Category: outing
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Skiing, scenery, and sightseeing
Today yielded the following knowledge:
1. I now know that I am a skier that is dependent on short, beginner skis. The longer skis I somehow received turned into a disaster on the slopes.
2. The photos do not do the scenery justice. It is simply magnificent.
3. An afternoon devoted to my very own projects is priceless.
4. Chris and I finally found good food in Salt Lake City. Thank you Himalayan Kitchen.
5. I’m becoming a fan of period pieces. On the heels of last year’s The Young Victoria, I thoroughly enjoyed The King’s Speech.
6. I adore everything about The Children’s Theatre in downtown Salt Lake City—the posters, the storefront, and the enthusiastic kids in class just beyond the windows.
7. Five days away from my husband and kids is plenty. Time to go home.
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Tomorrow we ski!
The conference wrapped up today, and I’m walking away having learned a lot.
We chose this conference as it was some solid time away, offered the opportunity to ski on some gorgeous mountains, and hear from some really interesting people who I wanted to see speak. Sadly, some of the speakers I really wanted to hear disappeared from the panel after we registered. (Gayla and Davin, we’re sad to have missed you.)
That said, I probably shouldn’t attend conferences. I’m not a schmoozer. I don’t like it and I don’t do it well. This is my fault entirely, and I freely admit I do better one-on-one. I just like to get to know people. I like to talk about the things that make me smile, and I like to know what invigorates you. I don’t want to sell you something, and I don’t want you to sell me anything in return. I don’t want to compete for my share of the conversation.
Don’t get me wrong, I love to meet new people, but conferences just feel a bit like speed-dating.
So I spent a lot of time at the conference with my mouth closed. Listening. Watching. (Except for that night out with Chris and Tina, where I likely made up for my silence—my favorite time here by far!)
As I close in on 40, I feel like my wrinkles have earned me the right to offer some unsolicited advice. So after these few days, this is the nugget I’m putting out in the universe.
There are well-known people I greatly admire. People that do what they do remarkably well. But what I know is that they are busy. Crazy, silly, stupidly busy. Although they would love to meet and help everyone who admires them, they really don’t have time. Because in all likelihood, they’re barely juggling the balls they have in the air.
Feel free to cue up to meet that famous person. Tell them how much you appreciate their work, because I’m certain they appreciate your kind words. But it is unlikely this person will be your connection to success.
Go ahead, look for the not-necessarily famous, but very well-known people in the crowd. If you admire them, introduce yourself. Ask them to have a cup of coffee. They might accept, and it’s possible they might be a connection.
But the person you should really talk to is the person sitting next to you, whom you’ve never met in your life. Who you know nothing about, and with whom you think you have nothing in common. That person could inspire you. Or hold the answers to your unanswered questions. Or be your next investor. Do not discount someone just because you don’t know their name—yet.
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Salt Lake City
The best part of today’s conference was the folks we got to meet. I finally got to meet Tina of swissmiss after only virtual meetings. Chris finally got to meet Jon and Heather after the same sort of virtual dialogue.
Chris, Tina, and I headed out for dinner tonight. Do you know how hard it is to find a restaurant with open seats when both Sundance and the world’s largest outdoor gear convention are both happening in the same city? We finally ended up at a seafood place, which was surprisingly tasty.
After dinner, based on a suggestion from the woman who waxed my eyebrows on the day we got in, we went to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearse. Rehearsals are open to the public on Thursday, so if you’re ever in town, I highly recommend a visit. I don’t care what your religious views are, the choir was something spectacular. When I visit places like this, I’m reminded we all need to spend more time sitting, away from technology, with good sounds around us.
We ended the evening with a stop at the hotel bar, and loads of meaty conversation. Good stuff.
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Dinner with Anne
Tonight I met Anne for dinner in the Big City. I had pre-trip errands to run, and it was just days away from her birthday—the stars were aligned.
I adore my old friends (meaning we go back far—not chronologically, of course). I love that we fall right back into old and new conversations like no time has passed. They already have the backstory and the context. They understand my heavy sighs and eye rolls.
Now adding to the 2011 list: seeing more of old friends. It’s silly we live so close, yet the visits are so infrequent. You, sitting there? I’m talking about YOU.
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Annual ski date
In January the school district has a teacher in-service day. It’s a day that few other schools in the area have off.
Last year I decided it would be the perfect day to take Neko skiing, as I figured the slopes would be pretty empty—and I was right! Nancy and Mary Beth came along, and we had an amazing day.
This year, Nancy had to work, so Neko and I went solo. Someone had a small anxiety attack shortly before we hit the slopes, and almost refused to go. Thank goodness, Bill the Amazing Ski Instructor was there to greet us, so I slipped Neko into his class for the first hour.
After the class, she was ready for the green hill. After we skiied the green hill a few times, she decided she was ready for the blue hill. We switched between three different blue runs for the rest of the day, and now my seven-year-old is a better skiier than I am.
Parenthood—it is nothing if not humbling.
We capped off the day with a few trips down the tubing hill. As we sailed down the hill, I thought to myself how wonderful this was. I miss those little baby snuggles, but what a joy to have this whole person to hang with for the day.
Sadly, I committed the cardinal photography sin, and forgot to charge my camera battery. It died on the first photo, so all I have are these photos from my phone. And someone refused to let me take her photo close up, so you’ll have to just look at that little speck of her in the second photo and trust that we were there.
Special thanks to Barb and Kendall who took care of Shep and Ellery today, and to Tom who helped with transportation. It was a bit of scheduling gymnastics to make it all come together, but so very worth it.
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Skeletal
Once a month I volunteer at school in the science class. It’s a mixed K/1/2 class, so an extra set of hands is always a bonus.
Today we talked about bones. At the end of the experiment, kids were given some time to pore over the school’s extensive bone collection. One boy found this tiny skull, and we spent some good time speculating on what it might be.
Any guesses?
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Things I love: Anthropologie fairy houses
A few weeks back I was doing some shopping. I walked by the window of Anthropologie, and squealed. In full disclosure, since the moment I walked in their doors for the first time, I have loved their store staging. So many amazing ideas out of everyday things. (I wonder if someone has catalogued them all on the web somewhere? Wouldn’t that be exciting!)
Anyway, with fairy houses being rather popular in our house, I especially adored this concept. I chatted up one of the salespeople and discovered that they are constructed out of cardboard boxes—cut, painted and rolled into tree trunks, and then painted again. Simple x-acto cuts create spaces for windows and doors, and snipped and glued balsa wood to craft ladders and frames. Voila! A veritable fairy village.
As I was taking pictures, someone demanded to run back in the store and have her picture taken through the window. (Hint: it was not the salesperson.)
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World Winter Celebrations
On the last day of class before the holiday break, Neko and Shep’s school had a World Winter Celebrations Day. In lieu of the traditional Christmas party, each class researched a celebration that occurred in a different part of the world during the winter, and then created a presentation for the rest of the school. There were Power Point presentations, crafts, dances, and lots and lots of food. Parents were invited to join in on the fun, so Ellery and I dropped by.
Now that we’ve visited China, Mexico, France, India, and a whole bunch of other countries, I think we’re ready to head back home and begin our own holiday traditions!
