Mini Vaca - slope action

Had me a long weekend of cool slope action and family bonding. I visited my cousin AnnDawg who lives in Denver, and her brother Todd (Booner) came up to hit the slopes with us.

I suck the big one at skiing. I mean, really really suck - the mottled purple flesh on my lower bod is proof. I really think I was meant to snowboard. Practice makes perfect, and I will be practicing mucho before my next visit. Keystone is a great resort, though. I think I'd like to try Steamboat or Vail next.

Here are a few pics from the trip:

Ann and Todd having a beer at one of my favorite restaurants, the Yard House:


This is post-run back at the car, ready to go home.


Ann & Todd in the gondola


Me in the gondola


Conrad, Todd, Ann, Me, Christopher

Swoosh

Such the slacker I am, had promised to post daily and then let life get the best of me. Ah well...here's an update:

My Substance Abuse Counseling class was soooooooooo tedious and "high school" on Tuesday. The professor gave us a scrapbook assignment, but didn't give a time limit, so certain classmates played YouTube advertisements that were 7+ minutes. Hello.....I finally had to speak up and put a stop to the nonsense, as the professor looked to be spacing out. I get more out of reading the book and watching Basketball Diaries then I do sitting in that class. Irritates me when I don't get my money's worth.

Last night in Trauma class we discussed DID, or dissociative identity disorder. DID is what multiple personality disorder was renamed as. The professor told some pretty interesting stories of how she came to diagnose her clients who had DID - a bit tip off is "losing time", which of course can happen when you black out from substance abuse, but that wasn't the case with these clients. Spooky stuff. Glad my brain is intact....for the most part.

Heading out for Denver in a few hours to hang with my cousins and hit the slopes. Can't wait.

All for now - will post pics of the trip soon.

My New Trainer

I met with my new trainer last night. Kelly Moran is his name, and kickin' my ass is his game.

He was recommended by my most awesome new Martini Mondays friend.

We had a half-hour consult, where we went over my dossier, which is just a fancy term for my dorky goal/challenge sheet I typed up over the weekend.

We formed an elaborate plan of attack. He's giving me today to exercise my foodie demons, which means I'm going out to lunch and dinner and eating/drinking what I want.

Starting tomorrow, the following foods are no longer allowed in my bod until I hit a certain goal:

Sugar
Salt
Dairy
Red Meat
Starchy carbs
Any and all restaurant and fast food
Soda pop
Processed foods (with the exception of protein drinks and bars)
Alcohol

So this magic and secret goal will probably be reached around the end of May, which is a good thing, as it's my birthday and I'll be wanting to celebrate proper. Aside from the super-secret goal, other goals include:

1. Looking hot in my soon-to-be-purchased Molina Cards jersey.
2. Competing in the New Town Tri
3. Getting the 5-Star Century Badge

My friend told me Kelly had trained someone new Monday morning, and after 10 minutes they threw up and had to leave.

Ha - this I like to hear.

Our first training session is Monday.

I hope he yells at me.

I hope he pushes me so hard I am on the verge of throwing up but don't actually do so.

Here's to the next three months of hell - the secret, magic goal will be worth it.

Appletini, Apps, Ahoy

Great weekend, one of the best of the year so far.

Started with the worst movie of the year, "I Am Number 4", which should have been called "I Am Number 2". A real stinker. The only thing that made it worthwhile was seeing it with my brother.

Why?

Now, you have to understand that he and I share a truly infantile, warped and unique sense of humor, so when we get together all bets are off.

The dialogue in this particular movie was so rank it came across as hilarious. Funny to the point of not being able to catch you're breath because you're laughing too hard funny. Which is what happened to my brother and I. Good times.

Next up with hanging with the family on Saturday afternoon. Da baby was too funny, smiling and talking away, as was everyone else.

Saturday night I met up with friends who were celebrating their engagement at Van Goghz. Tasty martinis.

Sunday was an cornucopia of fun - had to use a big word to enhance how much fun was had. First, met up with old friends at LuLu's for dim sum.

Then took the new kayak on her maiden voyage at Creve Coeur Park. It was a bit windy, but the warm temps made up for it.

Afterwards came home, cleaned, and chatted on the phone with friends much too late.

All in all, a great weekend.

I scored over pizza

After you read this post you may start to think that this is going to be a baseball-focused blog. Not so. But since I LOVE BASEBALL now, there will be posts thrown in here and there to support my new LOVE OF BASEBALL. Did I mention I LOVE BASEBALL?

Hit up Dewey's last night for some yummy pizza - we got the Edgar Allen Poe, plus sausage. Delish.

During dinner my friend asked me about my newfound love of baseball, and rather skeptically I might add. She knows me well.

I gave her the "arranged marriage" explanation, and that I was tired of being left out of the fun due to my inability to grasp the finer points of the sport.

She then proceeded to school me in how to "score" the game.

Genius. Absolute genius. I love crunching data. If that makes me a nerd, so be it.

When I got home, I found this amazing site, which is all-things baseball scoring. Complete with examples and advanced symbols. Symbols! Hooah!!

So as I search for tickets to the season opener on 3/31 and find a deal on a jersey, I will be studying up on my scoring almanac so I can really dig into this game.

Go Cards!

Genius toys for every generation

Time magazine published a story today titled, "The 15 Smartest Toys For Young Geniuses".

Nice title. So if my kid doesn't happen to be a genius just yet, or was turned down by MENSA, they can't play with them? I actually don't have a kid, but if I did I'd be moderately offended by the title.

One of the "toys" they list is a Global Water Quality Kit, which is a basic water testing kit that kids can use on their kitchen tap. I like that it's geared towards science, but not sure it will help get your kid a place at the MENSA table. I can just hear the kids now..."Hey Tommy, want to come over and test the chlorine levels in our tap water?" "Whee, Billy, that sounds like fun! I'll be right there!".



Another genius toy is Stikits, which are essentially colored bits of cornstarch that kiddos can glom together to create things like a horse. Mind you, these creations look NOTHING like the real thing, unless the horse has a disfiguring medical condition. In my opinion, Play-Doh was the ultimate goo for untapped creativity. Check out the pic below for the scary deets on Stikits...


So this article got me thinking. What toys from my generation might have been called "genius-makers"? Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Rubik's Cube - this dandy and somewhat frustrating toy (for us non-genius types) seemed to be EVERYWHERE when I was growing up. Of course, my MENSA brother mastered it within hours, but my ADHD got me frustrated easily so I never did solve the darn thing. However, it is a toy that aids in memory, skill, dexterity and nerdiness, which in the case of Bill Gates can lead to world domination.


2. Atari - this was an AMAZING toy. Seriously amazing. I so loved playing Pitfall for hours on end. I was very, very good at Pitfall, and also Frogger. The joystick was simple to use - not sure why video games today have 20 bazillion buttons, levers and knobs. A stick and a button is all you really need, right?


3. Lite Brite - this fantastic toy was a creative outlet for the budding artist. Whether you worked off of the black-paper templates that were included or fashioned your own design, it was loads of fun. It also worked great as a nightlight for us kiddos who were scared of the dark. No, I'm not talking about me.

This is how much I like baseball...

I now am the proud owner of an Stan Musial autographed baseball*.

Jelly? Thought so... ;-)

*New baseball treasure courtesy of K. Holleman.

I Love Baseball

As my first post on my latest blog, I thought I'd ruminate on America's favorite pastime - baseball.

I grew up in the cold prairies of this country, and our sports were football and b-ball, and of course hockey due to the fact that our winter lasted 9 months our of the year. Frickin chilly it wss!

We really didn't have much in the way of baseball. The closest team to us was the Minnesota Twins, and, well, need I say more?

Upon moving to St. Louis in 1990 to attend college, I was immediately thrown into the world of professional sports - the Cards & the Blues.

The Blues took - the Cards did not.

Hockey is non-stop action - the sharp whoosh! of the blades scraping the ice, the FIGHTS!, and the frosty air were a sweet and gentle reminder of home.

Baseball, I found, was another story. Baseball was boring. It was hot. It lasted FOREVER, and I just didn't get it.

I've been to a handful of games in the 20 years I've lived in the Lou, and while I enjoyed the frosty & overpriced beer, the grease-oozing dogs wrapped in equally greasy paper and the endless chatter of die-hard fans around me, I never took to the game.

Well, color me Cardinal red because I am not only on the baseball bus, I'm driving the sucker.

I am a fan. A special kind of fan.

I am a fan in the way that you learn to love your husband from an arranged marriage.

When my brother announced a couple months back that he is the proud owner of a bazillion season tickets, the feeling started to sneak in then. The feeling that I was missing out on something really great.

What am I missing out on?

To name a few things, the camaraderie, history & integrity of the sport.

Also, there's the strategy that I have yet to understand but am willing to, much as a wife in an arranged marriage is willing to cook her new husband's favorite meals.

What I like best is the way baseball brings together people from all walks of life. That's the really cool thing, especially in a town that's still very much segregated. In the height of baseball season, Busch Stadium is a sweaty melting pot of screaming fans, all rooting for one thing. A win.

On what is a historic day (for me and the sport of baseball), I've come to realize that there are many things I love about baseball. And so, I will love it and hope it loves me back.

Furthermore, I will embrace the things about baseball I don't understand and hope that someone will explain them to me, someday. (Kathy, Jason, Scott, Jeff and Albo, I'm talking to you).

And I will accept my fate as a St. Louis Native (since 1990, which is my entire adult life so it COUNTS, dammit) and support my home team.

And I'll be there on opening day, regardless of whether Pujols is there or has turned traitor and is a Cubbie.