Best of…
- We were kid-less. This meant we never had to carry anyone else’s skis. We could talk about the weather, the great snow, or even play hearts into the wee hours of the night (9pm).
- The Winter Park resort is the closest major resort to the Denver Airport, which means the drive wasn’t bad.
- 20+ inches of snow hit the mountains the week before we arrived.
- The mountain wasn’t crowded and the lodge was truly the best ski-in, ski-out place I have ever been to.
- Hours on end spent in the hot tub. Winning the paper-rock-scissors tournament to prevent having to get out and turn it back on. Everyone should know that a bomb always wins in paper-rock-scissors. 2nd grade people…c’mon!
- My boots fit perfectly and I only had to try on 4 pairs before settling on a pair right out of 1970.
- Hearing Clint and Kellie argue for the entire 5 hour commute back home over whether they will or will not be getting his family Christmas gifts…his grandma doesn’t need anymore coffee…they already have deer sausage…chocolate is a stupid gift. etc. etc. etc. Priceless.
Worst of…
- We were kid-less. This meant we spent hours talking about what Hayden and Davis were doing…what they would be doing if they were with us…and what they have done in the past.
- The fact that Winter Park resort is the closest major resort to the Denver Airport meant we didn’t get to hold our breath through the Eisenhower tunnel…a family tradition.
- The entire town closes at 6 p.m. I am not much for going out, but a restaurant or two would be nice. On the last night, we found out where the party was. After some microwaved Mexican food, 432 pictures in front of the same lighted Christmas tree, a picture with Santa, and a chocolate apple…we realized that a 5-minute drive to downtown is the place to be.
- Clint hurt his ankle on the first day. This meant he had to sit out on Day 2. Miraculously on Day 3, he was either healed or so bored that he decided to fight through the pain. All sympathy subsided the moment I saw him zipping and zooming across the mountain like nothing had ever happened.
- Jeff “bruised” his tailbone. I still don’t really know how he was so sure it was bruised, but I trusted him rather than examining for myself. All I know is that it wasn’t broken like mine was, because once he put on his snowboard, you would never know he had hurt biscuits.
- Kellie and I spent three days with whiney boys…and they say we whine…PUL--LEASE!
While we were gone, we missed out on a first in Hayden’s life….a spanking from Mimi. I wasn’t there, so don’t know all of the details, but I can say that to get his first-ever spanking from Mimi… he must have been a stinker. I can also say from first hand experience (no pun intended) that it didn’t hurt. I can remember laughing at the spankings I received from my mom. Regardless, he must have learned his lesson, because later that night he apologized. I’m told it went something like this, “Mimi, I am sorry too. But if you would have done what I had asked you to do, it wouldn’t have happened.” And come to think of it, he’s right…a lot of the punishments I had in my life also wouldn’t have happened if she would have just listened to me from the start. That Hayden is wise beyond his years.
Speaking of Hayden, he is really difficult to buy for this year…not because of a lack of things on the list….but because of lack of discretion on the list. Let me say this…commercials definitely work on children over the age of 4. Hayden wants everything from the Ultimate Transformer Bumblebee to the new scotch gift wrap cutter. I have talked before about how I don’t want to be that parent that buys their kids everything they ever ask for. Now I am starting to figure out that I couldn’t be that parent even if I wanted to be. This morning on the way to school, he told me he wanted – get this - a sign that says, ‘everyone is welcome in my SPIDEY kitchen.’ What?!? I can’t even blame cruel marketers or an animated commercial on that one…I honestly have no idea where it came from.
All that aside, gift giving is fun…and I don’t care what they say…gift *getting* is just as fun. Jeff was off on Monday and he decided to surprise me with an early Christmas gift. He knew his chances of making it until Christmas without spoiling the surprise were slim to none, so he decided to give me my present early. But what was even more fun, was that he led me on a treasure hunt with clues and poems scattered all over the house. After climbing the stairs for the second time to follow a clue, I joked that he just wanted me to work out before I earned my surprise. Anyway, at the end of the hunt, I became the proud owner of a lovely new Coach purse. I absolutely LOVE the new purse, but I was more flattered that he still took the time to spruce up the surprise. And here’s an interesting tid-bit of information for Coach lovers…about once every quarter, Coach sends out a coupon for 25% off. Earlier this month, I received one that was good through December 9th. However, Jeff walked up to the lady behind the counter (on December 17th) and said that his wife had received a coupon, but he didn’t want to use it during the time frame because if she noticed the coupon was missing, it would have spoiled the surprise (he’s learning…after 10 short years). She said no problem…and gave him the discount. All this time, Kellie and I fret over using the coupon during the specified period, and as it turns out…either Jeff was a little flirtatious with the Coach woman or you can just walk up and ask them for a discount whenever you please. I might just have to try out the second theory around March 21st.
It’s the holiday season, which means Christmas cards are flooding our mailbox. While I love getting cards from my family and friends, it’s almost equally as fun to read about how all of the Blanfort’s old friends are doing. You see, the Blanfort’s are the people we bought our house from THREE YEARS AGO. And before you turn me into the authorities for opening someone else’s mail…back off…I don’t have a current address for them, so I might as well open it and enjoy the well wishes on their behalf. Let me explain. We didn’t technically buy the house from them. It was a foreclosure…which probably explains why they skipped town without telling any of these life-long friends. But it is still amazes me that after three years, the amount of cards addressed to the Blanfort family rivals the amount of cards addressed to the Lyle family. Some of the really good ones, we hang up on our Christmas card holder because after three years, I feel like they are becoming my friends. That, and to look like we have more Christmas cards…and out of a little bit of pity since the Blanfort’s ditched them.
1 comment:
Yes, the bomb beats everything, and everybody should know that. If I ever need somebody to find a loop hole, you are my girl!
I need to make him that sign. That cracks me up!
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