Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying, there's no crying in skiing!

Ski rentals, lift ticket, and hot cocoa: $0
(because I was adopted by Alder's family for the day)

Two nights of lodging minutes from Mt Hood: $0
(because Alder is a lawyer and he has connections!)

All the ibuprofen, hugs, and sympathy I could ask for: $0

Being pushed beyond my personal comfort zone, way past my physical limits, crying and blubbering halfway through my skiing lesson, and ending up sliding down the bunny hill on my butt in front of everyone: priceless



There are some things money just can’t buy.


For everything else, I have a charming family to take care of me. And there was a lot of that happening this last weekend. I went skiing at Mount Hood Meadows. I actually made it down the Buttercup run about three or four times before collapsing in a fit of tears and begging that someone help me down the rest of the way to the comforting yuppie-filled lodge. After 5 hours and endless cycle of falling down, getting back up, skiing two feet and falling down again, I had enough. I was using muscles that I didn’t know existed. I mistakenly thought I was only going skiing for the day but little did I know that to my body, it would feel like I was rollerblading, hiking, doing countless pushups and sit-ups, and other strenuous activities that shall *ahem* remain nameless all in the same day. By the end of it all, I could barely move. Thank goodness my companions- Alder, The Wife, and Bubble Boy- didn’t judge me too harshly. They all had to learn to ski at one time or another too so I’m pretty sure I got some genuinely sympathetic hugs and encouragement when I bawled like a baby.

The next time I go, I will be in better shape to deal with the difficulties that a newbie skier faces. I’ll know what I’m in for. I’ll know that it’s normal to fall down for the umpteenth time even after I thought I’d mastered the basics. And I’ll know that I’m only a relatively small hill away from a warm drink- with or without the alcohol- depending on how the ski lesson is going....