Ski Instructors: It's Safe to Come Out Now

Domestic Goddess, Army Wife and I are such party animals. Our girls weekend away at Thredbo was marked with all night drinking binges and dancing to the wee hours. Not.

Seriously, we get four nights away from the kids and what do we do? Sleep. A lot. Firegazer had left a case of beer in the fridge at the lodge and I took down some really nice wine but we were happier with a cup of tea and a choccy bickie (AmE: Chocolate Cookie). Firegazer couldn't believe it. When I rang him one night he said "Oh, the poor wittle mummies are sitting around in their jammies and woolly socks". The sad thing was, we were.

However, it wasn't all tea and woolly socks.
















Two members of our ski party are pointing to the spot where we were caught in the worst weather I have ever experienced at Thredbo. We had just got off the Kosci Express and were heading down to the top of the Supertrail when WHAM! the worst combo ice storm/wind/white out hit us. Domestic Goddess managed to lie down in front of an overhang of snow but Army Wife and I took the full force of it.

When it was over we had a long recovery session involving schnapps at Black Sallees.

This is the same section of the Supertrail two days later looking all sweet and innocent.

After rough weather on the first day we had lovely sunny days for the rest of the trip. However, our ski instructor for days 2 & 3 may not have been having such a lovely time.

Domestic Goddess and I take private lessons on this w/e each year in the vain attempt to be able to keep up with our husbands, and now, our kids. Problem is I don't take to instruction too well. I really see the instructor as a paid tour guide and want him or her to take me to interesting bits of the mountain and show me how to ski them.

Poor Ales from the Czech Republic. He wouldn't take us anywhere interesting because he thought our short turns needed attention. They do, but I am an old dog and I hate new tricks. Ales was rewarded with much muttering under my breath and terse comments. So on day 3 I levelled with him and said I would be grumpy and surly if he continued to pick on my short turns. He said "excellent, bring it on". We saw eye to eye from that point on and I spent the rest of the morning attempting to listen to him. Grudgingly, I may have even learnt something.

***********

Things to love about Thedbo #1:
I love it that while most of the Alpine Responsibility Code signs are made of canvas and lashed to poles with rope, sign #9 is made of metal and bolted down.

9. Do not ski, snowboard, ride chairlift or undertake alpine activities if your ability is impaired by drugs or alcohol

This is the most coveted sign by uni students on scavenger hunts and many of these are known to decorate dorm rooms in Canberra.

Girls Weekend

Tomorrow Domestic Goddess, Army Wife and I are going to the

to do this:

While we are there we may have a few of these:

and, oh, one or two of these

Did I mention we are leaving these at home?

It will be hard to take. See you on Tuesday!

HP7 in progress: No Plot Spoilers Please

Shhhhh... Do Not Disturb. Plot spoilers will be punished.

YAY FINISHED! 11.50PM EST 22/7/07

8 Bags About Me

Inspired, partly by Stomper Girl's question about indulgences, and partly by BlueMountainsMary's admission that she too loves handbags, I thought I'd share my "collection" with you.

You need to understand that, while I love bags, I don't wrap them in cotton wool. I really use them - and they look like it. They have their own drawer but that's about as far as I go with the mollycoddling. So the bags in these photos are used, and in some cases, a bit abused.

Apart from sturdiness my bags need to fit one of three categories: 1. Day bag: fits an A4 sheet 2. Shoulder bag: fits purse, phone and A4 sheet folded in half or 3. Evening bag: fits credit cards, phone and keys.

1. Kate Spade. Birthday gift 2005. This is a "Sydney" summer bag. Fits an A4 sheet. Has nifty latch inside which holds car keys.

2. Oroton. Silent Auction purchase 2007. Pre-production sample. This bag is not going into production so this is IT.

3. Bally. 30th birthday gift (many many moons ago). Perfect for work as it carried not only A4 notepads but a laptop as well.

4. Oroton. Birthday gift 2006. Lovely soft leather. Everyday bag but I also wear it out to eg. theatre.

5. Olga Berg evening bag. Can't remember when purchased but have matching "Dorothy Shoes". Very slim line, size of DL envelope.

6. No name bag. Perfect evening bag; tiny, inexpensive, fits keys, cards and phone. Evening bags must have a strap or I'll lose them.

7. Sentimental favourite No.1. This bag was given to me by a leather shop owner when I was 15 and lucky enough to be billeted in Besancon, France. A real '80s relic.

8. Sentimental Favourite No. 2. Purchased in Kuala Lumpur during honeymoon in 1993. Fits just about anything (camera, jumper, book).

I can stay up reading as long as I like

Firegazer has gone to Thredbo skiing for the weekend with his mate Snegri and has left me with the kids, and worst of all - his car. I'm all cool about the weekend away (I have a girls w/e in the snow next week), and I'm cool about having the kids, but the car - no way.

Y'see I drive a nice sensible car that fits all the kid stuff, is easy to drive and isn't precious; but Firegazer needed to take it to the snow because it has chains and a roofrack. His car is almost undriveable unless you are on the touring car circuit (wrap-around seats, low profile, touchy manual gearing). This car doesn't like to go under 100km/h which is a bit tricky in on narrow, windy, hilly Sydney streets.

Last weekend I had a "driving lesson" where the finer points of the touchy gearing were explained. KelpieBlossom was in the back seat covering her eyes mumbling "We are going to die, we are so going to die". Firegazer will be pleased to know that there is no damage to it yet, and the kids applauded when I safely parked at school this morning.

In other abandonment-related news, no sooner did Firegazer drive off yesterday than the following minor-mishaps occurred:

• the central-heating stopped working. After 15 panicked minutes (it's cold) I realised that it was just a flat battery in the control panel.
• a light-bulb in the kitchen exploded leaving half a singed-looking light-bulb stuck in the socket.
• the house-key broke off in the lock as I was rushing to collect the kids from school

Co-incidences? I think not. Just a little bit of sabotage to keep me on my toes, to point out that he is needed and to not get too excited about being able to keep the light on all night reading. It has backfired 'though. I managed to fix everything myself AND I can still leave the light on as long as I want.


PS HP7 tomorrow! Yay. Warning: I may not answer the phone from 9.01am tomorrow until further notice.