No, I'm not blogging about depression or the road to Hotel California.  I'm talking about a down coat for snowboarding.  Last year Brad and I spent much time on perfecting our layering system so that we didn't freeze while snowboarding.  I think we got up to 5-6 layers and waddled out to the Bonanza Chair.  I think you could have tapped us on the shoulder and we would have rolled down the hill like a tire.  Brad picked up a Mountain Hardware down coat in Moab and was the only one nice and toasty on a cold , windy day on the slopes.  I was convinced-- I needed one of those.  So for Christmas, I received a Mountain Hardware down coat of my own from my mother & father in-law and husband.  I got to try it out on Christmas Day.  It was windy, cold and snowing but my new coat kept me so warm that I had to take off a layer.  Why hadn't I gotten one of these last year?  The other thing that I can't believe I had been living without while living in Colorado is a pair of warm snowboots.  I also got a pair of Keen snowboots for Christmas from Brad and I try to wear them everywhere.  My feet are finally warm! 

 

Billi

If you have not noticed by now that the blog came to a screeching halt.  You must need to read this more often.  After the list we took a break from several things and blogging was one of them.  We are now starting to get back into several of the things we let go.  So let's recap December so we are all on the same page.  On the first, we started to woder if the snow was going to come to Wolfcreek or not.  The runs were rocky, the days were warm and the tickets were half price.  We found a couple rocks right away but nothing that caused our boards to have some reconstruction surgey.  The little snow there was turned to ice and then getting off the chair turned into a extreme sport all to itself.  The treasure chair became the most difficlut/exciting.  There was this kinda launch pad with a SLOW sign 15' away that acted as a safety net for people who could not go SLOW.  On the way up to the top, the rider on the chair would have to get all ready to hit the launch, try to avoid the minefield of people, and try to turn around the SLOW sign.  Eventually after many tangles, they removed the slow sign and you were left with just a runway of ice.  Shortly thereafter, we started to see some snow fall.  It came a foot at a time.  Nothing like the 90" in two weeks like last year.  You had to be carfeull out there.  I found a nice stump that left a pretty rainbow colors on my leg.  I think now it is blackish purple.  Hey it matches my coat, though.   Billi's new board is working great for her.  She can carve harder know and is riding the trees with a smile.  The crowds are starting to show up so that means people standing in the middle of the lines, on top of our boards, and parking were they don't belong. 

In other news, I think Luci, our new beagle, is trying to be the first one up in the household every morning  If she is not ready to come out of her kennel by 4:30AM then she must really be tired and sleeping in till 5:00.  Also, with us doing little at work because of the weather, I have some time off so I can get caught up on some of the things we need to do to the house.  It also gives some more time to go snowboarding.  Our Xmas tree was sad this year because we never found the time to get any of the decorations on it, so it just stood tall with some lights and a big star. 

 

Brad

Our blog came to a screaching hault once the list ended and blogging was not mandatory.  The list has changed our lives.  The other day we were driving to Moab and were getting hungry and I was looking at places to eat thinking if they were fast food or not.  We have yet to drink a can of soda.  We still take our dogs on a walk as often as possible because it really made Tucker into a better dog and we have enjoyed it also.  One night I was watching some TV when I thought to myself that I had not eaten fruit and so I ate an apple, then I realized the 32 weeks was up.  The list changed us and we came out alright. 

We are thinking of a new way to energize our blog and have not settled on one way yet.  In the meanwhile we have some updates and some photo albums to share.  We just got back from Thanksgiving in Moab with my family and put our photos in the album.  We did some wheelin', biking, hiking, and running.  We all shared a condo, food, and beer.  We laughed, argued, and talked.  There were almost as many dogs as people and somehow there were more cellphones than dogs and people.  All in all we had a good time and were excited to come home. 

 

Brad