Why ski when you can toboggan?

For three hours last night I felt like I was 10 years old again.

Growing up, the first big snow of the winter brought on a sense of wonder, adventure and kamikaze tendencies for my younger sister Bethany and me. When I was about 10 and Bethany 8, we created a path from the retaining wall in the back yard that went through the trees and down a steep slope to the empty lot below the house. When I say steep, I mean really steep. The kind of steep that when viewing through 30-year-old eyes looks like a death wish, or at least certain carnage. By the time any adult witnessed our launch we had already completed countless successful runs and for some reason no one stopped us. I don't know how many years we used the sledding track, but I can't remember ever getting hurt. What I do remember was the feeling of hitting powder at the bottom of the run, the tube coming to a halt and ending up with snow covered eyelashes.

The snow covered eyelashes were what brought it all back to me yesterday. About 7 p.m., Tiffany, Michelle and I loaded up and drove to Fairview to meet up with a few other friends. With tobbogan, saucers and three Stiga snow racers (in case you're interested) in hand, we played on a hill in Fairview Canyon with the abondon of children.

The hill is nestled in an S-curve of the road that goes up Fairview canyon, making it the perfect spot for grown-up sledding. This means instead of riding down and walking back up the hill, we pile the sleds in the back of the truck (along with Mike and Lane) and drive to the top of the hill after each run. The trail seems to have been made by back-country snowboarders who come there during the day. The day-time run sounds a lot smarter, but there was somthing enchanting about hitting the hill in the light of the full moon.

After a lack-luster run on the saucers, I decided to give the heavy-duty toboggan a go. It was so much fun, I stayed on it the rest of the night. Michelle and I ended up making at least four long runs down slopes, among trees and through mounds of powder. We kept getting better at steering the long board each run. On the last run we took together, there was one point where we were going so fast the powder was flying up into my face until it was so covered I couldn't see anything. Because I'm old and chicken, I bailed off the front of the sled. Michelle ended up half on the toboggan, half in the fluff. The toboggan somehow, was half on me. We laid there laughing so hard we almost couldn't get up. I had so much snow covering my eyelashes that it made the sky sparkle. And for three hours, I felt like I was 10 again.

Snow ... snow ... snow

I really do like a fresh blanket of snow. Especially the day after the storm if the sky is blue and our mountains sparkle.

But after shoveling a foot of snow (I really do mean at least 12 inches) from my driveway, which is disproportionately large in comparison to the size of my house, I promptly booked a ticket to visit my parents in Florida.

Happy New Year!

Michelle, Tiffany and I rang in the New Year in fine fashion. Thanks Mike & Wendy for the fab fondue. Thanks Terry & Angela (aka Tang) for games, laughs, carmel corn and the requisite Diet Coke. Thanks Leslee & LeGrand for waffles and fireworks. Could it get any better??

Ode to Pie Fest

Actually, the limits of my creativity are reached long before I write poetry, so there will be no odes to Pie Fest ... But I will put up a few pics ...

Where did December go?? (Not to mention the rest of 2008)

I'm sitting here on Dec. 28, 2008 wondering how I missed most of the month of December. I remember my cousin Becky's wedding Dec. 6. Then there was Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and suddenly there are only a handful of days left in the month. I had big plans for December! Oh well ... what is the old saying ... the best laid plans of mice and men?

I did do a few things in December. I finally went through the rest of the pictures from my Paris trip. Oh, and in the process, Becky's husband John saw my blog post and said, "Umm ... I like the title, but you know that you spelled c'est la vie wrong, right?" I obviously didn't know I had it wrong, but thanks, John. Now I do and I think I'll just leave it. It kind of typifies me trying to communicate while in France. With four years of Spanish and two years of French on my junior high and high school transcripts, I had a bit of trouble picking phrases to use while in France. A nice stranger would say something simple to me and my response would come out in half Spanish, half French. An even bigger issue was me trying to figure out in my muddled brain which half was the French and which the Spanish. Oh well. Maybe in 2009 I'll brush up on one of the languages ... maybe.

One of my favorite things in Paris was finding the best hot chocolate. The best cup we found was at Cafe Panis just across the street from Notre Dame.

I definitely did not miss out on Christmas. I discovered a few years ago that Christmas with the kids is a whole lot more fun than Christmas with all adults. For the past couple of years, I've spent the night with my sister Wendy's family so I can witness the Christmas morning magic with her kids.

My nephew Kade is at the perfect age for Christmas morning. He ran around handing everyone packages to open and patiently watched until he couldn't stand it anymore and had to open one of his own. And, he loves me.

To my happy surprise, I got a fantastic pair of beautiful shoes for Christmas! Ok ... fine ... yes ... I did purchase the shoes myself ... and yes ... I did wrap them in my favorite paper with a pretty bow ... and then I put To: Carol-Lyn From: Santa on the tag. Sometimes the Christmas magic we make for ourselves is pretty darn good, too. You have to admit, that's a convincing "look of surprise."

When December is all said and done, I think that the beginning and the end were so good that the blur of the 15 days in between is probably a good thing.

Once I arrived in Paris, I met up with my friends, Jeff and Amanda. Amanda was excited to get out and see the town. After a quick shower and change of clothes, I was ready to see Paris for the first time, too.

Amanda and I had the most fabulous day! We rode the metro into Paris and then just started walking. We saw most of the major highlights today: Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and a lot more that is a bit hazy since I'm running on about 3 hours of in flight sleep. We had the perfect Paris lunch in a little bistro. The highlight was the hot chocolate.

Amanda did a fantastic job of navigating the city. We only got a little lost for a minute on a street full of "Sex Shops".

One of three rose windows on Notre Dame.

Me in front of Notre Dame in my pink coat and grey hat that I will probably be wearing in every picture from this trip because it's only about 35 degrees this weekend.

The Eiffel Tower was so impressive. Before seeing it in person, I had always wondered what the big deal was and why people have such an emotional tie to it. But after spending some time there, it makes sense. It's a magical place.

We definitely did not do justice to the Louvre, but in an hour, we saw Amanda's three Must Sees: The Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory. One of the most stunning things was seeing the glass pyramid lit up with the historic Louvre in the background.

Se la vie!

There's an old adage that says something like the best things in life are the hardest to comeby. Maybe it isn't an old adage, but if it isn't, it should be!

A few weeks ago, I planned a trip to Paris on a whim. Yes, probably crazy, but it sounded fun and I've never been. So with a few emails and phone calls, I had three other friends reeled in and Thanksgiving in Paris was booked. It all sounded fantastic, and -- in theory-- should have gone like clockwork. The plan was for Tiffany and I to leave Wednesday afternoon on the direct flight from Salt Lake to Paris. That was such a fantastic plan. Until it unraveled.

It was smooth sailing for Tiffany and I on Wednesday afternoon. We made it to the airport on time. There was no security line to slow us down. We found fabulous reading materials and candy in the bookshop. And, when we were seated on the plane, they gave us cute little Delta eyemasks for the long, overnight flight.

We settled in to our seats and waited for the plane to head out for the runway ... and we waited ... and we waited ... and we waited somemore. After two hours, Delta made it official. Our flight was cancelled because of a "broken alternative power source" (I have no idea what it does, but it sounds important, so I guess I'm glad they figured it out before we were over the Atlantic).

So, the long and the short of it ... instead of leaving for Paris Wednesday, arriving Thursday and then leaving for home Monday, I ended up leaving for Paris Thursday and arriving in the wee hours of Friday morning. Without Tiffany. Yup, Tiffany decided the abbreviated trip just wasn't worth the stress, so I came on my own.

Luckily my flights (that is plural -- so much for direct from SLC to Paris) went smoothly and I navigated public transportation all the way to the hotel on my own without incedent. At least without any incedents that I will admit to.

More to come on my Paris adventure ...