Happy New Year 2006!

Gott Nytt År 2006!

Hopefully the new year finds everyone doing well.

My new year has been wonderful! My mom, dad, brother Phil and I went to Sunday River to enjoy a few days of skiing and snowboarding. It was great to be able to be outside, in the snow, skiing/boarding down the mountain. We met up with some family friends from "the old neighborhood" which made for good times on the mountain.
The bed & breakfast we stayed at, Victoria Inn, turned out to be a "bad egg"... hahaha - check out the link, looks are deceiving, I will say no more! All worked out, the skiing was great for December, the people we hung out with were fun... what more could you ask for? (Besides a luxury mountainside house...)
The first day on the slopes was great. The prediction for rain turned out to be nothing more than that... it was a beautiful day, no lines, and lots of skiing.
The second day, New Year's Eve, was even more fun. Excited to snowboard instead of ski, I jumped out of bed in the morning and hurried to get dressed. After breakfast we headed to the mountain. The whole day was great, and snowboarding was a great diversion from skiing.



Unfortunately, tragedy reigned. My mom was run over by a snowmobile. Well, I was in the ski shop checking out new boots - 10 years after my last pair, it's time, while my mom was being plowed over by the snowmobile. Luckily for me, I found a sweet pair in my favorite color.


What? You want to know about the snowmobile accident?! My mom is the best! She took it all in stride, but her BRAND NEW BOOTS were broken and her BRAND NEW SKIS had a crack. Bummer. End of story.
No, just kidding. Sunday River was AWESOME in handling the situation. They were real kind and my mom ended up with new boots and her skis fixed (the crack wasn't bad). To ensure that we would ski Sunday River once again, they gave us 8 complimentary lift tickets! :) Talk about customer service. Now the standard is set if someone else is run over by a snowmobile.
Honestly, I don't mean to take this lightly. My mom is ok and there were no major injuries despite the fact the 2 men had to physically LIFT the snowmobile off of my mom. All's well, ends well... ;)
New Year's Eve we went to a great Japanese/Korean restaurant on Main Street in Bethel, Maine. A whole group of us went and ate till we could eat no more, the good thing about Japanese and Korean food, unlike Chinese food, is that you don't feel uncomfortable after eating it. You feel satisified, with a feeling that what you ate was healthy, which it is.
New Year's Day.
Cruising the mountain in my skis and NEW boots I felt great. We had lots of people to ski with and challengingly, wonderful, fast runs! The end of the day came too quickly.
All in all, a wonderful weekend and a great new year.











New Year Resolution
Ski more
Snowboard more

Hockey

My last post was a tribute to hockey. Last night was another game and it was intense! The game is such an amazing sport. It is such a rush to be out on the ice. However, I do have a complaint. Last night I scored a goal which would give us a 1 point lead. Yay! The ref saw things differently from his point of view. He didn't agree with the goal. He said he blew his whistle before my stick hit the puck. Well, after that, the other team came back and scored with 1 minute and 30 seconds left. My shift was over and I was not happy. They had a 1 point lead and we had 1 and a half minutes to tie the game. My coach saw the intensity on my face and sent me out to use the intensity to our team's advantage for the last 48 seconds. My team had a chance to score, but we missed. The puck was smacked to the middle of the ice. I was against the defender and I was ON the puck. The defender shoved me into the boards, but I wouldn't give. Since I am new to the sport, I didn't realize she shoved me into the boards to waste time. She knew I was a young player and would use my ferocity to combat the boards - with the boards winning. The bell rang and the game was over. Not quite as satisfying as games in the past, however the ache in my shoulder is testimony to the ferocity with which I played in the last couple of minutes. Tuesday- back on the ice to get some practice and learn a few pointers. Next post won't be about hockey, unless I am inspired again. :)

On another note, I went to the Ski and Snowsports Expo and I got psyched for the ski season which is pretty much here. :) I can't wait to buckle my boots, and snap into my skis and cruise down the slopes. Hopefully I can also have time to hit the slopes on my board a few times as well. :)