This past weekend, Melanie, my hubby, and I went up to Flagstaff so I could attempt cross country skiing for the first time.  This was a common position for me.

This was actually my second time down (of many), but I think my first spill was the funniest.  We were at the Flagstaff Nordic Center on Saturday and the trails were pretty icy.  I was attempting to go up a hill but I lost my momentum.  Instead of going up, I started to slide down backwards.  I was already leaning forward and so when my skis started going backwards, my upper body continued in a forward motion.  Until I hit the ground.  Hard.  Enough to knock the air out of me.  Once I knew I was ok (Ankles ok? check.  Knees ok?  check.  Anything broken/twisted?  Nope.) I started laughing because I could only imagine what it must have looked like.  Unfortunately, my hubby missed the photo opp.

We went skiing both Saturday and Sunday and I did manage to stay upright for the most part on Sunday.  I even eventually figured out what I was supposed to do with my hands and feet.  (I determined that cross country skiing is much like learning how to drive a stick shift.  You know what you’re supposed to do, but getting your hands and feet to comply is a different matter.)  Saturday’s weather was sunny and somewhat warm (hence the icy trails).

Sunday, however, was a different story.  A storm moved in overnight and brought snow.  Several inches of it.

Brrr!  Thankfully the lodge was nice and warm so we could thaw out.

I really had a lot of fun.  It was hard work, and I was extremely sore on Monday, but I can’t wait to go again next winter.  I’m not sure the Yarn Mobile is as excited as I am, though.

My poor little car isn’t used to the cold weather.  And while the three of us made it through the weekend without any injuries, there was a casualty of sorts.

My hubby wanted to get video of me when I first started out, but the camera slipped and landed on the ground.  Oops!  Pictures can still be taken, but the display is dead.  On the bright side, this confirms our decision to buy a digital SLR to take with us to Ireland in May.  (Oh, didn’t I tell you?  We bought tickets and are heading to Ireland on May 9th! Ack!)

(Edited to add: 1) Sorry for such a long post!  I’m planning to get back on the blog-once-a-day thing November and 2) Carol won the March of Dimes Walk prize - I still don’t know exactly what the prize will be, though I have a couple of ideas, plus I know that Eva was planning to donate a prize, so there might be another drawing!) 

I’m constantly amazed at how many places have wireless internet access now.  My niece-in-law and I are staying in a close-to-dirt-cheap hotel on the Historic Route 66 in Kingman, Arizona and I’m able to blog about our trip and the March of Dimes walk thanks to the hotel having wireless internet access.

Anyhoo… this weekend has been so fantastically spastic, that I’ve decided to call it spastastic.  We drove up yesterday and discovered that there isn’t a whole hell of a lot between Phoenix and Kingman except for a small town called Wikieup.  This is one of those towns that if you blink you miss it, and we were starving.  After passing a few places that made me prefer starvation over eating, we stopped at this bizarre little burger type of joint.  The food was surprisingly good, but the bizarre thing about it is that the entire place is covered in grafitti.  On-purpose grafitti.  I guarantee that there are people who are going to read about this and say “I’ve been there!”  Anyway, before we headed back on the road, my niece made her mark

and then I made mine.

We only had a ballpoint pen, so it’s a bit tough to read, but it says “Keep on Knittin!” and I signed it Nan and the Yarn Mobile.  See the car in the background?  That’s my Yarn Mobile!

Ok, so after another hour or so in the car, we finally arrived.

We didn’t do too much after getting into town except a little shopping and getting some dinner.  Oh, and did I mention that the shopping took place at… a yarn shop?!?

No pics of the merchandise, but I got some Green Mountain Spinnery cotton/wool yarn (in violet) and some superwash merino/alpaca roving (in a kind of heathered grey).

That was Friday.  In all honesty, while the day was long, it wasn’t actually spastic.  Today, however…

We got up bright and early and made to the park for the March of Dimes walk.  We had scoped out the park last night, so we knew exactly where to go.  Well, we thought so anyway.  We got to the park and there were no signs and no sign of March of Dimes people anywhere.  We eventually found out that the walk was starting out on the opposite side of the park.  Once we saw the ramada, I suppose we should have know.

I mean, this screams March of Dimes Walk HERE, doesn’t it?  The registration started at 8am, and the walk was supposed to start at 9am.  After it took about five minutes for all 10 of us to get registered, we sat around for a bit.  And we sat around some more.  Finally, the organizers told us to just go ahead and start walkng.  Only problem was that the people who were volunteering at the rest stops weren’t expecting us yet, so the first few stops didn’t have anyone around.  The walk itself was ok.  It certainly wasn’t the uplifting, motivating walk that the 3 Day walk was, but we did find some sidewalk grafitti that gave us some encouragement.

It says something about Kingman when you realize that they can’t even spell swear words correctly.

Since the walk was over around 11am, after a brief nap and shower, we headed back out into the town.  We discovered that they were having a small festival and not only was an alpaca ranch owner there with some yarn and roving (I managed to keep my wallet in check and leave without buying anything), I saw a baby kangaroo in a stroller.

I’m telling you, this has been the most spastastic trip I’ve ever been on.

Mel suggested that I give an update on the Yarn Mobile, and I’m happy to do so.  I can sum up my feelings for my new Yaris with this… I love, love, love, LOVE it!  I’ve been getting close to 36mpg, which is what the 2008 estimates are.  She’s got great pickup and handling.  She’s so fun to drive.  And, come on, she’s freakishly cute!  If I had to give any complaints, it might be that the engine is a little loud in 5th gear.  When I first started driving the car, I kept thinking I had to shift, but I was already in 5th.  Now that I’ve gotten used to it, I don’t think about it much.  The surprising thing about this car is that it’s really tiny on the outside, but it feels really big on the inside.  I drove to dinner with a friend the other night, and he’s a little over 6 feet tall.  He was plenty comfortable on the way over, and when we got out he commented on how he forgot he was in a subcompact until after we got back out of the car and he saw it from the outside again.  That’s my little Yarn Mobile!

We tried out the boxing game on the Wii last night.  The game requires a second control (nunchucks?) and we hadn’t experimented with them yet.  I now have two favorite games – bowling and boxing.  The greatest part about these Wii games is that you subliminally exercise.  I woke up this morning and my arms were soooo sore from boxing!  I think I’ve found a new exercise regimine.

Speaking of exercise… well, sort of, I’m really talking about weight loss now, I’ve decided to switch from weight watchers online to the meetings.  I’ve been using the online program for a year now and I’m basically at the same weight I started at.  Unfortunately, I’ve discovered that the online program and meeting program are considered two separate products by weight watchers.  So I have to pay the enrollment fee again.  I’m peeved about this, and I considered waiting until they have one of their promotions where they waive the fee, but who knows how long that will be.  (Actually, I can tell you long it’ll be.  The week after I sign up and pay the enrollment fee, which is what happened the last time I joined.)  The good news is that they’re doing a promotion right now where you sign up for $40 (which is the usual enrollment fee), but you get the first meeting free, which is normally $13.  So at least I’m saving some money.  And I really do seem to have better motivation when I attend the meetings, so it’s worth it.  Especially since I’d like to lose the weight before my niece Shauna gets married in December and my friend Amy gets married in February.  I’m a bridesmaid in both weddings and I’m determine to look svelte in my dress.  Ok, I may never look svelte (it’s hard to do so when you’re tripping down the aisle), but I’d settle for thin and nice.