December 15th—Really??!!

It’s hard to believe we've hit the middle of December already. It seems I was just finishing my Thanksgiving Post, yet here I am two weeks later?? I’ve been in a whirlwind lately, and I expect this coming week will be much of the same.
This post is random and scattered…sort of like my mind these days, and its primary purpose is to simply ramble about some of the fun things going on lately. Sort of a “mom its too late to call you back tonight (2.5 hr time change to NFLD), but this is what I’m up to” post.

Last weekend I did an impromptu visit to my big sis in Toronto. I didn’t take many photos in Canada-Hands were too cold to take off the mittens, but it was indeed a fabulous trip. Classic sister time filled with relaxation, running, shopping and dining. Here’s one of my favorite self photos with Pam as we toast to sisterhood and the warming effects of Starbucks Lattes! “CHEERS” It was just a 3 day trip, but it won’t be long before we’re back together again under much warmer conditions.

After arriving home late Sunday night, I decided it was time to embrace winter. I had recently picked up my skis and bike from Gear West, and therefore it was time to play with my fixed up toys. Check out my Toy Trunk-Anybody want to play? It’s sort of like the ispy game. FIND the roller ski…what else can you find????

This past Saturday was a beautiful day for skiing. Our skis were waxed and after a short 60 min spin in the basement (my first ride on my tri bike since Kona), we loaded up the van and headed to Cleary Lake. Kerry and I are both very new to XC skate skiing, but we really love it. I spent my early years Alpine racing (Slalom and GS), but now I prefer Nordic skiing. I’m pretty sure that’s because it’s much easier to stay warm; you don’t spend time on freezing chair lifts, and you can really work up a great sweat. We skied for about an hour, and enjoyed post ski refreshments with our friend Denny. Denny is also new to skiing and it was fun to have him out there with us.

We rushed home from skiing in prep for the Ironman World Championship Broadcast. Lucky for us, we had a few friends show up at the YndePad to watch the show. We especially enjoyed having our out of town visitor - “the south”. Personally, I don’t think it was the best coverage from NBC, but it was inspirational nonetheless. Afterwards, we quickly moved onto Guitar Hero, and enjoyed a fun afternoon together with the peeps.

With Sunday’s miserable weather, we opted for indoor workouts, and LOTS of ELFing. By ELFing I do not mean trying to be Liz (yes, of course I do secretly wish I could be her, well at least write like her), but in this sense, it means I was shopping, wrapping, singing, decorating etc. Holiday Cheer…All gifts were purchased, wrapped and under the tree in one day- PROGRESS.

This week will be a flurry before heading back to AZ for the Holidays. Tonight, I had dinner with the South of the river gals, or as I like to call them "Life Lines". Good times, great chatter and festive consumption. I did find it sort of funny that among the 5 of us, we had difficulty finishing off a bottle of wine. Well I guess it was a Monday night, or was it the 5:30am Masters swim practice looming over people’s minds?? Either way, that’s how we roll, and I love it!!

We have our Holiday work party tomorrow afternoon (70 Technology folks hitting a bowling alley in Minneapolis), which should prove to be somewhat entertaining… Immediately following, we drive to Wisconsin to do an early Christmas celebration with Kerry's parents in Hudson. Certainly no shortage of yuletide glee.

So yes, this post if for you mom...we've exchanged too many voice mails the over the last week......We'll see you soon in Sunny AZ, but in the meantime...to answer the first question; this is what I'm up to!

Cheers!

Arizona Thanksgiving Fun

Despite working from home Tuesday and Wednesday, we made plenty of time for Thanksgiving fun in the Desert. We hadn’t been to AZ since July so as soon as we realized the kids were with their mom for the Holiday, Kerry and I jumped at the opportunity for a much needed getaway.

Kerry and I are as easy going (and non-traditional) as it gets, so I expected our Thanksgiving dinner to consist of a turkey Sandwich on the top of some mountain in Sedona. However, after a rainy morning, and a generous invitation from our friends Paul and Laura, we enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving feast at their abode. Paul and Laura are from the Twin Cities, and ironically we spend more time with them in AZ than we do at home. They also purchased a place in our community and it’s been great fun spending more time together. While digesting our wonderful meal, we came up with a plan to forgo the chaos of Black Friday shopping, and challenge ourselves to a new hiking adventure in the Superstition Mountains.

Aside from viewing the summit from the ground, we didn’t know much about the hike. We welcomed the unknown, however I was a little intimated early on as I saw one hiker with a 9 mm handgun on his belt. “Cougars” he said?!? Despite some reservation, we continued onward. Luckily no scary wildlife to report, but we also saw some guy carrying a SHOTGUN over his shoulder. Yes, this is the Wild West, but a Shotgun for a hike?! Deputy Jen, maybe I’ll have to take you up on those shooting lessons after all.

We started out from the base at 0830, and we wobbled back into the car at 1430. 6 hours to go just over 6 miles!! It was an epic hike to say the least.

Here's the view to the summit from the half way point.

The summit was remarkable. Despite low clouds obscuring what would have been spectacular views, it was amazing to make it to the top. There were several moments of uncertainly, but we stuck it out and enjoyed the reward. Unfortunately, it was a little chilly at 5000 ft.

Yes, the exclamation point on the rock WAS appropriate.

I must admit that the decent was much more challenging than the ascent. There was a lot of tricky bouldering, with sharp rocks and vegetation keeping us on our toes. We were all pretty exhausted towards the end, and after doing was equates to hours of squats and lunges during the hike, our legs on Saturday morning were barely functional.


Sunday was originally slated for more fun in the sun, however after deciding to print our boarding passes at 0850, we realized that our flight back to MSP departed at 1010. CRAP!! Our place is 25 miles from the airport, we had to return the rental car, our condo was a mess, and I was still in my PJs. We thought we were on the Sunday evening flight (the typical situation), and after a quick check, there were no Sun Country flights until Monday morning. I HAD to be back in the office Monday morning, so I threw my work laptop in my bag and off we went. Kerry dropped me at the airport and I made it through security without a problem. It sucked to leave my favorite sidekick behind, but there was no way we could have both made it. I guess, on the positive side, I didn’t have to do any cleaning!!

Thanks Jen for picking me up at the airport...The Door to door service was much appreciated.

Now at 18 degrees F, I guess its time to readjust the internal thermostat! BURRRRR...