Back from skiing in Austria.

I have not been on my blog for a week. The reason for this is a very long awaited holiday. We booked a skiing holiday over a year ago and have been counting down the days to it ever since. When my Man and I were young and carefree we went skiing a lot. We even thought about going to work in a ski resort, but ended up being too chicken!

My Man is a good skier. He flies down any slope, finds jumps and has no fear. I am a reasonable skier as long as I can see where I am going. I do, however, have a reputation amongst those who know me, for spending quite a lot of time sobbing down slopes when I can't see where I am going...

I am safe, steady and completely without any nerve... By that I don't mean I am brave, I mean I am a scaredy cat.Anyway, it doesn't really matter. What matters is we had a lovely time and the best bit was being together as a family.

The boys have skied once before when they were 4 and 6. Now, 7 years later they were amazing - brave, safe, controlled. I really would have liked to stay in the mountains for ever. They are just beautiful - as you can see...

Do real men wear ski helmets??

Well... I think that the answer to that one, if you have any brains is... yes!! Unfortunately, if you have no brains ( probably due to a ski accident ) you might say no.

Now... the tricky part here is when you ( mum ) wear a ski helmet to ski in, your children wear a ski helmet to ski in.... but your husband doesn't.My husband, lovely, lovely man that he is, has skied for a very long time. When I say that I don't mean that he has been stuck on a chairlift for years, I mean he started skiing at a young ish age.He skis and he skis well. He also skis rather quickly.

When he ( and I come to think of it ) started skiing there just weren't helmets. Of course, your downhill top top skiers wore helmets because they were hurtling down hills at a million miles an hour... but your average Joe did not.My Man is your average Joe skier and he just can't see why he should start wearing a helmet now. Of course he thinks its essential that our boys do - safety first and all that...

So it drives me mad!!!! If for no other reason he should wear one to set an example - shouldn't he?? I know that he probably won't fall over. He probably won't get skied into. But he might... He wouldn't dream of going out on his bike without a helmet.. So what's the difference??

I am sure, that when it comes to our holiday, I will have talked him into wearing one. He will look fab in it and I will love him for wearing it.If you are reading this, my Man ....

Sorry, hun.... but WEAR A HELMET!!! I will look after your dribbling braindamaged body if you have an accident, but I will be very annoyed...

Study, skiing and sparkly soirees...

Today I revised for my exam whilst watching son#2 ski.I read my notes on Great Expectations as he flew down the snow like a genius. I cannot believe how well he is doing - from scared and crying at Easter to parallel turns at June Half Term! What a little star!

I went and had my hair done this afternoon... blonder, shorter... am I having a mid-life crisis?? I am going to a dead posh party in about 3 weeks and am searching for the perfect dress... so far without success. I did try on a gorgeous one - midnight blue, sparkly, backless, fitted like a perfect glove from the waist down. Unfortunately from the waist up I looked like a wrestler...

So... the hunt is on for a 'wow' dress - not too bright, but sparkly and sexy. Not mutton dressed as lamb, but not the bride's mother either. If I find it I will photo it.I want to look drop dead gorgeous at this 'do' and I neeeeed a dress for it.Tomorrow may well involve a shopping trip.

Its not often that I go out to 'dead posh dos' so the shallow inner self that is my true character is crying out for attention and glamour.It is a night that calls for sparkle, lip gloss and Chanel No5. I plan to dance until I drop and breakfast at Harry's in the wee small hours. Ho Hum... only 3 weeks to wait now.

I have to find that dress!

Cooking, skiing and having fun...

To write down all the stuff that has been going on in my life over the last 3 weeks since I was on here last would take about 3 weeks more! We have been so busy.We had the Easter holidays which were great.The boys and I were on our own as my Man was fortunate enough to be able to fly out to Augusta, Georgia to watch the Masters. He has a very lovely friend who treated him to the week out there. They played golf, watched golf and generally had the best time ever.

We, on the other hand did not have too shabby a time of it ourselves! The boys were booked on a skiing course at an indoor snow centre, so each day we drove up there and they learned to ski while I watched them through a massive window. I sat and wrote my essay on Ibsen's A Doll's House whilst sipping lattes and was amazed to see their progress. By the end of the week they had both passed their course and are able now to ski recreationally with us.

photo of butterfly taken by #1 son

I have been really into baking during the holidays and have made a succession of delights such as cup cakes, chocolate raspberry fudge cake, Granny Boyd's biscuits and more. There is something oh so relaxing about shutting the door of my kitchen, turning on the radio and baking.I also had the girls over and made a yummy red thai curry with rice and a thai cucumber salad.

Yesterday we all went skiing as a family.It was such good fun. The boys skied beautifully.I thought that we would all start with gentle snow ploughs, curving our way down the slope, but no... my husband went first and just shot down the hill like Franz Klammer.The boys followed suit.I am pleased to say that after the initial enthusiasm they all tried hard to improve technique and were under control. I suppose boys will be boys.

So... now I am about to go and play football. I was up early to take son #1 to play his match and my Man is playing baseball as we  speak. We have been snuggled watching our old home videos of the boys when they were tiny.Wow... they were so adorable.I wish I had appreciated them fully when they were young. I spent so much of my time feeling miserable because of PND that I found motherhood very difficult.It makes me want to try even harder now to be a good mum and makes their lives lovely. I am so lucky to have them.

More indoor skiing and Pampered Chef friendship worries...

I went skiing today. My Man and I snuck off to the indoor ski place with our old salopettes and had an hour of skiing. How bizarre! My main impression was of darkness. Of course it wasn't dark, but as it was inside, with no windows, the overall feeling was... darkness. The thing I love about skiing is the massive skies and the mountain air - the feeling that you are a tiny dot amongst the mountains and sparkling snow, the feeling of freedom. Here there was no sky and no feeling of freedom. That is not to say that I didn't have a good time.After the first few runs where I felt as though I was wearing huge planks on my feet, all went well. I could not stop myself from smiling as I hurtled rustily down the slope.What a lovely way to spend a Wednesday afternoon!!

I am feeling a tad anxious this evening. I am having a Pampered Chef party at my house. You can Google them and look up the stuff they sell - its good. I e-mailed my potential guests last night and there has not been a clamouring to attend. In fact, there has been a marked and stony silence.My fragile self confidence has taken a dive and I am thinking that I may have to cancel if more people, as in.... any people, don't let me know they can come.

Its time like this when I go back to the whole thing about friends. Maybe they all read my post going on about how I liked my own company. Maybe they all thought I could have a Pampered Chef party by myself as I liked my own company so much... Actually, I don't think they read my post as none of them know that I write this blog.... maybe they just don't like me.....

Skiing indoors, Arsenal and chocolate

Today I had booked my 2 boys in for a ski lesson each. We travelled to a place where they have real indoor snow and piste and off they went. It has been 6 years since they skied so they were 4 and 6 the last time.They did so well today and it was brilliant to watch them. I have booked them in for more lessons in the hope that by next year when we go on our holiday they will be confident and competent!

We then hurried along to the Emirates to watch Arsenal v Sunderland.I love going there and Arsenal won 2-0 today. Yay!!!

And now a quiet evening with my Man.I am now going to make a nice pot of coffee and break out the Green and Blacks milk chocolate...

Obergurgl here we come!!

I am sooooooooooooooo excited!! I may well burst before I get to it...... but we booked a ski holiday yesterday!! Not for this year... for this year its too late, what with the children and all that palaver. We were looking online for short breaks this coming half term and our computer magically found its way to a ski website. We have been considering it for some time now, but had been put off by the cost ( we are naturally cautious chaps!)

Last night though we had a rush of blood to the head and decided that you only live once. We looked each other in the eyes as my Man's finger hovered over the "send" button. "Do it!" I said.... and he did.So, in a year's time...well, more than a year actually... we will be in Obergurgl.Yeeehaaaaaa!!!!!

                                                                         Obergurgl

Before we had the boys my Man and I used to ski as often as we could... probably twice a year for ten years. Those were the days when we were young, free and had plenty of money floating about... the days before mortgages, children and the days when we both had well paying jobs.In fact the last ski trip we had before the Boys were born was to Obergurgl in Austria.I love it there!! The whole atmosphere is as you would expect of an Alpine skii village... relaxed, friendly, beautiful.

                                                                             Obergurgl

My favourite, well, one of my favourite bits, was at the end of the day when we had just about finished skiing, we would ski to the Nederhutte, a bar/restaurant half way down the mountain.There would be a live oompahpah band playing and everyone would sit at long trestle tables - all snuggled together, drinking steins of beer and singing along to the band. People would dance on the tables, laugh and generally make merry. After a while we would ski the rest of the way down to the village down a gentle Green run that was floodlit.

                                                                                  the Nederhutte
 
The thought of taking my boys and spending a week together, the four of us, skiing, stopping for hot chocolate, having lunch in mountain restaurants, skiing some more, collapsing into cosy duvets at the end of the day with muscles aching and cheeks rosy from a day outside... I cannot wait!!! I feel so fortunate to be able to do this again after so long.