I'm becoming one of those people who loves their dog more than is normal or healthy.

Last Monday night I was home alone with Lucy, my family's new three-year-old 100-pound Yellow Lab (who is probably crossed with a Great Dane...she's enormous). I'm so enamored with this dog. She has boat loads of personality and, although it hurts me to say it, she's so much smarter than our last dog, Woody. I sat on the floor and threw her a ball for a bit, taking a video of it on my phone so I could watch it over and over in Berkeley (what, that's weird?).

Pardon my mindless giggling and the open pantry door. I should be more embarrassed about putting this on the internet, but I love her too much to care.

"But I feel like I'm on the surface of the sun!!"

Tourist season is upon us again here in the Valley. We (my roommates, friends, the people with whom I ride the bus) are back to the busy schedule - working 7 days a week (and many of those are double shifts); fielding questions from people who stop us in the street (something about us must scream "SHE LIVES HERE"); hoarding Emergen-C (in the hopes of warding off inevitable colds); hardly sleeping at all. Restaurants have waits. City Market is out of things. The people-watching is out of control.
A friend of mine in college, JKM, spent his summers in Pagosa Springs as a raft guide and waiter at the local steakhouse. He used to joke about having to paddle fat tourists down the river, and then turn around and serve them huge steaks at night...thus shooting himself in the foot. I think my winter is sort of similar, except in reverse: I get to ski with kids all day and then turn around and babysit them at night. If I've done my first job well enough - and the kids are sufficiently wiped out from skiing - then my second one is a breeze.
This week we had a BILLION kids at the Treehouse. My friend IY is just like Mitch Hedberg, except still alive and with Cuban heritage. Together we taught 24 never-evers on Sunday, and it was awesome - we had that magic carpet running like an assembly line. I had to be at the Ute on Monday, but I had many of the same kids again Tuesday-Thursday, and they were a) well-behaved, b) really good skiers (I had them at Level 4+ by the time I was done on Thursday), and c) pretty funny. One of them fed me the line that is the title of this post. I'd forgotten how much FUN it is to teach skiing to these kids.
*
My bracket doesn't totally suck this year. Of course I'd picked Nova and Notre Dame to both go into the 3rd round, and NO one saw Murray State coming, but otherwise I'm faring much better than I have in recent years. I have Syracuse taking it all in one bracket - which is probably not going to happen - and Kentucky in the other. (I hate everything about Kansas.)
*

So long story short: I had to chip all the ice off the sidewalks in front of the Ute today, and I was thrilled about it. It occurred to me - whilst I was chipping away - that there exists at the Ute an air of non-machismo amongst my coworkers. I work with all dudes (there's one other girl, KH, but we work exactly opposite schedules, so she doesn't count), and there is no question that they see me as an equal. They put me through the ringer. Outpost was an amazing place to work, but it was deeply sexist: in 6 years there, I never had the chance to sell a pair of skis, and I never took out the trash, and none of the male employees there had to input the information from a rental form in the computer database. The Ute is special. I can't play the girl card. I think that's how it should be everywhere.

*

My roommate AB's Argentine boyfriend left today. I'm heartbroken, both for her and for me. He's a good egg, and they were a good match, and I liked hanging out with him and I liked who she was when he was around. I know she's going to be hurting in the next few weeks, and I don't like to see her sad. I also don't like to think about the fact that I'll probably never see him again. It's a big world - one in which we all move around a lot - and although I plan on living well into my 10th decade, I suppose it's fair to assume our paths won't cross again. My path also won't cross with my dear friend GC, the South African lifty from last season with whom I spent a ton of time, and with whom I still talk. I guess this speech is a way of saying: I'm thankful that God put these people in my life, and I'm wicked thankful for Facebook.

*

My coworker and friend CM is funny. We work at the Ute on the same days, and he has a job in Snowmass the same days that I'm there, so we end up with a lot of face time, which means: we're so comfortable with each other that we act like siblings. Another guy at the Ute calls us the Twins. We get along well...most of the time. CM thinks I'm "crazy" (his word - he means "eccentric," not "unstable"), and he's crafting a list of reasons why: I'm a germaphobe; I love statistics; I say things he finds ridiculous. Anyway, he wears his shoes a full TWO AND A HALF SIZES too small, so really, he can't throw stones. But as we were having a conversation about this the other day, he said this, and I found it funny enough to write down: "It feels so much more...aggressive. Agile. You think ninjas wear their shoes a size bigger?!"

*
I always pray when I wake up in the morning. Lately it's been mostly: "Thank you for loving me even though I'm such a screwup. Please help me to not suck so much today, and to love other people as much as you love me."
*
Katie gets home today! She's been in Scotland for 11 days for a school spring break trip, and I am absolutely losing my mind without her. It's almost embarrassing how often I've texted/FBed her even though I know she can't respond and won't get any of my messages until she's back on American soil. On a typical day, we talk about every two and a half hours, MAX. I can't cope right now.
*

A woman was in the Ute the other day, and she caught me texting (my mom of all people) from behind the counter. She told me this story: she's an administrator at a high school in Texas. There are 2300 students at her school. They have a no-texting policy in place, and they charge $15/infraction when kids are caught breaking the rule. So far this year - just since September, mind you - the school has collected $7,000 in fines!!! I asked her what they used the money for, and she said, "Oh, it goes toward the greater good." She told me that they host a big luncheon for all the teachers at the end of the year. I think that's awesome.
*
Chaco makes dog leashes now! I mean, why wouldn't they? That's two of my favorite things in one - yellow labs and quality webbing.
*
So my friend ES works at the Nastar race course at Snowmass. There are big shacks at the top and bottom of the course, and they're heated, so he keeps his ski boots there overnight. He told me this story: The other day, at the start of his shift, he put his ski boots on. One boot felt weird, so he tried to ignore it, but after a moment he somehow came to the conclusion that there was a MOUSE in his boot! He called a couple of kids over to him - they were in ski school and about to race - and said, "Watch this!" and took his boot off and dumped it over. All three of them watched a terrified little mouse go sprinting across the snow toward the trees. :)

*
Happy Vernal Equinox!

This makes me laugh.

null - Watch more free videos

Poker

I've been collecting pop tabs for almost four years now. I send them in batches of about six pounds to the Ronald McDonald House in Providence, RI. Right now my Timbuk2 bag is swimming with them.

*

Saturday morning I had a class of five level three five-year-old boys. All boys. I was super anxious initially, but they turned out to be angels - good skiers with great attitudes who behaved, didn't complain and seemed to have a lot of fun. They stayed in my tracks, didn't argue about the line (everyone argues about the line!), kept their clothes/helmets/goggles on and even carried their skis. When they fell over, they could get up without help, and they even put their skis on and took them off without me. I was so pleased, and frankly a little shocked. One of them made me a valentine (a little construction paper heart with my name on it), and another cried when I tried to switch him into another class ("But Kelsey, I wanna ski with YOU!!"). I got $100 in tips from their parents, too. It was an awesome day.
*
Our trip to Steamboat last week was a riot. There were 11 of us - myself and four Aussie girls in my car, DR and his people in his car, RS & AB in JF's Outback - and it was the perfect group. Our sleeping quarters were a little cramped, but it made me that much more happy at 8am when I threw open the curtains of our Comfort Inn room and started singing at everyone to get out of bed. It was a freakin' powder day! Steamboat had probably 20 fresh inches (RS, DR, DW, JB, JF and I skied Morningside Park the first half of the day and nabbed face shots with every turn) and nothing felt skied off all day. Our drive home was the funniest part; I think I'll let the picture tell the story:
*
Moving on. Today at work, my boss JM bought me lunch at Cafe Suzanne. It was delightfully special; we were both super busy & couldn't ski down to the Treehouse for our free lunch, so instead we sat and chatted about our families and ski bumming and little kids and snow. Then at the end of the day, I found a fox den in the MIDDLE OF A RUN!!! That poor little mother fox is going to have the shock of her life when she births a litter of kits (right?) in mid-March and has to compete with hundreds of beginner skiers for space on the snow...
*
I've gotten to make a real dinner two nights in a row - first last night at JG's house as I babysat his kids, and then tonight, when I showed up pre-poker at the CK-AL-JF household with food for all of us. (Mom, I made the ravioli/sausage/tomato thing, and I broiled some broccoli to go with it. This kitchen is even more fun to cook in than yours!) I desperately miss cooking, so it's been fun to craft some solid meals for more than just myself.
*
My buddy JF is pretty swell. He wants you to know that his name is Jared Friday (as in, he's my first friend to give permission to use his actual name and not just his initials - "of course, until I do something stupid, and then you have to take it off," he says). He's standing over my shoulder as I type this.
*
I have a gnarly craving for some Walrus swiss dark chocolate ice cream.
*
This morning up at Elk Camp, a bajillion instructors were standing outside in a meeting - a whole mass of red jackets nodding politely as TH gave them instructions - and another instructor said as an aside to me, "Our Father, who art in heaven..." and we both giggled. (He was implying that the group looked, from our vantage point, like they were taking communion.) I started saying the rest of it; the instructor paused, then joined me as we finished the Lord's Prayer in its simple entirety looking out at the snow. It really choked me up.
Lately I've been reflecting about the lack of real church in my life here. I've been to a couple of services in the three-ish months I've lived here, and nothing has stuck. That's not to say I've cut God out of my life; I frequently find myself saying small thank you prayers for my friends, good snow, CC's thoughtfulness, waking up before my alarm, a hot shower, a kitchen, well-behaved kids, etc. I spend many gondola rides meditating. The punchline is that contrary to what many people think (myself included), the absence of a weekly church service hasn't left a void in my life. I haven't missed it, per se. It's not like I'm living in sin, but given the planned trajectory of my life (seminary in a couple of years) I had expected to feel some loss. I think this morning it kind of hit me like a truck, and I think I might come home this summer just to go back to Spirit of Joy again every Sunday.
*
My mom joined a Facebook group called, "I bet I can find a million people who don't care that Michael Phelps smoked weed." I have a righteous mother.
*
I played with THREE yellow labs yesterday, including a puppy. Life is grand.

Five inches in four hours and counting

Snow is pouring forth from the sky. I'm so excited I could spit - FINALLY, a decent snowfall in Snowmass!
*
Yesterday at "work," I got to play fetch with a 2-year old black lab named Dante for almost an hour. (Aside to JS & AS: Dante was about twice the size of Dally and had at least twice the energy, if you can believe it.) Then, after lunch (which is provided every day for all employees of the Treehouse), I spent the whole afternoon on my skis. I was working, but we managed to fit in about four runs, too. Life is rough. :)
*
Katie is home. I am so, so glad.
*
My naivete just bit me in the butt. Again. When I moved into this place, I was SO excited to live very close to the Aspen Chapel, the most charming little stone church you've ever seen. My first night here I marched up there to scope out the times for their services; as it turns out, they have a Sunday morning service at 9:30 and a Friday evening Shabbat. I was psyched, because I have to be at work on Sunday by 8 but I'm free as a bird Friday evenings. Yeah, well, so much for that. I came home and Wikipediad "Shabbat," only to learn that "shabbat" is hebrew for "sabbath" - as in, my new Friday church service is actually Jewish. Whoops. I suppose there's a mixed blessing there in that I didn't actually show up for one. :)
*
So I went to the liquor store tonight to get a bottle of wine (this is how you go on dates when you and your significant other live 400 miles apart - both of you buy a bottle of Pinot Noir at the same time, go home and have a glass together...over the phone) and on the drive home I realized that I don't have a corkscrew. Well, crap. These are the kinds of realizations I come to on a daily basis living in this teacup-sized apartment - I want pizza, but I can't have pizza because I don't have an oven. I can't bring my uniform home from work because I literally don't have the space for it. Obviously I have the space for a corkscrew, but...I just don't have one. Anyway, as I'm pulling into the parking lot (which, mind you, is about 1/4 a mile from my front door) I was debating whether to a) turn around and go buy one, b) gamble and hope that AB (my roommate) had one, or c) just break the top off the bottle (very risky, naturally)...and then EUREKA! I remembered that my trusty Leatherman could do the job. I was much more excited than the situation warranted, I promise you that.
*
I'm honestly amazed at how inexpensive everything is here. Aspen is not living up to its reputation. There's a silver lining, eh?

Meet Hannah.

Hannah is not mine. Yet. She's one of more than 350 adoptable female yellow labs on Petfinder.com right now, a beautiful 3-year-old dog in need of a home.
*
I want her. I need her, and she needs me - or someone like me, someone willing to love her and play with her and take care of her and rescue her from a few short weeks in a shelter before an untimely end in an overcrowded pound.

*

I really want a dog. I feel most fulfilled when I have something (or someone) to take care of, and lately that void in my life has made itself extra-obvious. Of course, I know what kind of problems a dog would create in my life - time and money are two things that do not abound for me - and yet, I think a puppy would alleviate so many problems. Boredom. Lonliness. My lack of a running partner.

*

Hannah is not the one for me. Besides, I want to name my dog Eleanor.

#3

I have a huge scratch across my chin, my neck and the left part of my chest. Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining.

*

I'm housesitting for the S family while they're in Lake Powell, and their two beautiful dogs - Cody, a big old chocolate lab, and Dally, a black lab puppy - are under my care for a few days. Naturally I'm thrilled. I still get choked up thinking about Woody, and Cody & Dally fill the little 'I-miss-my-labrador-retreiver' hole in my heart.

*

Anyway, last night I thought it would be a good idea to sit on the floor and play with the dogs . . . and Cody thought it would be a good idea to play shake with my face.