A lesson in gravity

Night before last, my friend, Tracey, called to see if we'd like to head up to the snow in our local mountains. The Princes loves the snow, so we made plans to head up about noon on Monday.

We caravaned with some other friends. As we made our way up the mountain, it was clear that there were lots of other people with the same idea. My friend and I smelled something burning as we drove, but her car didn't indicate a problem, so we kept on going. The Prince kept saying "I have a bad feeling about this," when he saw how many cars were heading up.

These are the cars lined up along the road.

When we got up to the area where the kids could sled, I had second thoughts. It was really crowded. I figured since we'd driven for awhile to get there we could just play it by ear.

"T" and The Prince set off and quickly put a lot of distance between us and them. They were motivated to use those snow discs.

It was a beautiful day. And I wore the WRONG shoes. Cowboy boots, to be exact. I kept slipping and sliding, and I fell farther and farther behind. The boys headed straight for an area with a very steep slope.

This is the slope.

And this? The Prince on a backboard, waiting to be loaded into the ambulance. On his first try down that hill (which I would have told him NOT to go down had I been close enough to tell him), The Prince hit a bush and went airborne. I was thinking, "He's dead." I honestly thought that. I couldn't move very fast, but a very nice man grabbed my arm and got me over to where the Prince was lying on the ground, face down. Some other strangers were asking him questions about his legs and arms and neck, and my friends (who all wore much more practical shoes for the snow) were all around him. He said his neck hurt. And then I saw the blood on the snow. The left side of his face is badly scraped, and he cut his lower lip.

I finally decided to call 9-1-1 because I was worried about his neck, and didn't want to make him walk across the slippery snow to get back to the car and go to the hospital. I had to get to a snack booth because none of our cell phones had reception up in the mountains.

I will never forget how calm Cherie was in talking to me and The Prince (and tending his wounds), and how Tracey waited for hours in the parking lot of the hospital in case we were discharged quickly and she could get us home, or how Sandy and Kellee offered their snow boots so that he wouldn't slip on the snow (when were thinking we were going to walk him to the car), and how Josiah and Tyler helped carry the backboard with the paramedics. All the kids and parents were so concerned about The Prince, and they never even got to enjoy the snow yesterday, and no one complained at all.

The Prince is feeling very self-conscious about his face. I looked at him from the time of the accident until we were discharged, but he won't let me see his face now. He is wearing his father's welding mask around the house. I'm not kidding.

I feel blessed that he wasn't badly hurt (in the scheme of things), and that so many people, strangers and friends alike, were there to help.

And that burning smell on the way up? It was the brakes on Sandy's van. They were smoking on the way down the hill, and a wonderful stranger honked and yelled and got Sandy to pull over so he could tell her! They had to sit for awhile before they could head down again, but had to pull over a second time! I'm telling ya, the day was kinda cursed.

So, rather than a warm, fuzzy Christmas post, this is what you get. Sorry 'bout that. But, I will be back with Christmas pictures soon.

FYI, I got The Prince's permission to take his picture, and to post it here. I told him he'd want to show the pictures around someday...a long time from now.

Blessings to you!

Did y'all have a Merry Christmas?

We did. It was very nice. Pictures to come, but right now, I have to give a shout out to Lou. She is having a giveaway on her blog, one which I am entering. She is giving away $150 worth of scrapbooking supplies from Cosmo Cricket. I have to say, I cannot get enough of scrapbooking supplies. They are too much fun. In fact, I have probably collected enough stuff to last me awhile. Now, I've gotta get scrapbooking!

I'll be back soon with Christmas pics.

Blessings to you!

I'm done, are you?

I'm starting a trend: Every one of my post titles will be a question. What a gimmick! I'll become like Pioneer Woman, with readers coming out of my ears! I'll get to go on a talk show...to talk about my incredibly clever post titles. Then, I'll make up my own calendar to be sold for charity. Then, my husband will become a very hot cowboy. Yeah, yeah, I know, ain't gonna happen. I like my hubby just the way he is, and he did wear cowboy boots to our wedding.

Anyway, I just realized that apart from a very few stocking stuffers, I am done Christmas shopping. How cool is that? The kids started a tradition a few years ago of wrapping each other's stocking stuffers, so I don't have to do any of it! That leaves me with the parents, my niece and my brother to wrap for. I love it! I kept things simpler this year, so there isn't that much to do, but it's even better than I planned.

In other news, we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific today.

My friend "L" got attacked by the birds as soon as she walked into the Lorikeet Habitat. She has nectar in a little cup that they just lap up. And that little cup? Three blinkin' dollars!!! Just ridiculous, but it works great if you want to be in a scene from "The Birds."

Do I look nervous? I have a long history of being pooped on by birds (starting at the age of 2; I'm not kidding) so these guys had me a little intimidated...and hoping I wouldn't have to figure out how to get bird poop out of my hair later on.


Here's The Prince and his buddy, "T." They're harrassing the sea anemones and starfish.


And here's The Princess and Cousin "B" doing the same, though I think they were tickling rather than harrassing. It's a girl thing.

And this, my friends, is what I call "Success!" This darling otter was moving so fast most of the time that I couldn't get a good picture of him. The flash made an unattractive bright spot on the pictures, so I had to get in close to the very dirty, smudgy glass. FINALLY, he paused to look at us weird humans, and I got him!!! Isn't he the cutest?!

Once agan, I have written the most non-cohesive post I could muster. This time, no alcohol involved, so I have no idea why this is so.

Hope you have a blessed weekend!

Snow in Southern California

Well, the forecast says rain, but I'm seeing snow, are you?

Fragile!

Now, if you've ever seen the movie "A Christmas Story," you will not pronounce that title in the typical American way...think Italian..."Fra-geel-aa!"

One of the big differences in the upbringing of The Gearhead & I is that my family celebrates all the holidays (in a secular way, for the most part, but they rock the gifts and the dinners, etc.). When the Gearhead's fraternal grandmother died, so did all the family get-togethers. Seriously. This was all before my time, but I have never been to a non-funeral family gathering with The Gearhead's entire family. So, The Gearhead's view of holidays is quite, what I feel to be, watered down.

Case in point: Valentine's Day. Direct quote from The Gearhead: "It's a Hallmark holiday." Thus, no celebration (at least after we got married).
Case in point: My birthday. Until a few years ago, no gift. My family did all the planning and gift-giving. Otherwise? No birthday. That has improved, I have to say.
Case in point: Christmas. If I didn't get gifts for our kids, for his family, for my family, there wouldn't be any gift-giving. He'd just rather let it go on by, without a big fuss. After 17, almost 18, years of marriage, I'm kinda getting used to it. There are times when I get really upset about it, but for the most part, I deal.

So, the other night, The Gearhead decided to watch "A Christmas Story." We own it. I was sitting in this very spot before the computer, listening to him guffaw throughout. The man rarely watches a movie, and even more rarely will he watch the same movie more than once, so this was a big deal. When the movie was over, he said, "There, now I've had Christmas. If nothing else happens for Christmas, I'm happy." WHAAAA???!!!!! Have y'all seen "A Christmas Story?" I just can't imagine it completing anyone's Christmas dreams. But, that's just me, I guess. He did mention that he'd seen on the internet that you could actually buy one of those fishnet stocking lamps and have it delivered in a big wooden box, just like in the movie. Here's a link to the scene, if you haven't seen it before: "Fishnet Stocking Lamp."

The Gearhead's birthday was this weekend. He is really hard to buy for, so I usually just tell him to get something he wants. He does that anyway, all year long, so it's just kinda blah. I was at a music store, and they had these for sale:



Oh yeah, baby. I bought one. That's what he got for his birthday. It got quite the chuckle out of him.



















Happy Birthday, Biscuit!!!! :)

FYI: The cohesiveness of this post is questionable. Therefore, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have to be honest. I had a drink tonight when my dear ol' dad began telling my husband's friend one of his war stories - loudly - ad nauseum. So, if this post doesn't make complete sense, let's just chalk it up to that, 'k? Thanx.