Chili on the slopes

E and I had fun today. We drove about two hours northwest to Whitetail ski resort in Pa. Though we didn't stay for too long (I was on the slopes about two hours, E for less), we had a good time. E enjoys hanging out as much as snowboarding. I had a good bowl of chili as well, outside on a deck at the main lodge.

M has been promoted to waiter (from "runner") at Macaroni Grill, so his income from tips should improve. He had to pass a test -- during which he served one of the managers -- before being bumped up.

E is considering a move into the food industry as well. Possibly waiting tables at the local Outback, where a friend works. She's still a bit mad at Best Buy for laying off its holiday workers, including her.

School seems to be going fine for both kids. E has settled in, I think, to the routine at No. Va. Community. M has decided -- for now at least -- that he's an English major.

C is battling another of the sinus headaches she gets from time to time, unfortunately. She was still able to get to the new Whole Foods store near us. It's not going to replace Wegman's in our hearts, but looks like it will be worth stopping in to once in a while.

Wrapping up my vacation

I've had a good week off.

We celebrated C's birthday on Tuesday by taking her out to a fancy steak place she wanted to go to. Then we came home to a cake I'd gotten at Wegman's (per her request: chocolate with white whipped cream frosting). Among her presents: A DVD from M (Little Miss Sunshine); a certificate to have her nails done from E and me; a CD that I made for her from songs on old albums.

Wednesday, I left early for W. Va. and was able to get in some skiing both that day and on Thurs. The photos are from Thurs. morning, when it was really cold. The snow is mostly manmade, though there was eight inches or so of natural stuff around. I'm afraid it started raining again on Fri. Hopefully there will be more cold weather soon.

I came home Fri. E left that afternoon to visit friends at Shepherd. She returns today -- and begins classes at N. Va. Community College tomorrow. M's classes at GMU are still a week away. He says he's decided to declare himself an English major, BTW. (Also, this week he starts training to be a waiter at Macroni Grill -- a step up from his current position as a runner and a job that pays better.)

I head back to work tomorrow. C and I hope to get out to W. Va. for at least a day over next weeekend.

Photo 1: Self-portrait taken while riding the chairlift at Timberline Resort.

Photo 2: Taken from near the top of a run called White Lightning.

Photo 3: Taken while riding the chairlift. The ground is probably 15-20 feet below, though it doesn't look that way.

Happy New Year!

Liz and Tom stopped by Sunday for our annual just-a-little-bit-late Christmas gift exchange. I can't divulge everything they gave us because others may benefit from their generosity in a similar way in the near future. You'll like it.

Unfortunately for C, the cold she's had for several days got worse as yesterday went on. So, with her in bed and the kids out with friends it was just me and the dogs at midnight. We watched the fun in Times Square from the comfort of our family room.

Today, I did a roast beef, Yorkshire pudding dinner. Two old friends of M's dropped by unexpectedly, so they joined us -- which was fun. They'd never had Yorkshire pudding. I think they liked it. One of them is just back from a year's deployment in Iraq. Seems hard to believe that kids M's age do that, but so many of them obviously do.

I spent much of the weekend working from home, as you might imagine. It's both good and bad, obviously, to be able to do that.