Go Speed Racer Go

I tried out my new ski helmet at Crystal today, and yes, I look like Speed Racer. Unfortunately, I am quite a bit slower than Speed, and on powder days like today, I tend to ski with a more Bode-esque style (although, again, quite a bit more slowly). To summarize: I look like a Japanime character who is slowly skiing on the verge of control. Regardless, I love my new helmet. It's light, it's warm, and it has flourescent pink straps that remind me of my Euro-80's skiing youth.

In addition to the Speed Racer photos, I've included two lunchtime photos of Brett & Emily and Travis exhibiting the fatigue that comes from skiing on fresh powder all morning. Apparently I looked even more exhausted when I finally stumbled into the Snorting Elk after a full day of "freshies in the pow-pow". It's the first time I've entered a jam-packed Snorting Elk and had people jumping up to offer me a seat.

We didn't have quite the blue clear skies of last weekend (see photo below for the same view from last Saturday's post -- Travis is helpfully pointing out Mt. Rainier in the background), but it was a lot warmer and the snow was amazing. After following Chris down a few ungroomed blacks, I finally got the hang of carving turns in deep powder on steep slopes. My knees and quads are not happy about it, but I am.

Of course, we ended the day at the Snorting Elk. It was too crowded to get a game of Hearts going, so we did not get another opportunity to witness "Schnitty" Pearce's strategy. Instead, I taught them the cup-passing game (does it have a name? I have no idea -- I learned it from Heather and Whitney Stewart when I was a kid). After the trek back to the car, which was easier for me since my sweet husband carried my skis for me, we headed back to the city to pick Cowboy up from his day o' fun at Pixel's. All-in-all, another great day on the slopes!

Kickin' it with my honey

Reasons I am lucky:

• I know this great guy who is my favorite person with whom to do things and who makes everything we do together a million times better


• I married him

Reason I am thinking of this today:

• I had so much fun with Chris at the Sh*tkickers show last night, and I was so happy and proud to be with my long tall cowboy

Eyes Wide Shut

And here I thought I was the one with the squinty eyes

Cold Play

We went skiing at Crystal with Brett and Emily today. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the snow was good, and the slopes were practically empty. Why was it so empty on such a spectacular day? Because it was cold. Really really cold. And windy. Nevertheless, it was a great day on the hill, followed by a great game of Hearts at the Snorting Elk (although we're still trying to figure out Brett's "strategy")!

Real Chenius

Tonight was the last night of Cowboy's obedience class. We had a contest to test our dogs' obedience skills. Cowboy dominated. Here's a picture of him with his diploma and the art tile he got for winning the contest. (OK, I picked out the tile. Chris and I narrowed the prize selection down to a teal blue pleather collar and the tile. We ended up going with the tile because, although I can't deny the appeal of pleather, I'm not a huge fan of teal blue.)

Note: He's 2 for 2. He won the contest at the end of his puppy kindergarten class too. We're so proud.

Happy Birthday Cowboy!

5/6/05 - 11 weeks old


2/15/06 - 1 year old

Spoiled Wenmei

How to Spoil Wenmei on Valentine's Day
by Chris

• Personally deliver flowers to her at work


• Take her to dinner at her favorite restaurant (she'll even cut your entree for you if your hand is in a cast)


• Join her for a night of comedy at the Paramount (OK, this one's actually part of "How to Spoil Chris on Valentine's Day")


• Surprise her with a goofy cuddly striped pom-pom hat, along with a card signed by Cowboy's muddy pawprint

Spoiled Cowboy

Cowboy had a good weekend. He spent a whole day at Pixel's Playdates, then got in another few hours of play at Magnusson Park and Tilly's yard. He fell asleep while I brushed him. Spoiled pup.

Ellis strikes again

Clear blue skies, good snow, wide open slopes -- the conditions were perfect for a fantastic ski day at Crystal. But then we added the wild card: Ellis. An injury was bound to happen. This time it was Chris.

We were barrelling down Sunnyside for our last run before lunch. Chris was on his park monkey skis, which are shorter and narrower than his tankers. He caught a rut and went flying head over heels into the hard-packed slope. He scraped up his chin, cheek and lip and pulled his groin, but he seemed to be OK otherwise. We skied the rest of the day, stopped at the Snorting Elk for an hour or so, then headed home. By the time we got to Enumclaw, his wrist had thawed out and was hurting so badly that we had to stop at a store to get some Tylenol. The pain was getting worse and his fingers were going numb, so we went to the ER to get it checked out.

It turns out that he sprained his wrist and may have fractured his scaphoid. Apparently, scaphoid fractures often don't show up in the x-rays until a week or more after the injury, so it's being treated like a fracture until he gets it x-rayed again in a week. So now he's in a splint and sling for at least the next week.

The good news is that he hurt his left wrist and he's right-handed, so this won't slow him down too much. Also, the doctor said that he should be able to get back on the slopes after a week or so if it's only a sprain.

You may be wondering what Ellis has to do with all of this. We're not sure, but his presence seems to be the common thread in most of the ski injuries that have happened this season. So we've decided that he's responsible in some way.

By the way, other than Chris' injury (of which we did not realize the extent until the drive home) I had the best ski day I've had in years. It was glorious.

Zillow talk

I'm addicted to Zillow.

But first, football. Tarik (of Moscaline fame) was surprised that I like football. He has known me for a very long time and thus knows that spending a weekend day sitting in front of a television to watch grown men play a game does not really mesh with my personality. He is right about that. I never actually said that I like football, but Chris likes it and I watch it because he watches it. And since I am sacrificing a perfectly good ski or hike day, I want to at least be well-informed and learn all that I can about it. Normally I would have very little opinion about the games, but this year just happened to bring together the teams that I do know and have followed for years -- the Steelers and the Seahawks. But that's over now, so no more football talk. Back to Cowboy!

Cowboy is as sweet as ever. He'll be one year old next week. No, we don't have a party planned. He's a dog.

I got another haircut too. Gary asked me why I cut my hair and whether I like long or short hair better. I read an interesting article about hair on MSN when I was deciding to cut it the first time. They compared it to picking a party dress. Long hair is like a black dress -- it's safe, attractive, and people will think you look nice but will forget what you wore the next day. Short hair is like a red dress -- it makes a statement, shows self-confidence, and people notice and remember it. Long hair is much easier to manage, but I do think I like short hair better. I always cut my hair when I'm feeling bored or complacent and want to stir things up a bit. I think it gives me more pep and makes me feel less "United States of Generica".

Now it's time to take my peppy short hair, get back onto Zillow, and look up all of my neighbors' houses.

Subpar Bowl

So it wasn't a good game. Neither team played well. Most people agree that the officiating was sketchy at best. As a Seattle-residing Steelers fan who normally supports the Sea Chickens (since they never play the Steelers during the regular season), it was a very strange game to watch. I didn't think there was anything Super about this Bowl game. However.

I'm hearing a lot in Sea-town about how the refs won the game for the Steelers. Now, I agree that the Steelers didn't exactly bring out their A game. In fact, they were being completely outplayed in the first half...yet the Seahawks still only managed to score 3 points on them. The Steelers only had three big plays the entire game, but that was enough to outdo the Seahawks' dropped passes, missed fieldgoals, and unrealized opportunities in the endzone.

The complaints about the officiating are nothing new. I hear that after every single game. The losers complain about unfair calls while the winners wipe their brow in relief that the calls didn't go against them. It's part of the game -- the refs are doing the best they can to make split-second judgement calls. Yes, they make mistakes. And yes, I think at least two mistakes were made against the Seahawks during this game. But, as I said, it's part of the game. Winning is about playing the game better than your opponent -- which includes being able to turn around momentum shifts and come back to make up for questionable calls.

It's like an actor claiming, "I'm a really good actor -- the best there is -- except when you turn those cameras and lights on me, and make me work with other actors. It really messes up my energy." Well then, you're not that good an actor.

Chris mentioned one thing about the game that bothers me. I like to see a certain level of sportsmanship on the field. Apparently, the Steelers were mouthing off to the Seahawks during the game and doing things like purposefully stepping over them after a tackle rather then helping them up. That disappoints me. That's how the Raiders play, not the Steelers.

Back to the Subpar Bowl. I've been hearing a lot of "the best team didn't win" around here. I agree. After all, who says the "best" teams were even playing in the game? The nature of the playoffs is such that the team that has the most passion and drive can come from behind to get to the final game. Also, the winning team in one conference plays the winning team in the other conference -- regardless of how evenly-matched the conferences are.

If this was really about the "best" teams playing each other, then there would be no need for playoffs because the season's records and statistics would determine the final two. But that's not what it's about -- it's about skill combined with drive, passion, the ability to maintain composure and momentum, and a little bit of luck. Sometimes the luck/calls/fans are on your side and sometimes they aren't. Sometimes you perform well in the clutch and sometimes you don't. It's all part of the game.