oh woe is me, I have endured 4 months of dreary wet cloudy rainy-ness and still it goes on...most recently it has rained for 10 days straight. Yes folks, 10 days all in a row with no let up. Can you appreciate this?! No I don't think so. You have to live it. And I have. And it freakin sucks. Oh to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin, seeping into my bones, where oh where art thou??? It is enough to make you lose your mind.
On the bright side of this, we have heaps of snow. Not at my house mind you, but in the mountains there is plenty. So we will probably be skiing until May at this stage. Last weekend we took our first trip to Mt Baker. Mt Baker is only 2 1/2 hrs away and is a ski area in a national park that is run by the US Forestry Service. And Mt Baker gets a lot of snow. I mean A LOT! More than anywhere else in North America. It has an average annual snowfall of more than 700 inches (cm anyone?) and holds the world record for the greatest annual snowfall ever- 1,140 inches or 2896 cm! I will post a couple of photos taken of AMelie playing in a snow bank to give you an idea.
Anyway, our friends have a cabin up there and so we went skiing for the weekend. The beauty of this place lies in its lack of amenities. Because it is run by the forestry service, there is no accommodation on or near the mountain. There is no "base" where you can go for apres ski or walk around in shops and restaurants. The basic nature of this ski area means that your average joe skiier doesn't want to go there- and that means you have no lift lines and beautiful ski conditions in a wonderous wilderness environment practically all to yourself!
Both days were blue skies and sunshine (which is actually quite rare for the area)and I'm not sure I could've been much closer to heaven. I will spare you the details of my friend's husband taking me out of bounds into 10 ft of heavy snow that I expended all my energy trying to make turns and get out of as soon as possible before I started an avalanche. I thought I would kill him when halfway down the run he said "this stuff is probably a lot easier on a snowboard" (like the one he was riding)!
My singing group, the Acoustix, is going well. The first couple of months I wasn't sure it was a good fit for me. One thing I have come to learn is that one of the reasons everyone in my group is so experienced is that a cappella singing is so alive and strong in US high schools and universities. So they have already had so much opportunity to get really good. And there is a lot of competition within the US accappella scene, which drives the standard higher as well I suppose.
Anyway, now I've settled in a bit more and am really enjoying the group. ONe thing I have not gotten used to though (and probably never will) is how everyone sits around a boardroom table and sings for 2 hrs(I stand by myself- sorry but I can't sit and sing a high C). And more than that, half the people are either looking at their smartphone or typing emails WHILE THEY ARE SINGING AT REHEARSAL! I am not joking. Sue, you would not be pleased. It's no wonder no one in the group wants to be the musical director! But apart from those things, the group is great and we sing lots of fun songs (all contemporary pop 80s, 90s, 00s)and laugh a lot.
What else...I am still trying to work out what to do with my work life. I don't miss being a personal trainer but I do miss teaching group classes. I do miss working and hope to be involved with something new in the next few months. Maybe I will try to go and teach a few classes again. But just to give you an idea of how clueless I am about what to do, here are some of the "new career ideas" I've been having:
1) network marketing business (health & wellness or sex toys)
2) candy-making business
3) real estate investment
4) counsellor
5) naturopath
6) leftover paint recycle/resell business
Are you seeing a pattern here? Exactly! Neither am I!
I feel like I've written you a nice long post, and yet feel like I've said not that much. But I'm gonna post it anyway! I'll post some Mt Baker photos too. Love you guys!!! xoxo
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