Mountain Life, A Snow Day

You would think, living in the mountains with an average annual snowfall of over 400 inches of snow, that we would get a lot of "snow days", stuck at home, roads closed, no place to go.  Actually, it's fairly rare! But yesterday we had freezing rain in the forecast so I, mentally checked out, spent the day in the house doing laundry, binged watched some Nicholas Cage movies on Netflix (don't judge me man), baked brownies, played with Mae.

Unfortunately, today is a REAL "snow day".  The freezing rain, which came down like a sand, accumulated to about 8 inches or more, and I-90 is closed in both directions for today AND tonight.   Slides and debris have covered parts of the highway and conditions are too dangerous for crews to be out clearing. Trees are across the road and more are falling. It's going to be a long time before they get the highway cleaned up and open!  Locals are saying it's the worst ice storm they can remember in over 40 years of pass living.

What to do?? Well, Netflix is out right?  I mean how many bad movies can you stand?  (A lot actually).  I'm not making any more brownies, cakes or pie.  Maybe I will make an apple crisp though.  I've already done yoga and a weight work out....I've been out walking Mae twice .  I think we should venture up the mountain, do a little skinning, take a few turns.  

What does Mae think?  She might have the right idea....

2017, The Universe, Yoga I Can Stand

Hello and Happy New Year!  It's 2017!  Can you believe it?  When I was a kid I used to calculate how old I would be in THE FUTURE...Well, I don't think I ever went past the year 2000.  And here I am, in 2017.  No hover car, no personal robot, no trips to Mars....But it's close, right?  I have the mars curiosity rover on instagram and that just blows me away!!  Pictures of Mars, the red planet, on my phone?  Way cool!

Ok enough of my ramblings....here's the photo of Mae you've all been waiting for, waiting in the snow for snowballs.

I have a couple of things to share with you....remember the Altras?  The shoe to end all mountain running shoes?  Well sadly, I ended up returning them after about 3 months.  They were perfect, great shoe, scrambling around the mountain, running , hiking.  they kept me comfy and dry through October, the wettest October on record in Seattle.  They were warm and great into November.  And then, one day, my feet were WET!  They were leaking at the seams and also had really broken down after only about 100 miles of use. No cushion, dead shoes.   I spoke to a rep at Altra and he confirmed that because they are new shoes/boots for them they didn't really know what to expect.  The "neoshell" is not actually neoprene but a gortex like material.  Anyway, they went back....I couldn't justify the $160 retail price (I paid $140 thru Road Runner Sports and they have an excellent return policy).  I got a really ugly pair of Asics that are doing the job well enough for half the price.

Ok, The Universe....so I don't mean this in a Carl Sagan way, though I LOVE Mr. Sagan.  I am talking about all that Karmic stuff, you know, things working out in the end?  squaring up the score. settling accounts.... My daughter was complaining about how she didn't get a discount on her rent after a friend said she referred her AND a manager called and told her she would get $300 off rent....a different manager told her NO.  Because the friend didn't fill out the referall form correctly.  What??  As my daughter was telling me the story, the Boston Irish in me came out and I wanted to call said manager and tell her what a *#@! she is, but then....and this is pretty amazing for me....but then I thought "no, the UNIVERSE can handle this".  You know why?  Because the Universe can dole out some really nasty shit!  What can I do?  Swear into the phone?  Use my wit and language to come up with some mean, but to the point, derogatory insults?  sure...But the Universe....the Universe takes care of revenge and getting even in a BIG way. I have seen this first hand .  I have seen some terrible things happen to people that have not been very nice to me.  Really awful, life changing things.  And that's sad.  So, I am letting go of anger (yeah right, at least this month ok?) letting go of righting wrongs.  I'm not using my life energy on that pursuit.  I'm gonna just let Good ol' buddy Universe do it's stuff.  I will stand up for my rights, take matters into my own hands when it's logical.  Ask me how this is going in a few months though!

Yoga.  So I have always tried to do yoga and have literally hated it!  Hated the often false, mumbo jumbo breathing crap (all that breathing!) and the little outfits and mats and the stupidly presented calm.  Plus, physically it kills me!  And I am no slump when it comes to athletics.   But....I have this friend.  He is a really awesome person, the 70 side of 60.  I met him in grad school more than 25 years ago and, well, he's one of my favorite people on the planet.  He's an antsy one.  Always on the move, he runs, works out with weights, swims and DOES YOGA.  So, if your friend, a friend whom you love and trust, tells you something is good?  That's right,  You gotta check it out.  I managed to find YOGA I CAN STAND!!  Yoga, I will admit, I actually LOVE!  It's Yoga With Adriene, and I am 10 days into the 30 day yoga challenge.  She's real!!  She's like "yo, dude, we are gonna DO YOGA".  Well, maybe not quite like that, but the presentation fits me, fits what I look for in any fitness instruction, honest, straight forward, no nonsense guidance.  Fabulous personality,Yoga with Adriene works for me.  If you are thinking of adding yoga to your life, check out her youtube channel .  There are a lot of sessions to choose from and they are short and so do-able!  

Happy 2017!  Hope the year is filled with all good things for you!  We will be out playing in the snow, enjoying this beautiful mountain day~ ciao!