SoCal = Noob Snowboarding

As you might have guessed, we spent the day on the slopes. We had a lot of fun and also enjoyed the challenge of dodging blockades of new snowboarders. How is it that 2/3 of the people at ski resorts in Southern California are learning to snowboard? You'd think that, after a while, there would be a good-sized population of experienced snowboarders, but that is apparently not the case. Perhaps all the good ones move to locations with better snow (as we will be doing, taking 3 more experienced snowboarders out of the pool).

It was lots of fun, despite the ice early in the day and boot issues [grumble], up until the new snowboarder population reached critical mass. At that point, the whole place turned into a giant clusterfuck and became somewhat perilous. Luckily, having gotten there early instead of the normal SoCal snowboarder arrival time of noon, we'd pretty much gotten a full day in anyway and left with no regrets.

Walkin'

My grandmother should be getting out of the hospital today. In a freakish and unfortunate series of events, she wound up being knocked underneath my grandfather's car (which is why you shouldn't bend down behind a running car to pick up a newspaper without warning the driver) and the fall broke off the ball of her femur. They replaced her hip on Sunday, she walked down the hallway on Tuesday, and was able to climb stairs on Wednesday. It really is pretty amazing.

Speaking of walking, I really need to get my ass in gear. I put on some of my nice pants, with a higher waistband than anything I've worn for the past month, and I could definitely feel those Christmas cookies. See, I don't need a scale! Just some high pants lacking in stretchiness.

Relief

I've got my lessons planned out for the next two weeks and it is so incredibly nice. It doesn't make the class time any easier, but my prep time feels much less hectic. My Tuesday-Thursday meeting was cancelled today and I was able to take an hour to myself and read the blogs. It was nice. I only hope I can keep this up as the semester progresses.

What will they be like in two weeks, I wonder?

Yesterday was the first day back in school after three weeks of vacation for student and teacher alike. The thought of going back made me anxious, and arriving at school sent my intestines into knots, but the students have been surprisingly good. Shockingly good. They've been doing their work with little complaint and some shepherding. In my more challenging class we lost three people, which probably helped, but all of my classes have been good. It really makes me think that year-round school is the answer. The students seem fresh and somewhat receptive to learning. I'm still not feeling it, but perhaps that is contributing to the positive student attitude, as I am mostly having them work with their table groups and allowing them to listen to their iPods when finished. Nothing like good old-fashioned bribery, eh?

Recipe Review: Brussels Sprouts and Sausage Soup

I'll just start be mentioning that I didn't have any caraway seeds, one of the two spices used in this recipe, so the soup I wound up making was lacking one of the base flavors of the recipe. However, I'm pretty sure that R would have liked the recipe less had I included anise-flavored seeds in the broth). In any case, Brussels Sprouts and Sausage Soup, with red and black pepper substituting for the caraway seeds, was surprisingly nice. At first it tastes a little bland, but it grows on you (I had seconds). Plus, if you use a bag of frozen Brussels sprouts, it's really easy to make. A nice combination.