last night Micah working on making his DNA model with gummi worms and paper clips

another day on the mountain. first day of downhill skiing for me since January 23rd, that was the date on the last ski pass hanging on my ski jacket. Lots of skate skiing this winter, but very little alpine. Knee held up pretty well, stuck to groomers, had fun with Jackie, who had to grab Micah and take him to a soccer scrimmage in town. Then Dan and Nickie, then Howie and I took a couple of runs together, had an apres ski snack at Yeti dogs and then home to walk the dogs...

And more juggling...

and andrew and howie showing their juggling expertise...

Outside of Stan's soon to be Big Sky home...

It's been a busy week, mostly full of work at the store for me and Jackie running Micah, Howie and Andrew to town for orthodontist appointments, hebrew school, dermatology appointments, meetings with the rabbi, bar mitzvah lessons, It's all somewhat of a blur to me. On Thursday we had food tastings at the bar mitzvah venues inbetween work and school and Micah working on his declamation, a speech about Chief Joseph, an American Hero. Micah found some great quotes of Chief Joseph to use in his paper, "Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other, then we will have no more wars." And, "We were contented to let things remain as the Great Spirit Chief made them. (White Men) were not; and would change the rivers and mountains if they did not suit them."

His paper, so far a rough draft is really interesting... Friday night we had Margy and Jim over and I tried to teach Howie how to juggle - see videos below...

Howie talks to Margy and Jim...

Jackie remembers we have juggling balls!

Margy takes our photo...

Mark sings the prayer for the wine...

Today Howie walked around the entire day practicing juggling 2 balls in one hand. Today, I took Micah up the mountain around 8:45 so he could ski with his freeride team, then I worked, lots of deliveries, Howie slept in till 11 am so Jackie hung out with him and met me up the mountain with the 2 grocery orders I couldn't fit in the truck and helped me finish up. Howie kind of helped, but mostly just kept trying to juggle.

A very full delivery truck...

And then tonight we went to the ski dinner where Howie and Micah both got Nordic awards and Micah also received most improved freeride skier...

Videos of Howie juggling, Mark juggling and Micah getting the Freeride Most Improved Skier Award from Coach Kelli...

Pictures from Snowbird with the Sarmientos and the Livingstons...

Ski comp time...


Back at the Hungry Moose, with 2 happy dads with their kids, barbecue time sans moms

Cross country in Yellowstone...

Hiking with the rabbi at Ousel Falls

Micah free falling at Targhee

Before I report about the last 10 days I would like to begin with the phone conversation I had with my Dad today on the telephone. I called him on my way back from a grocery delivery, which is always the best time for me to call him. Found him at home in his apartment, he had been out a couple of times, but it was raining in New York, so he was staying close to home. And the conversation covered the usual, "it's the end game Mark, and I'm on the front lines." That's his favorite line these days. Today he told me that his stomach was bothering him again and that he was going to see Dr. Good, his gastroenterologist on Wednesday. He was going to take car service to get there. I told him I would call Dr. Good after his appointment so I could get the doctor's low down. Dad says it's something new, he feels like he has to go all the time, he's afraid to get to far away from home, it feels like something new over the last week or so. He told me that Uncle Sidney had to postpone his 79th birthday party because he had a really bad bout of vertigo. 79 years old and he still works full time at a bakery in the village. Dad asked me about his condo in Big Sky and I told him that I was hoping to get in and take pictures this week. Then he told me about grandma robin. She wanted out, didn't want to live anymore - too much pain, she went in for some kind of stomach surgery and went into a coma, she didn't want to die in the spring, and she didn't want to live anymore. I was 11 years old, said goodbye to her on the way to the hospital. Dad said, "I was working at the racetrack. She was in a coma. I would visit the hospital during the day and then I would stop on my way home from the track. She just didn't want to live anymore." This is what he talks about. I am getting anxious to get him out to Big Sky. He shouldn't be alone, he needs to be kept busy, and surrounded by family. He agreed that he needs to be distracted otherwise he just lives with anxiety and all he thinks about is his stomach. Sigh.

Friday, I worked, but Jackie and Howie skied in Big Sky, Andrew was skiing in Breckinridge and Micah was skiing in Targhee. If you asked me 20 years ago the chances that I would have 3 sons skiing on the same day at 3 different ski resorts I would laughed my head off, there was no way! Yet here I am and here they are. Andrew was with friends in Colorado for Spring Break checking out colleges, visiting Uncle Andy in Boulder and just having fun. Micah was in Targhee with his Freeride coach Kelli and another competitor, Joey from West Yellowstone, and they were competing in the Targhee Tee Off, a freeride comp, Micah's second weekend in a row competing and he is definitely getting into it. He made the cut both weekends, which is an accomplishment in itself. Jackie and Howie skied with Brian and Donna, and their kids Avery, Olivia, and Sammy. Apres ski they came over for dinner and a sleepover and it was really nice to have them over. We did a shabbat dinner, lit the candles, broke bread and enjoyed being with one another, a very relaxing evening and morning. They left around 11 or so and Jackie and I did the grocery deliveries for the store and track skied into Beehive Basin which was beautiful, but the skiing was hard, icy and difficult. Afterwards we skate skied up the Cascade lift cat track just for the fun of it, it was groomed, and no one had been on it so it was fun.

Saturday night we had the Wades over which is always fun. Just hung out ate dinner and talked, a very nice evening, and in the morning at 7:30 am Denise picked us up and we drove to Big Horn Pass in Yellowstone and skied into Big Horn along the river. We had wanted to skate ski, but the snow was sinking on us so we switched to our track skis and skied way back to some of the same spots Dan, Denise and I hiked to last October when we saw the wolf and the big bull elk...

And then we were back home at 11:30 or so just in time for a quick shower and our afternoon with Rabbi Ed. We took him to the venues of Micah's Bar Mitzvah, the 320 ranch were the big party is going to be, the Half Moon Saloon, the friday night spot, the Hungry Moose for lunch, the Big Sky Chapel, and a hike up Ousel Falls. Lots of talking, about bar mitzvah logistics, and just stuff. The hike up Ousel Falls was a little crazy, muddy in some spots and very icy in others.

The big news of the last 10 days is Micah seems to have become a competitive free ride skier. Next competition is April 3rd at Moonlight Basin in Big Sky....

Home Alone

Jackie and Micah and Howie are in Snowbird for a Junior Freeride Competition for Micah. Today, Micah scouted out his line with Isabella who scouted out her line together with Stephanie who acted as their coach, since their coach doesn't arrive until tomorrow. Jackie skied with Howie and Xela and it sounded like it was a beautiful bluebird day. Tomorrow they are expecting weather so they will be moving up the comp to earlier in the day...

In the meantime I worked all day, a busy Friday before spring break with 6 deliveries, and a big Associated order to put away, but it was all very manageable, we had plenty of help, everyone did their part and it all worked out just fine. Surprisingly so for me as I was very anxious and thought the day would be a lot more physically strenuous for me, since Manuel has gone back to Argentina, but Tristan came in early and he helped unload the Associated truck and then he helped me do all the deliveries which meant he unloaded the truck and I put the groceries away instead of having to do both. In fact Tristan did most of the physical labor I was apprehensive about, so that's why the day went well for me.

It was Chelsea's last day, we had a goodbye party for her the night before at By Word of Mouth at open mic night and Lauren sang, bolted out JOLENE, JOOOO LEEEEENEEEEE.... (yes, even when I write I can't sing)

Chelsea somehow got an onion skin particle in her eye and it was bothering her a bit all day, then I saw her lift a heavy box and told her don't hurt yourself. And she said, "what am I doing? I don't want to hurt myself on my last day, which reminded me of my cousin Ruth's last day at a deli she was working at, it was her last hour and she was working the deli slicer and left a little piece of herself, sliced a bit of a finger... nothing too traumatic, but still and so I was a little worried about Chelsea going home injured on her last day, but somehow she survived with a big smile on her face as she ended her career at the Moose. I need to write a haiku about her last day.

some funny moments, Holly had a t-shirt on today that said "FREE HUGS" I was teasing her that I saw her laughing last night at the bar, but at work she's so serious, rolling her eyes and working, focused, getting it done. Then I noticed the t-shirt and started working around the counter to collect my hug and she shook me off, it was one of those you had to be there moments... Later on she offered me a hug and I shrugged her off, but just before I went home I cashed in on my free hug...

Then there was the talk about Vegas. Dad had called me earlier in the day, wanted me to confirm his Jet Blue flight from Naples back to New York, he said he didn't like his seats and wanted me to call the airline. I told him that I had already ordered a wheelchair for him and got him really good seats when I called the airline when he flew down to Naples, but he didn't believe me, so I told him I would call Jet Blue and then call him back. So after being on hold for about half an hour I finally got through, but she needed the last 4 digits of his credit card number to prove that I was talking on his behalf which I gave her, but she said it wasn't right so I called him on my cell phone while I talked with her and he gave me the same last 4 numbers that I gave her, but they weren't right so he was able to find the confirmation number and she confirmed the flight and the wheelchair assistance and his seats which were 1B and 1C, he's in the front row! So I called him back and he was happy. Flying back on Tuesday...

Anyways the girls, Lauren, Emelyn and Holly want me to send them to Vegas and then I got the brilliant idea that when Dad is out here, the girls should take him to Vegas, I guess it's 2 for 1 at Allegiant right now, and then Dad just told me he called cousin Lois for her birthday and she could always set us up in a hotel room, I think she's at the Luxor so we could all go down to Vegas for a long weekend, the girls would have a blast escorting Stan around the casinos...Em was even saying just imagine us, Stan in the middle, and we'd be all dressed up...

So it was a good day at the Moose, Rebecca almost cried when Em and Lauren told her she could have tomorrow off. Her boyfriend is playing music and she was really wanting the day off. It was busy, but not insane. I even talk a walk to Grizzly to buy new crocs for Howie for his trip in May to Yellowstone, probably save them for his birthday...

No pictures, Jackie has my camera so we should have lots of pictures and video of Micah and Howie at Snowbird when they get back.

Tomorrow we will do the delivery thing all over again - I think we have about a dozen or so for tomorrow, but I think we have plenty of help - we will see how it goes.

When I got home from work, I walked the dogs and did a little straightening up, took a shower, had some leftover stirfry for dinner, listening to some jazz, then continued with laundry and unpacked the boxes from the house upstate, a broken butter dish, 3 broken cereal bowls, one broken big serving bowl and then a broken pitcher - just the handle so I'm trying to glue it back together, because it's actually a pretty yellow piece and it matches all our dishes. It's funny before I didn't even know it existed, but now I'm so bummed that it arrived broken, but it's just a silly thing...

Then I made some banana bread, 3 loaves, one for Andrew to take with him on his ski trip to Colorado... he just texted me, he'll be home tonight, will call me before he leaves town.

Time for some dessert and try to write that Haiku...

Cheers!

Happy Birthday Gail!

A great night of fun, love, food, drink, singing, chatting and dancing. Happy Birthday Gail! We love you!

Yesterday, Michele Vetter visited us, an old time Big Sky friend who moved away over 6 years ago. She had never seen the new store, and it was absolutely wonderful to see her. We all sat and had coffee and breakfast and talked about the past the present and the future. Turns out that Michele is one of my biggest blog fans, and actually since I posted Micah's 720 it seems my list of blog fans is growing. Micah and Isabella were in the store at the same time we were visiting with Michele, they were shopping for their extra day on the mountain as they get ready to leave for the Snowbird Freeride competition tomorrow. One of the comments that really has stuck in my head from my conversation with Michele is about movement, movement in relationships, incidentally I had just read that morning in this book that I often read an entry a day based on the day of the year, the book is called 365 Days of Tao by Deng Ming-Dao and the entry I read that day started "Without movement there could be nothing created in this universe." We were talking more about relationships. In order to have a successful relationship with a parent or a spouse or anybody is to keep moving...

keep changing, adapting, moving. Interestingly enough today's entry read, " Two flames come together and yield light more magnificent than either could have given forth alone."

We received our UPS shipment and here's a picture of the cracked glass, easy to fix no big deal, but just wanted to show off the quilt poster we had bought my mom years ago which hung in the house upstate. We are going to get the glass fixed and hang it up in our homage to Happy Avenue wall which we seem to have started along the stairwell heading downstairs...

and this photo is of Howie, Caleb and Jackson as they worked on their science experiment: What melts ice faster, water, milk or lemon juice and the answer is.....

Water!

Now need to get ready for Gail's birthday party. It's a big one, but don't worry Gail I won't divulge it here....

Mondays. Payroll. Do Deposits. Pay Bills. And now take back over all the Monday ordering from numerous vendors. Today was connect with Chelsea and refamiliarize myself with everything that I used to do on Mondays. Called the flower people and doubled our flower order through Easter. Looked over Chelsea's stuff who was diligently organizing everything for me. Plus worked in the back at my stand up desk (with my back to the triple sink) organizing bills, taking phone calls, making orders, checking on things, talking to employees, eating breakfast, drinking coffee, checking website orders, responding to e-mails, trying to getting it all done, mostly succeeding, the usual.

Did a grocery delivery to the Yellowstone Club, then one up to the Summit, then back to my computer. Didn't really have time to finish, kind of left in the middle of bill paying. Had to leave by 3:30, so I could be home for Micah and Howie, then off to Hebrew School stopping to do a couple of quick chores, dropping off frames with broken glass at the frame shop and stopping at Honda to pick up Micah's Bar Mitzvah book which he left there inadvertantly the other day.

We got all our boxes from the house upstate today, pictures (one with broken glass), and dishes mostly, will have to go through it later. Everything is out of the house, and the do it yourself network is already knocking it down to renovate it. You can see the house Jackie and I were married in get completely renovated and get a chance to win it back for us at the blog cabin website: http://www.diynetwork.com/blog-cabin/index.html Let me know what you think!

Yesterday was a really fun Sunday. Jackie and I and the Hungry Moose did a food station for Lone Mountain Ranch's Glide and Gorge, a cross country ski day where people would ski from one station to another drinking wine and eating good food. It was a beautiful sunny day, it was a well attended event and it was really fun. Jackie and I took turns skiing and working the booth, and George brought some great wine for everyone to taste.

so Sunday was a bit of a work/fun day as I had to get to work early and run the grocery so everyone else could work in the deli to get all the food ready. The had to take all our stuff over to our skiers station, our tent, tables, and everything else. Then a little after 3 pm we broke it all down and loaded it into our cars and Jackie and I took one more skate around the golf course. It was fast skiing, and such a sunny day. I think everyone truly had a great time. Then just as I was heading home from the store, Holly and Emelyn who both helped get everything ready in the morning and who were both done with work were walking by the store with jelly jars and straws and insisted on taking me to the Lotus Pad for a faceplant a.k.a. a dirty girlscout. So after saying, "I've never had a dirty girlscout," these 2 girls took me up to the bar and we did a shot, chatted with some other ladies at the bar, and then went on our separate ways...

Saturday was a busy day in the store and after all the deliveries were done, Emelyn and I were downstocking together, Emelyn on the ladder and me in the aisles catching the groceries to restock. "I need a crunchy," I told Em, "one doesn't get to say that everyday." She laughed, "you've still got it, Mark." We continued down the aisle and I said, "I'll take 2 extra virgins and a zesty italian..."

Micah and friends ski Beehive Basin

Here are some photos and videos of Micah and his freeride buddies hiking, skiing, and hitting the kicker in Beehive. Thanks to coach Kelli and her husband Kreston for organizing a great day in the back country!

Here are some great videos of the day thanks to Stephanie!

Micah's 720! Micah lands a 360!

Isabella Catches Air! Kelli and Henry Catch Air!