You don't own a TV? Really? What do you sit and look at?

I think I'm having some sort of mid-life crisis. If you think about it, 74 is probably a pretty average age to live to, so this actually could be mid-life. So, I've been taking spin (stationary cycling) classes for years now and since we moved to Beaumont, I've been taking them on a regular basis at the rec center. I have the shoes, the padded shorts, the heart-rate monitor but no actual bike. Which was fine with me until my spin instructor asked me if I'd like to buy her road bike and start biking with her group. I thought about it last year but it seemed like a lot of money and a big commitment if you didn't like it. I also have a hard time spending a large amount of money on myself. As crazy as it sounds (and it is crazy) I'm okay with $50 or $100 here and there but I get nervous when it's more. To go along with my mid-life crisis and thinking it was time for me to get a hobby, I revisited the idea of taking up biking. My spin instructor and her husband said they would help me look for a new or used bike and take me on rides with them. Since my biggest concern was that I had no one to do this with (Ryan rides a scooter, not a bike) I felt like now was the time. I ended up at Bingham Cyclery in Salt Lake and they had a bike, in my size, on sale for about $200 less than my budget. They took really good care of me there and I ended up getting a lot of the beginning equipment I needed for my budgeted price. It's not fancy but it's a solid beginner bike. I'm excited to get it out on the road and experience the first of, hopefully not too many, falls. The only con I'm seeing so far is the copious amounts of spandex involved. I'm hoping to shed a few pounds so I don't feel so self-conscious in it.

The bike. I think it needs a name but we need to get to know each other first.

Skiing really is for the wealthy
You can try to convince me that skiing can be done on the cheap but I'm not buying it. I wish some skiing fairy would come down and just outfit us so I would never have to rent again. What a horrible process! Sullen hipster dufuses who act like you being in their store is cutting into their slacking time. Shoddy equipment that hurts the minute you put it on. Yet, I just can't get myself around to buying skiing equipment for our family. I don't know what my winter plans are. Do we want to ski or snowboard? Is that even something we want to do. After today, I wonder. Day started off well except for Hanna's persistent barking cough waking me up at 7:30. ON MY DAY OFF! We head up to Sundance which isn't very far away, so that's good. We get all our gear on in pretty good time and it's looking like a nice day. We make up off the chairlift and then I start to realize that Grace is not good at this. She's had one lesson and that was a year ago. Stupid me. I am trying SUPER hard to be patient (Hanna even said I was) but I admit some raising of my voice and vocalizing of naughty words, happened. Mostly at myself for thinking lessons weren't necessary. We do make it to the bottom of the hill but it's obvious this is not going to work between Grace and I. I overestimated her ability and my patience. Another $40 and she's signed up for lessons. Hanna and I have a great 2 hours together and then meet up with Grace. She can ski! I bet her instructor didn't even yell bad words at her. We take one last run together and end the day on a good note. We are all exhausted! I want this to be easier and cheaper. I don't even want to think about the amount of money spent on this day and I'm pretty frivolous with money. I know if we went on a regular basis, we'd have our own gear, season passes and we wouldn't eat anything at the lodge but still, seems like there is plenty of money to be spent. Maybe we'll just continue to spend the winter sitting in front of the TV, playing the occasional game of Farkle?

I forgot about this. After I signed Grace up for lessons we went to eat, where I paid $8 for a "panini" that neither girl really ate. Then as we were waiting for Grace's lesson to start, Hanna tells me she feels like puking. I then started looking for an object to hit myself over the head with.

If you cut Hanna open, her gut would be full of goldfish. Still, I was glad she brought some for a chairlift snack.

Aww...ski buddies.

Hanna and I at the summit. It was windy and cold.

There is a cute little lodge at the summit with a fireplace! We were the only people in there. They make a killer hot apple cider. Hanna had to beg me to leave. I said she should go get the ski patrol and tell them your mom won't leave the fireplace without force.

"Reunited and it feels so good." Back with Grace for a final run. Kids are fun.

VIDEOS!

Do your kids run the batteries on every electronic device you own? Because mine do. Hence the abrupt ending to this video.