All the Roommates are Gone....

But there is still plenty of spring shredding to be done. The powder days are probably over for the season but there are still turns to be made. There are several aspects of spring skiing that make it such a special time of year. For one the resorts are deserted. I stopped in the middle of a run yesterday and looked behind me and saw no one. It was a beautiful thing. But one of the coolest aspects of skiing at the end of April is that the amount of clothes necessary for optimal comfort is decreased significantly. Sweet.

Granted skiing by yourself is not nearly as fun as skiing with your people. But riding up the lifts by yourself does give you the unique opportunity to converse with some of your fellow enthusiasts who have not put up the skis for the season just yet. By the time you get to top you have generally discussed how great a day it is and how I live here and they live in the 'Bay Area' four hours away. But yet we both have season passes. I am always impressed with this level of dedication. So here are a couple snippets for my life changing conversations on the lift yesterday.

Fellow skier: "What a great day. I always forget how much I love spring skiing."

Me: "Yup, it's a sweet day."

Fellow skier: "Are you from here?"

Me: "Yup, I just live down the mountain. You?"

Fellow Skier: "About forty minutes south of the Bay Area."

Me: "Sweet."

Fellow Skier: "Your the first person I've seen wearing shorts today."

Me: "I'm the first person I've seen wearing shorts as well."

Fellow Skier: "It's a good day for it. I'm about ready to lose this turtleneck."

Me: Luckily my inner monologue kicked in here. Otherwise I would have made some sort of suggestion about burning it. But I just replied, "Right on."

My next lift ride conversation was much more exciting. Mostly because I think the fact that we were both wearing shorts made us instant friends. Super.

Fellow shorts wearer: "Man the snow at Sugar Bowl was better. I should have went back there again today."

Me: "It's always a good day just as long as your out there."

Fellow shorts wearer: "True. I debated the shorts today. I knew if I was going to be doing bumps I would probably fall. But if your not falling your not skiing hard enough."

Me: "Right on."

Truer words have never been spoken. My next run down I took my first fall of the day. And my next lift ride up I saw my fellow shorts wearer tearing up the bumps.

Not a powder day but still a good day none the less.

Pain From the Valley

I have pics, I am just too lazy to put them on here right now. I'll get on it. So far, my recreational pursuits in Yosemite have been, well, painful, to say the least. This weekend I did my first two climbs in the valley... a lovely little 5.8 finger crack, which was delightfully fun, and a horrible 5.7 offwidth that took about everything I had just to not get my hips stuck in it. In the process of attempting this little gem of a climb, I managed to completely scraped my back on the rock. That will teach me to try to wear cute climbing tops. Dumb. Then today I was riding my bike to the gym and decided with my new Mark Lobsanger tune up, I'd jump a few curbs. This was a dumb idea. I was a bit too far forward in the saddle and proceeded fly head first over the handle bars into a pile of pine duff. I had pine needles in my hair, mouth, and underwear. It was neat. Supposedly it was a spectacular fall. Shame the faller never sees it. Only minor injuries sustained and it was totally worth the sweet curb jump.

Anna DeLaine Phoenix

Maybe not a common household name yet. (Depends on the household I suppose). Give it time though, it will be. In a few short weeks this super star will be closing the book on her undergraduate career at West Virginia University. And as she does with all things in her life she will be doing it with style. Anna will be graduating in the top of her class at WVU. Not the top of her Interior Design Program (that too), but the top of the 2008 Senior Class at WVU. She is among the top 50 graduates of 2008. Oh yea and her senior class consists of about 6,000 students. Neat. Here is what the WVU press release had to say about her.

WVU to honor 50 outstanding seniors during Commencement Honors Convocation

Anna Phoenix, of Cross Lanes, has aspirations of becoming the interior designer for the White House. She will graduate in May with a 4.0 GPA and Bachelor of Science degree in interior design. She plans to obtain a job as a designer, receive professional certification and earn a master’s degree in museum studies or a related field. “While a career is important to me, I know that it is not my only purpose in life,” she said. “Serving my community and ultimately the world is very important to me. I believe that people are the most important part of life, and I want my life to reflect that.” As a resident assistant in Bennett Tower, Phoenix has overseen floor programming, chaperoned trips and interacted with freshmen on a daily basis. She served as adviser to the Bennett Tower Community Service Club and coordinated monthly projects. Phoenix spent a semester in Morocco studying Islamic art and architecture, the history of the Middle East and North Africa and the impact of globalization on women in Third World countries. She has been awarded the PROMISE; WVU Mountaineer; Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences Alumni; and Joan Oty travel scholarships. Phoenix has also been named to the WVU President’s List and awarded the Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Freshman and Gamma Sigma Delta Outstanding Junior awards. She is the daughter of Paul and Shirlett Phoenix.

This is what I have to say about her. Anna you are about one of the most amazing people I know and I could not be more stoked for you and all your accomplishments. But I am even more so impressed with the person that you are. (I already knew you were outstanding). I know every place you will go and every person you meet will be better because of your presence. Tomorrow is Anna's Senior Interior Design Exhibit. (If I could apparate I would so be there). The culmination of her work from the last four years. I can say from experience this moment is a huge sign of relief. Although her designs and projects are more than amazing, they do not tell the whole story of her time at WVU. I know the people you have met there will not soon forget you and your impact in those lives (especially the ones you helped to not puke on themselves..multiple times) will be appreciated for a long time. I know you will only continue to make your corner of the world a better and brighter place for everyone in it. 'Girlfriend you are beautiful.'

So remember this name because I know Anna will only continue to do amazing things. How do I know this? Because while I was outside getting dirty, looking for crawdads, and taking my bike off of sweet jumps Anna was inside copying the dictionary!

The 15,000 Mile Winter

As I watch my odometer continue to climb higher and higher a couple of things happen (besides getting yet another oil change). 1) I turn up my music louder to ignore the rattling noise that comes from the rear of my car every time I go up any sort of grade. 2) I wonder how in the crap in a time period of 7 months have I put 15,000 miles on my car?
Since my drive to work is less than 10 miles round trip I don't really think my work commute is the culprit. No, I am pretty sure it has something to do with the frequency in which we left our timezone this winter to DRIVE to places in other timezones. We started off the winter with a Thanksgiving climbing trip to Joshua Tree. Although still in our particular timezone, Southern California with it's brown clouds and what not seems somewhat like another world. I'm pretty sure though it was the Christmas road trip to the east coast that sent our 36,000 mile factory warranty flying out the window like a discarded piece of hubba-bubba. The neatest part of that trip was how we made Phoenix and the Fiesta Bowl 'on the way' back to Tahoe. Then there were other trips that did not require us to drive across Kansas. An ultimate tournament in Vegas, a sweet ski trip to Southern Colorado, and I'm pretty sure I have driven back and forth to San Francisco close to 12 times. At least it feels like I have. My advice to all you other road trip warriors is hubba-bubba and sunflower seeds. I have discovered them to be excellent distractions from the desolate Nevada desert.
I think my husband said, "This winter was full of exciting times and well some minor drama." I would have to agree with him. I don't think we could have crammed much more into this winter. Most of all I think we just all laughed a lot. When your having family meetings to make sure there is no confusion about where to put the magnetic beer bottle opener on the refrigerator after using it, and the Douglas County Investigators show up looking for your landlord, and well every once in a while the water gets turned off....well that's just funny stuff.

Pics from the new neighborhood

Just a few pics of the new place... Hopefully they'll be just enough to entice you all to come visit! These were all taken from our bikes. Sweet!

And just a quick sidenote on the job...

Probably the neatest thing about this job is when I tell people in the park where I'm working they give me this look as if to say, "Oh, you poor girl. They're going to eat you alive, you silly little interpreter." Then they loose control of their inner monologues and say, "Ooohhh." and they scrunch up their faces like they've just eaten a Sourpatch Kid. Then they usually follow with, "Well, you sure will have a busy summer, dear. Good luck with that." Neat. It's really encouraging. But, as I've said the whole time, "Bring It." It makes me feel more bad ass that way. Like I know what I'm doing. It's a whole lot of false confidence. (Which as Jimmy says, is the best kind) Bad guys don't know what kind it is either. I think I'll be fine. This blog is my self affirmation.

And on an unrelated topic, if anyone sees a used kid bike trailer that would fit a 7o pound pooch for cheap, I'm on the look out. It'll be funny. Trust me. Me and Bear... we gots to get around the valley in style, you know. Cheers!

Here Goes Nothing!

I made it through the first three days at Yosemite. Holy crap. So the Valley is shenanigans. But my housing is sweet- I can walk or bike everywhere. Bear is soooo getting a trailer for the bike! The folks I work with have been very supportive, funny, and welcoming. Super! Currently, I feel a bit in over my head at the moment, but I think that will pass. I managed to pass my shooting qualifications by some act of the gun god, having not shot anything since December. Once again, I hope my first gunfight is in the dark with a shotgun. Me and the pea shooter, not so much. But I qualified. And day one on patrol... Pretty sleepy in the a.m. then I was reminded of where I work. A guy threatening to hurt himself. That was interesting. And seven minutes later, I got to assist with an arrest for a misdemenor warrant. I did my first person search on day one. Sweet. I think I work in a busy place. I think I'm about to learn a proverbial crapload about law enforcement. So, here goes nothing! Also on the docket this month... technical rescue training, fire refresher, and some miscellaneous EMS trainings. I think this'll be all right, friends. I will, however, be VERY ready for my margaritas in Olympic and some relaxing in the last frontier when I'm done. :)