yoga for the first time tonight! Not too sure how that helped with my soreness.

Ok this has gone on for too long. I hope you enjoyed reading it :)

P.S. Abby Mo and Reba - do you realize that last year at this time we were preparing for our departure for Europe this week! Crazy huh? How fast a year goes by. And I can't believe I am already half way done with my service. It is going too fast!