fun at the base

While we had a lot of fun skiing and back at the condo, we also had a great time at lunches on the hill when we could unbuckle our boots and relax, and at the end of the day at the base when the sun was shining down so warm you took off all but one layer. So here are the non-action shots of the trip that were taken during our skiing down-time.

Lunch on the first day--food was great. I had a wonderful salad with mozzarella, prosciutto, kalamata olives, tomatoes, and some other goodies I forget. It was perfect.

Here is Jodi, Em and Melissa in the morning at the base lodge getting their boots on and doing last minute stretching. Notice the two sisters striking a pose for the camera!

Melissa and Emily at lunch at the base.

This last group of photos (including em above) were all taken at the end of the second day of skiing. We met down at the base lodge around 3:30, although some of us get there early enough to have a hot cocoa and baileys before everyone else arrived ;-) It was a good day. Each one of these shots was the only one I took of each person and they all turned out well.





I have to mention this before I go on---see the PBR on the table? The first day we noticed that PBR seemed to be the beer of choice. It seemed odd to us for a place as nice as Sun Valley. Well, on the second day, we ordered a few PBR for our Apres Ski. And so we found out why it was the drink of choice. It is cheap. I mean like $1 per can cheap. So, I guess even the regulars at Sun Valley like a cheap beer now and again.



That's it! No more Sun Valley photos. I've got more --but they aren't good enough to post. So, I hope you have enjoyed a peek into our ski trip.

fun on the mountain

Here are some pictures of the fun we had on the mountain skiing.

Dad, Jodi and David---I did a bad job taking this picture--I should have gotten closer to them so you could see their faces better.

Here is Dad, David and me. This was the first day we were out--it was pretty warm and we all had our "pit zips" un-zipped.

Me with David in the background on the second day of skiing. You see David switched to his lighter jacket-his windbreaker- because it was so warm on the first day.

David and Me with the beautiful mountains as a backdrop.

oh gosh--em took this photo of me. I was pretty happy--and I think I look pretty happy so I had to include it on the blog.

Here is a really cute one of Em and Melissa on the second day.

fun off the mountain

Since the ski trip is always in between Jodi and my birthdays, we always do at least a little bit of celebrating. Here are two pics of the cake they got for us. They asked the woman at the store to put "Jodi and Liz", but "Jodi Liz" made it on the cake instead. It is cute. And it was really yummy! (see second picture down for the side view of the strawberry shortcake)




Here are Em and Mel hanging out in the condo. We would groove all evening to tunes from Mel, Jodi, and David's ipods.
Suzanne, Dad and Jodi hanging out at the table after dinner, ready to play some mexican train dominoes.
And here is the infamous mexican train. The extremely long train you see above was Dad's. We all played on his train two or three times each. He barely got to play on his own at all. We laughed a lot and had a good time kidding one another.

sun valley landscape

As I said previously, the snow was not so good in Sun Valley. Usually their end of season is in July, but this year they just didn't get enough snow. But in some ways, the lack of snow in places made for some really beautiful pictures of the mountains. Here are some landscape pictures taken from the ski hill.

sun valley

Sun valley is sunny but not so snowy. There is so much brown on the ski hill, it is amazing. But we are having a good time, and the skiing is still fun. I've taken some fun pictures so when I get home I'll have to figure out which ones to post.

some pictures, finally

Here are a few stacks of the wood that ended up going on our floor. There were more than this.

This is where we have been "living" for the past few weeks. This is the basement...and the only saving grace is that there are two little windows to let light in.

Here is our floor installed, but not yet sanded or finished.


Here is the final floor in the living room. It is really nice and smooth. It will look even better when we get the walls painted and baseboards installed.

And here is a neat detail that David designed in order to make the transition between two different wood directions look good. It is really beautiful.

still not in the house

Last night we stayed at our hosts house again. That was our fifth night at their house! We also took them out to dinner last night, as another way of saying thank you. I am very worried about over-staying our welcome, so we have been doing all that we can to, as David says, lessen our "footprint". We empty the dishwasher when we see that it is clean, we put all our dishes in the dishwasher, we've made dinner for them, and a made a chocolate cake. We have bought groceries so we aren't eating all their food. And I sacrificed a box of my thin mints for the good of the house.

I think we are doing a pretty good job of staying out of their way. One of the roommates commented to me last night as he saw me unloading the dishwasher, "I'm going to miss you guys when you are gone!". That felt pretty good.

We went to the house yesterday after work, and it is smelling better, but I think I would still wake up with a headache. Everyone says the main smell should go away after 3-4 days, and today, tuesday is the fourth day. Hopefully it will be good enough to sleep there tonight.

bum on the floor

Last night was another night on the air mattress. This morning we woke up to our bums on the floor. Actually, David's bum was on the floor, and that meant I was suspended higher in the air. But as soon as he got up I was hitting the floor. We went to the house this AM. It looks great. But it is still quite fumey (a made up word, I know). So, we are planning to be out and about all day and then stay on the air mattress again tonight.

By the way, to all my fellow friends with a bit of Irish in you--Happy St. Patricks Day. I realized this morning that I have been wearing green for the past three days. Kind of funny--I wonder why my subconscious wanted to be green? Embrace your Irish self!

toxic!

Last night we went to the house after work to pick up our clothes etc. for staying over at a friends. They had put a coat of the finish on around noon, and we got there around 6. So the first coat had had time to dry. We walked in the house and were first amazed by the floors. They look fabulous. But the very next thing we noticed was the noxious fumes that made our eyes burn, noses run, and chests hurt. We were told that it would be smelly, but i was expecting the kind of smell that you can get used to, and that you stop smelling after a while. No, this stuff is the kind of smell/fume that just gets worse the longer you stay in it. In fact, after packing up our clothes from the basement and taking them out to the car, I went back in to grab a few groceries (milk, cereal, etc.). It started to hurt my eyes and nose so bad I just gave up on getting more than just the essentials.

Our floor guy was there when we arrived, and he was starting to put down the second coat of finish, which made the fumes even worse. I got a chance to ask him about the fumes. He wears a super-duper mask (no that's not the brand name ;-), which helps, but it is still bad for him. I asked him about the "water-borne" finish that is becoming more popular. Apparently it is pretty non-toxic. That really sounds good to me at this point. I really didn't realize how toxic this swedish finish is. He said that the water-borne is a lot more pleasant to apply, but that he doesn't think it does as good of a job/ isn't quite as strong as the swedish. He prefers the swedish finish even though he has to deal with all that smell and chemicals. If I were him, I would be pushing my clients toward the more environmentally friendly finishes. I think if someone had really explained to me about this swedish finish, I would have requested another less toxic type of finish. Even if it would have worn more quickly, I would have preferred it. So, the last coat of finish is supposed to be going on this morning and then it will be done. I don't know how long the fumes will stay in the house. Once the last coat is dry, we will go over and open some windows to help air it out. So, I guess we'll have to see how the fumes are before we decide to start sleeping there again.

out on our bums

Well, as of tomorrow night, we will not be able to stay in our house for a few days. Today they are doing the final sanding of our floors, and tomorrow morning they will put their first swedish finish coat on. It will be so stinky we won't be able to stay- so we are staying at one of David's gracious friend's house. We will even get a room--we won't have to sleep on the couch! But, we will be bringing along our air mattress because while the room has a door, it doesn't have a bed. We will probably be there through the weekend.

excited to go home

I can not express how excited I am to go home. This morning our floor guy called just after we had gotten out of the shower and asked if it was okay if he started the floor installation early. Early as in right then (he was sitting outside our house in his van)! He originally wasn't going to start until wednesday, but I guess the schedule got moved around. So, by the time we get home tonight, at least part of our floors should be installed! Approximate timing of events: The installation should take until wednesday, then they can do their sanding, and put down the first coat of finish, thursday put down a second coat of finish, and friday put down a third coat of finish. Or maybe I have it one day off. For some reason I thought they were putting down the last coat on saturday--so I must have messed up the timing somewhere along there. But I guess it could easily change based on how things go--could take shorter or longer.

Also, Jodi is home safe and sound from her Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia trip. It sounds like she had an awesome time- and she has some pretty good photos to prove it.

shut up and sing

Last night David and I rented a movie called "Shut up and Sing". For those of you who don't know, it is about the Dixie Chicks and the backlash that came out against them after Natalie Maines made a comment in the UK that the hard-core country folk didn't like. It is a really good documentary. Very well done, and funny and sad and wonderful all at the same time. I would highly recommend it to anyone to see. Very interesting how politics and entertainment can become so completely intertwined.

The movie moved me so much that I think I'm going to go out and buy their latest CD.

I like saving money

I know-- who doesn't? But really, I get a real kick out of saving more than the ordinary person. So let me tell you a little story about something I recently began doing to save money.

I was watching a local television news"lite" show, and they featured a segment on how to save 50 to 60% off your grocery bill. I was really intrigued by what I heard, so I went to the website they discussed. The website offers a one month trial for $1. So, I figured, for $1 it can't hurt to try it.
The whole thing is built upon the idea of stockpiling. For me this is similar to the idea of dollar cost averaging in the stock market. You buy lots when they are cheap, and when you need them, you don't have to pay top dollar for them. Of course this mainly works for non-perishables, although the list does include produce items that are especially cheap. I think what they do is to track "historic" lows in prices on particular items, and track the coupons that come in the sunday paper. Then they combine historic lows with coupons from the sunday paper and wa-la. Lots of savings. My first shopping week I saved 43% of my bill, which seemed better than my usual 20%, but I wasn't able to use many coupons because I hadn't accumulated enough yet.

However, last week I went shopping with a bunch of coupons, and I have to say...I did pretty well for my second trip. In fact, by using this system, I got $131.29 worth of groceries for $58.44. I saved about 57% or $72.85!!!!! I was really impressed with the system! So, I know you are all dying to know what this is called....well it is called "The grocery game". Other people call it Teri's List. I will definitely keep trying this over the next few weeks. After one month, I have to pay $10 a month to get the list, but if I am saving $72 or more each week, I think I can afford the $10 a month. Seriously, check it out. I think I am a believer. It just feels so good saving money! Just go to the site, read about how it works, and browse some of the bulletin /message board. Then tell me what you think.

ship lap

Well, We officially are living on our subfloor, which is ship lap. Yesterday they tore up our hardwoods, and today they deliver the wood that will become our floor in about a week or so. But first it has to acclimate to the subfloor. So, the new rule in our house is shoes shoes shoes! It is a gold mine for splinters (and accidental nail punctures).

Happy Birthday Jodi Coyote!

To the lucky girl who is in Thailand or Vietnam or wherever right now...

I hope you are having a great time. I'm sure this will be a good year for you!

ps. The date on this post is not Jodi's birthday...but it is her birthday in the part of the world where she is right now--so Happy Birthday!

March 1st and we have snow!

This morning we woke up to snow on top of roofs, cars, grass etc. I had no idea it was going to snow. It was kind of cool to wake up to that kind of beauty. However, since it was just a light dusting, it will be gone before noon. But at least we got to enjoy it for a short while. I can't believe it is March 1st! Where is the time going?!