Sad news...

On March 25th my grandmother Irene Naylor passed way.

The week before, my mom went to visit my grandmother on short notice and I decided to go with her, and now I'm really glad that I did.

Many people called her Jackie, and my grandmother lived to see an astounding number of major changes in the course of human history, both great and terrible: two world wars; the great depression; the invention and proliferation of television; computers, the internet and cell phones; the Korean, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, and Iraq Wars; the assassination of JFK, MLK and Malcolm X; the Ford Model-T; Prohibition; Women's Suffrage; space exploration; AIDS…the list just goes on and on.

At 93 she was a great-grandmother four times over and although predeceased by her husband and second eldest daughter she lived a long full life. She is survived by five children, ten grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and will be missed by many. I’m proud to have known her.

Rack + Boots + Car + Skis = Ski Trip!

Armed with our shiny new skis and boots, plus free lift tickets, Todd, Sofia, Clint and I headed to Stratton.

And a trip to a sugar shack for tasty maple syrup treats.

Ski assembly

Saturday morning we headed over to Clint's house to check out our new skis!

Todd and Clint figured out how to put the bindings together and attach them to the skis. Check out the intense looks on those faces! Now we're ready for one last trip to the slopes next weekend.

Buddy is studying carefully because Todd promised him there would be a test.

And we managed to get a little Eddie Izzard in while we were at it. He's on the TV in the background (DVD: Definite Article, 2004).

Skis! (some assembly required)

Hooray!!!! We have skis! After much research and lots of consultation with Clint, Todd got an great deal on very nice skis. And after much anticipation they're here!
Now we just need to put them together.... who knew they would come in two pieces? Certainly not me. But am sooo excited to ski on them!

Eddie Izzard - Round 2

Eddie Izzard was so good that we had to see him twice! Last night we went with fellow Eddie fans, some of whom we'd actually turned on to Eddie, and laughed hysterically all over again.


This show was very similar to the other one, but as Todd pointed out Eddie seems to have honed things some since the first show we saw.

Here is my brain dump - I in no way guarantee that this will make any sense:
Poo on a fan
Ooh I'm hamlet, my dad's dead
Don't drink too much wine before a gig
Monarchies decay into putrification then you swim thru sick and five pound notes.
Waiting for a blok in trousers to come work things out.
Middle country drain - they ride greyhounds outta there.
The golden rule. The Nazis rarely used the golden rule. They went bat shit crazy.
Post 42 type films.
We've been in aeroplanes and seen thru those clouds.
There is no bathroom in there - its a toilet.
Terms and conditions. You just agree! Sell kids into slavery - agree! Grandmother on fire! Agree! Knee to testicles agree!
Opera is a weird thing. Opera is a hummer on an art thing.
PCs show you numbers just long enough to freak you out.
Trees are quite big.
Sex with badgers is possible.
God on crack: why would you make a triceratops? Elizabethan ruff , only eats veggies?
Homo flatus - homo 45 degreesus.
Are you sure the ice is gone?
It's a bison, c'mon, help me! I just hit him with a stone. Hitting-bison-on-head-age.
Do you have a kit kat? Is Kenny in? We're hashishins.
Squirrel mit toaster equals elephant.
This is a table? I brought a table - I took the wrong bag!
Tapestries: Don't look at the weavers. I've sewn it to my leg!
Monkey people.
Why take six days? What is he doing building a train set?
Creme brulee? Slightly singed. Creme burnt.
Intelligent design.
Cows should be going 26 miles of ditch.
Thou shall not cover thy neighbor's ox. Did you see Steve's ox? Harry where's your blanket?


I love Eddie Izzard!

I have ski boots!

This season we've done skiing more than I've done all previous seasons combined and I think I've become a little obsessed.

• Todd's birthday (Berkshire East, 1 day)
• Owens' Tahoe trip (Todd, 1 day)
• Super Bowl weekend (Okemo, 3 days)
• President's Day weekend (Mt. Snow, 1day; Stratton, 1 day)

And we have at least one more trip coming up because we all won tickets to Stratton.

Along with the newly found obsession is the desire not to want to have to waste time trying on rental gear. So recently we went whole-hog and after many ski shop visits we ordered boots and skis! The boots are from a store in NY so they got here at the end of last week and Friday afternoon I had fun wearing them at my desk for the last few hours of the day. Now we just need the skis to arrive!