It's been seven days since my last confession. This week has held all sorts of adventures. It was 56 degrees and it was a blizzard. The weather has been crazy.
I've been physically sore all week. We did an intense Ryan Kwan do on Tuesday. It was my favorite work out so far. Since we were taking Valentines Day off, we had to do a little extra. Maybe it was just normal. On Wed. I went to Bikram. I wasn't really into yoga that day, but I needed to stretch. Staying focused was difficult, as I was thinking about how much Gina and I laughed when she was there and how serious everyone was. Unbelievably I was able to stretch more than I had in my past sessions. I also sweated more than normal and was dehydrated for the next several days.
Champ almost go bye bye: Rich took Champ on a walk on Wednesday and he jumped in the duck
pond while chasing a Canadian Goose. He actually ran to the edge of the ice and then fell in. He pulled himself up halfway onto the ice and then froze. So Rich had to scoot across the ice, risking his own self, to rescue Champ. Rich fully expected to fall in, and heard the creaking as he approached the edge where Champs front claws were dug into the thin ice. Rich grabbed him and they both raced off the ice to safety. Champ seemed unphased, but clung to me like a baby blanket for two days afterward.On Thursday the blizzard came in and lingered through Friday. I wanted to go skiing on the mountain, but I couldn't find anyone to go with and I didn't think I'd get my money's worth if I went on my own. Having someone to laugh at me when I plant my face in the snow makes all the difference in the world to me.
Instead I rented some cross country skis from Peace Surplus - the best deal in town - to take Champ (who was chomping at the bit -- cabin fever) on a spin around Campbell Mesa. As soon as we got on the trail a HUGE coyote ran across our path. Luckily, being his unobservant, ADD self, Champ did not notice. We marched right back to the car to get the leash. Champ is a pretty spoiled chap and so he has little knowledge of the leash, so as soon as I put it on him he took off and I tipped over on my skis. Damn dog. Most of the skiing was a lesson for the dog to learn to stay on one side of me, not get tangled in the ski pole and quit getting the leash stuck under his leg. It was beautiful out there, no other people or tracks, besides coyote and rabbit. We went up and down small hills through the tall, lovely pines--pine needles doused with white cotton-looking blobs, cutting tracks in the pristine snow. Before our little trip was over another blizzard began and we skated home in a white out.
My friend Marc from Vegas showed up on Saturday a.m. and called for me to meet him at the Nordic Center. I had rented the cc skis the day before in anticipation of his arrival. Champ and I snuck through the back roads but still hit the crowds on the way up the mountain. Snow Bowl looked so lovely and I sort of wished we were going there, tho I was suspicious of epic crowds.I like to take Champ to the dog trail first when I got to the Nordic Center. Since they don't allow dogs on the regular trails, it allows me to wear him out a little (like that is possible) before I go out on my own. The dog trail is really nice and long. As usual, the first thing Champ did was take a big dookey in the trail- that I had to push off with my ski poles and burry so no one would get TO-ed. I
never see dog poo out there, it's the strangest thing. There were so many dogs and Champ played with them all. Then we put him in the car--he was MAd and barking at me like he wanted to kill me -- and headed out on the Albineau trail, my personal favorite. The snow was a bit sticky so I'm not sure if my skiing has improved or if it was just because of S-L-O-W snow. I felt a lot better than I had in the past. My surgery knee was WAY stronger (thanks to RyKwanDo) -- very little pain and I was psyched to do the downhills (we did Buffalo Bill - which was much slower than normal due to the conditions). I think I'm getting in shape again. Wahooo!Marc and DM came over for dinner. Rich made his famous pizza--the dogs were slobbering all over the kitchen (Champ and Sue). Marc kept the dogs entertained. They loved him!! It was a fun evening. We missed Franc. He probably had finished his 4th lap (80 miles) by the time everyone went home...
