Old Dog Learns New Trick

I was pretty apprehensive about skiing because the only other time I've tried snow sports was a couple years ago when my sister talked me into a snowboarding lesson.

Bad Ideas List.

Snowboards are really hard to control, and the only way I could make myself stop was by falling. This meant I had to push myself up repeatedly. HARD. It also meant that each time I picked up speed, all I could think about was how painful the stopping would be.

It also occurred to me that I'm no longer a Spring Chicken. Even a couple years ago I felt a little old to be learning to ski, but this time it really hit me that OMG I'm 27. Twenty freakin' seven. Closer to 30 than 20. Maybe I should just resign myself to sitting in the lodge while Adam teaches our kids to ski. After all, one can always book a massage...

But that would be kind of lame, and Adam claims that I said when we were dating that I was willing to learn to ski and that that had made him very happy since it's something he enjoys doing with several friends.

*sigh* And that totally sounds like something that I would say. Because I have always wanted to learn--it's just that the older I got the more awkward I felt about it. And when I said that to him, I was probably 25. Which really isn't much closer to 30 than it is to 20.

Moving along.

Every adult learner dreads the three-year-olds who are ready for black diamonds, so I got myself a private lesson. We were at Kirkwood though, and I have to say, they had a wide range of classes and I saw several adult beginners out there, which made me happy. I think I'll actually go back and take a couple group classes now that I know the very basics.

I was happy to find that I could a.) stop b.) slow down c.) even stand and talk in place while on skis. After snowboarding, all of that is huge.

Now, the photographic evidence.

Following my instructor:


Makin' my way down the mountain:


I actually didn't know I was being photographed, and was smiling because as I neared the end of my lesson, I was thinking "hey, I can actually do this!"


Not the greatest of form now that I check out the pictures, but I'm sure I can improve with practice.