Tele addict

I just can't help myself. I spend almost any free time on weekends trying to rip some tele turns. Today at Alpenglow in the powder, as more powder arrived:

I think I do have some Mexican in me!!

If you don't understand the heading, ask my dad. He made this comment after I painted every room in my Chicago condo a bold color. 'Nuff said. Some things just don't change. Here is a quick photo summary of my kitchen renovation...it's still a work in progress, but you'll get the idea. We'll start with the old kitchen. Notice the lovely 1980 cabinets, counters, flooring, the floor to ceiling mirror as you enter the kitchen (so Miami), the way the cabinets block out the view between the dining room and kitchen, and that spectacular microwave...

I tried to open this place up - knocked out the wall between the dining room and kitchen to make the kitchen a few inches bigger (until we hit the big window), blew out the wall above the cabinets, and those cabinets will be replaced with glass doors on both sides for easy access and 100% visibility! And how about this new floor? It's cork! No, not from wine bottles, although that's not a bad idea. It's a newish greenie thing and I totally dig it. I'll have to post more photos once this project is finally complete, i.e. I have cabinet doors and my built-in wine rack. :) Think the colors brighten the place up?? Ole!!

Rippin it up

Most of you know that I took up telemark skiing last winter. I am proud to report that I had my first MAJOR breakthrough last weekend at Alyeska. I finally got my pole plant timing down and my upper body down the fall line. Huh? What does this mean? It means I was rippin it up!! I was truly tele skiing, and it totally rocked. I'm hooked.

Peace out '07!

2007 has been a great year for me. Spent the last days tele skiing - thought my thighs may literally burst into flames on the last run of the year. Yeooowwww! Here are a few parting shots. Bring on '08!

Recap

My last posting was in August?? Wow. My bad. We're waiting for the snow to fall up here in the Last Frontier, so in the meantime, enjoy a few pics from this summer...going for a wildlife theme here:

One of the 13ish bears that Bree, Michael and I camped with near Pederson Lagoon. WAY too many bears for our liking. We ended up moving camp from a forested area littered with scat to a rock outcropping, where Bree and I proceeded to down some JD and catch some ZZZ's while poor Michael stayed up most of the night ready to defend our lair against these bruins.

Near our Pederson campsite, we spotted a lone coyote. We floated by on the tide as it took us up the stream to the glacier. This was an unexpected site! S/he just stood there and watched us float by.

Some sandhill cranes flying over Homer/Kachemak Bay. These guys loved the open meadows of lupine and fireweed and zig-zagged their honking way all around us.

And who doesn't like seeing a piggy otter (there are two crabs on his belly)?! You may need to click on the pic to see the crabs a little better.

And finally, my favorite wild thing: