Lose Yourself

Sometimes it is good to let go of who you think you are. I am an overweight, out-of-shape middle-aged woman. But I don't always have to act that way!

Last year I blogged about going to ski for the first time. At the time I had just turned 42 and weighed about 180. I wasn't in great shape, but I was doing pretty good. I was excited to try skiing. I took a class, and got a few good runs on some green (easy) slopes. I was feeling great. Then I took a wrong turn, ended up on a harder slope and totally freaked myself out. I just couldn't get past my fear. I went up a few more times, but was pretty much petrified.

This January we went on a skiing weekend with some friends again. Now I am 43, have gained about 25lbs from last year, and not in shape at all! We had a great weekend. But I only skiied one day, and was still somewhat scared. I had fun - but was VERY stiff. I pretty much locked my legs in position and was thrilled when I made it down the mountain in one piece. I paid for it with very achy legs. But the girls had made some progress in skiing and we didn't want to let it go.

So on Sunday we went to a local mountain to ski. DH had hurt his leg playing softball, and didn't ski. Some great friends offered to help me with the girls (one of which had never been on the ski lift, and we weren't sure how she could ski). We had a BLAST! And I got my skiing mojo back. I decided to pretend I was in shape and could ski just as good as anyone else out there. And I had fun. I still only went on easy trails, but was not petrified. We even went on a very easy blue (medium) trail. And I had a good time. I never fell down. I felt like I could actually do it! We are actually trying to see if we can fit one more day in skiing this season!

It felt like a bit of an epiphany for me. Just because I am a middle-aged, fat, out of shape woman, doesn't mean I have to act like it! If I believe in myself, I can achieve - and have FUN doing it!

Couldn't have had a nicer weekend!

What was that blur? Oh yeah, it was the weekend.

So this was a CRAZY weekend. I know I said that about last weekend (making over Big Man's room), but it had nothing on this one!

On Thursday morning I took the train to NYC for a conference. Great conference - also had a fun time walking around Greenwich Village - sooo cute! Anyway, hopped the train back on Friday arrived around 7:30pm.

Saturday morning left the house at 8am with a packed car and kids and DH to drive to upstate NY to visit DH's Grandmom. She is 93 and has pancreatic cancer. We haven't seen her in a year. It was past due. Got up there in about 6 1/2 hours. Grandmom was great. In great spirits. Kids had a blast playing with the snow in her yard, and we even got them on a sled around the yard. When we pulled it out, the kids said "What is that??!!" They had never been sledding, but c'mon! In K's words, "aren't sleds red and round like the one clifford has in puppy days?" That is so sad. They couldn't even recognize a traditional sled with runners. So I had found a sledding hill near Grandmom's (thanks google - sledding hill + Portville NY) and we took the kids up there. They LOVED it. Even though it was freezing, and they weren't wearing the appropriate clothes, and it was snowing, they had a blast. So Sunday morning we went to a local KMart and picked up snowpants for all. We also got some $6 sledding mats (foam with some kind of slick plastic on the bottom) so they could sled again before we left. Around 2pm, we headed home.

Monday morning we got up and headed northwest again for a planned day of Snow Tubing. We met some friends there and had a blast. Actually most of us did. The grownups and the biggest kids loved it. The youngers liked it alot, but also got tired more quickly. B went down 2-3 times, but was a little scared. Big Man was too small for the runs, but had a little hill. He went down it 2x and was done. He spent the rest of the 2 hours watching. I thought it was awesome.

So that was the weekend. Fun, but exhausting. I don't want to know how many miles I logged between Thursday and Monday. CRAZY. Here are some pics: