The Mother of All Blog Posts

Oh my GOODNESS - after almost a month, my first chance at some quality time with functional internet. Hallelujah! There is much to write about, so without further adieu...

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Recent Great Quotes:

"Hey, señor!" - some lady to my (Asian) friend DW (who is from Australia)
"John McCain's a nice guy - he just needs his heart fixed." - a 5-year-old in my ski school class

"Hey, let's do something totally out of character and ski really slowly and in control for a change." - RS (granted, it was 11pm and we were skiing in the dark)

"Robbie, the faster you ski, the more you ski like a Canadian!" - JM

"My mom said if I didn't add her as a Facebook friend, she'd sell my chainsaw." - MT
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Lately I have become positively OBSESSED with the song "Time to Pretend" by MGMT. It's my ringtone, and I listen to it compulsively whenever I go anywhere. I think these lyrics are really cool:

I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms
I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world
I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone

Those words hit close to home right before I left for Aspen, which is why I like the song so much. MGMT also sings about doing heroin and dying young; that part I really can't relate to, though.

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As I mentioned, my internet hasn't worked in ages, and that means I haven't gotten to check my email, change my Facebook status or upload pictures, and/or write in my blog. I hate - HATE! - how much that agitates me. I live in such a pretty place and my online addiction isn't waning. Blast.
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A recent Facebook chat:
Courtney: "How are you?"
Kelsey: "Fine."
Courtney: "So you're freaked out, insecure, narcotic and emotional?"
Kelsey: "Hah, yes, but shouldn't it be 'neurotic'?"
Courtney: "Oh...yeah. Spell check didn't catch that one."
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It was two weeks ago now, but President Obama's inauguration is still on my mind. I think it was one of the happiest days of my life. I "luckfully" (as Courto would say) had the chance to watch most of the proceedings on TV even though I was working (thank you, beautifully liberal Aspen Ski Co.) and I made a short list of the things I'll tell my grandkids about some day:
-the musical arrangement just before the swearing-in was composed by John Williams and included a song that I'm familiar with as "Lord of the Dance"
-the incredible benediction by Reverend Lowry, the entirety of which I'll post in a separate blog
-bunches of foreign teenagers were hanging out around me saying things along the lines of "meh, we're foreigners, we don't care," and all of their instructors would just say "well you're in America now, so pay attention!"
-crying the most refreshing tears of joy and peace, knowing that our country is once again headed in a positive direction

AB, myself and LH celebrating on Inauguration night:

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A few weeks ago I watched "Wall-E" with my good buddy RS. We both teach little kids, so we hear about this movie on a regular basis. OH MY GOSH, it's so cute! There are a couple of strong undertones about the state of our world (the movie is about a trash compactor that cleans up the world after humans create too much garbage to live here), but my favorite part was the love story between two robots that taught people how to feel again. SO cute, I'm telling you.
I could take or leave the commentary in this little clip, but it has most of my favorite little Wall-E scenes, so I'll post it anyway:

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I can't really sum up the last month properly. I'm struggling to identify the important things.

Downtown Aspen at night

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When I was a kid, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was never a real holiday in our house, in that Mom always had big plans for us. While all of my friends were sleeping in or skiing, we marched the streets of Fort Collins and listened to speakers or attended rallies and talked about ways we were promoting peace and justice in our own lives. At the time I honestly hated it. I was kind of bitter that I had to spend my day off in some sort of alternate school. Looking back now, though, I am so appreciative for those extra lessons. MLK Day is so important; how great is it to really celebrate the man and the cause?
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RS, AB and I skied Snowmass as free skiers (we weren't working) for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Hooray sunshine!
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During a clinic back in early January, RS, DR, DW and I started talking about how fun it would be to hike Buttermilk some night under the full moon. We kicked it around for a few nights but kept having to put it off - RS went to Steamboat with his parents, I went home for a few days, DR's family flew in - until one night about three weeks later when we pulled the trigger. We decided at the last minute to hike Snowmass instead, and it was a fabulous, fabulous evening. The hike itself was totally ethereal - just the five of us hiking in silence under the brightest blanket of stars - and we giggled the entire time skiing down, headlamps blazing. DR even went into the terrain park, which was really freakin' stupid if you ask me. We hopped in the hot tub after we got home and decided to night hike all 4 mountains before the end of the season.
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This is "National Brotherhood of Skiers" week at Snowmass, which means that - eureka! - for the first time ever, I'm in a racial minority. The Brotherhood is an organization of African-Americans from around the country and they have descended upon this (very white) ski town in a big way. I love it. In all seriousness, when I look across the hill, it takes a while to find another Caucasian.
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Superbowl Sunday was a blast. We had a big party at CK, AL & JF's (palatial) house with more food and drink than could feed even two dozen hungry twentysomethings, which is a marvel. After the game, we fit 16 of us into one teensy hot tub, and of course all of us ended up crashing in various places around the house. The night was further evidence that this ski bum year is all of the best parts of college, minus the work. Who knew?
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The Winter X Games were held here last week, and they were FUN.

AB & I at the bottom of the Superpipe

My friends and I went to the events when we weren't working; frankly, it was hard to watch much action because it was so damn slippery at the bottom of the courses. It was worth it to be there, though; I got THISCLOSE to Shawn White as he walked to the podium on the last night:I think they should be called the "Shawn White Games" instead.
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I hiked Highlands Bowl today. It was AWESOME.

Monday

Just in case anyone is wondering, my internet is HORRID and I have SO much to write about...later, when I have time.
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What are YOU doing to promote peace and justice today? Please respond with a comment.

Tonight

Home from work relatively early * SNOW * Shower * Driving to Snowmass with AW * Randy Travis * Cab/sauv * Dinner at RS' place with several friends * Ahi tuna, filet mignon, cheap wine, brownie mix from a box * Apples to Apples * Football on TV * Wool socks * Five of us curling up on the couch in front of the fire * "Goggle privileges" * Snow, snow, snow...

Seriously. I love this place.

Thoughts along CO-131

I've done a lot of driving during the last month (200+ miles twice a week, actually - no exaggeration), and before each trip I've taken, a great many people have told me to drive safely. Think about that. I think it's incredibly kind. When someone tells you to drive safely, they're acknowledging that driving anywhere is inherently risky and expressing concern for your well-being. Drive safely.
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There are some really pretty back roads between Aspen and Steamboat - wide, snowy, open valleys with two-lane highways curving through them. I'm baffled that so much pretty country has existed right out my back door for so long and I've only just discovered it.
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Upon further consideration, I'm now totally sure - adamant even - that I have no New Year's resolutions. I don't need any. I'm totally satisfied with life, so as long as I keep living it like this, I don't see any need for intentional changes. There's just one thing I want to prioritize throughout 2009: I want to take every reasonable measure to spend time with the people I love. It may sound hokey but it's important to me.

Happy New Year

I'm waiting for my iPod to sync before I hit the road for Steamboat (this must be taking so long because both the iPod and the computer are 5 years old), so I'm stream-of-consciousnessing for a minute. Here goes.
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There's something really fun and special about asking a typical four year old blonde girl a question, having her look at me quizzically, and then having her instructor say, "Oh, she doesn't speak any English. Only Russian."
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Right now my life affords me infinitely more opportunity to act impulsively than it ever has before. I dig it.
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I have no New Year's resolutions...at all. Yet.
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I really miss my family. I wish I was in Rapid with everyone. I guess there's a first time for everything...including spending New Year's Eve with friends, like everyone else my age, but I'm going to miss doing Irish carbombs with Grandpa and playing Bunco with my favorite people in the world.

The Prodigal Boot Has Returned!

Sneaky's patio at sunset. (Not shown: my exhausted, cold, happy friends and I after a long day at work.)
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Saturday was maybe the coldest I've ever been in my life. It was so cold that as I was teaching, I was thinking about ways that I could describe it when I got home to my blog. It was miserable. The cool thing about life is that one tends to rebound relatively quickly from things like the cold, so I won't dwell on it now that I'm warm again. (Also, it seemed like my kids weren't really affected by the cold, which made me feel pretty embarrassingly pathetic.)

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AB just proposed to me the most spectacular idea: we're going to sublet our apartment during the X-Games, crash on a friend's floor (RS, I'm looking at you) and make enough money for maybe two months' rent. OH MY GOSH, I'M SO EXCITED. Done and done.
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I cut my hands more than anyone I've ever met. In the past two days, somehow I've made myself bleed TWELVE TIMES. Honestly, who does that? It happens on the most random crap, too, like my ski boots or boxes of hot chocolate. BAH.
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I'm happy.
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MY BOOTS ARE TOGETHER AGAIN! Yesterday I lost one of my snow boots - the ones I wear EVERY DAY - on a ski run. It's a long story. I was devastated and really made a bigger deal out of it than I should have, especially considering I was reunited with it this morning. Hallelujah, God is good.

The "Recent Great Quotes" Edition, Part 3

"Just don't...just don't worry about it. Just don't worry about it." - AB after she cut herself on an apple corer

"I like pizza better than I like most people." - RS

"Whenever I'm on an airplane and I hear a crying baby I always look around and ask, 'Won't somebody just shake that kid?!'" - RS

My life is better than your vacation.

There came a point during the past few weeks when I started actually living here - working, making friends, playing in the snow, enjoying my life - instead of just existing, and since then I've found it increasingly difficult to write. Hopefully I can reverse that trend.
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Here's what my typical day looks like.
I get a wake-up call from CC at 6:30am and drag myself out of bed and into the shower. I watch the news, throw on the same black long undies and have a bowl of raisin bran before leaving the house around 7:15. I drive 10 miles up US82 to Snowmass (listening to either NPR or an awesome Randy Travis album), park my car in the employee lot and take a bus the rest of the way to work at the Treehouse in the new base village.
Sunday through Tuesday I head to the employee locker room in the basement, put on my blue uniform, grab a radio and start hauling the ski racks onto the plaza in front of the Treehouse. Technically I'm part of a crew called the "Kids Kave" (I hate that it's spelled with a K) and I work with a few other people - my boss TL, LH (the only other girl), MT, DB, RB, AK, JM - and on any given day they're there to help with setup. Our job is to help the ski school function - we pack down the kids trails, organize the areas where parents drop off and pick up kids, run the lodges where instructors take students for breaks, set up and take down fences, shovel, etc etc etc. We're the backbone of the Treehouse and the job is NEVER boring, which thrills me. After the plaza is ready to go, I grab my skis and hop on the gondola, which takes me to the Elk Camp Meadows Beginner's Magic Lounge. This place is "my baby," as TL calls it. I spend the next two hours getting it running - making coffee, cleaning, putting up fences and ski racks outside, etc. At about 10am dozens and dozens of ski pros and students show up, so I greet them and help people figure out where they're supposed to be. I'm a certified ski tech and almost every day someone needs me to adjust their bindings or fix something. Then I ski down for lunch, which is SO good - free, delicious, and I eat with some combination of people I really like. After lunch, TL usually has random projects to tackle around the mountain, so I spend the next couple of hours on my skis. At about 2:30 I head back to ECM to clean everything up. At 3:30 my friend RS rides the gondola up after his class is over and we ski down together (perhaps the most fun part of the day). We head to the locker room, change out of our snow pants, and some contingency of us (usually 10-15 people) head next door to the new tavern, Sneaky's, for a $3 Fat Tire before heading home.
Thursday through Saturday I head to the employee locker room in the basement, put on my red uniform, grab my skis and head upstairs to wait for my class - a group of three- to six-year-olds that can be anywhere from one kid to seven, brand-new skiers or level 6s (better than some of my friends). Once everyone arrives, we get bundled up and head outside for the day. Sometimes this involves me catching kids or picking kids up off the snow all day (whilst in my 161-length skis); sometimes this involves me tearing down tree runs with a group of incredible skiers behind me. In both scenarios, I LOVE what I'm doing. Their parents pick them up at 3, at which point I head to the locker room, change out of my snow pants, and some contingency of us (usually 10-15 people) head next door to Sneaky's for a $3 Fat Tire before heading home.
Once I'm home I go for a run, find something for dinner, check my email, talk to CC and/or my family...and go to sleep. On fun but rare occasions, a group of us will go out - we already have favorite bars in Aspen (or we poach hot tubs) - but most of the time we're all so exhausted from skiing uphill all day that we call it an early night.
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I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said "Aspen/Snowmass: My Life is Better Than Your Vacation." It should be our motto because it's SO true. I LOVE living here. My job is amazing; I'm incredibly lucky to be working full-time (everyone else had to find a second job) and I honestly don't know which job (the "blue" one or the "red" one) I love more. I absolutely love the people I'm around, all of whom have turned into close friends. I couldn't pick a better group of people to spend an odyssey year with. It will NOT quit snowing here, either - we've had EIGHT FEET in the last two weeks. The whole experience has been phenomenal. I just feel so darn lucky.

I'm not in Kansas anymore, Toto

Just a couple of thoughts, and then I really need some sleep:
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I've mentioned that Aspen is not an overly-expensive place to live, but I can't say it's a cheap place to visit. Take, for instance, the cost of a full-day private ski lesson for your 3-year-old: $605. No, that's not a typo, and it doesn't include the $100+ you are expected to tip your instructor (me, thank you). An "average" night at the Little Nell in downtown runs a cool $1,443 PER ROOM. I'm not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Fortunately for me, families visiting my new hometown need babysitters, and those services are also heftily marked up; I made business cards (tomorrow I'm dropping them at all of Aspen's hotels and condos) and I can hopefully expect to babysit 5-6 nights a week at $25+ an hour.
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I'm doubling up on the Emergen-C as AB has Bronchitis and I'm about to get 10 kids a day sneezing in my face. My vicious immune system is going to get a workout this season.

Greetings from snowy Aspen, Colorado

This morning I had to use my Fab to figure out if that was really my car.