(no subject)
Well I'm up here at the condo with sis without much to do cause she's boring (phd work always) and you can't ski at night. Well, you can, when there's nightskiing, but that's different. And nightskiing never happens this late in the night. Anyway, I was looking at my friend's page, and then I accidentally hit "post" and it brought me here. So I figured "hey, got nothing better to do, might as well post."
Let's see, what the heck has happened in my life since I last posted? Well, just before thanksgiving I finished the fall residency portion of my year, and received a Graduate Certificate in Environmental Education, which means I'm now a para-professional, which is nice. I had a week off for thanksgiving, got to spend time with the fam and with mags and emmy and fam, and got to go skiing with sis and pop, which was also nice. Then went back down to McCall for three weeks of winter training, during which--in addition, of course, to getting trained and building our winter curriculum--I finally met a couple dating prospects plus more hangout buddies in the form of McCall locals, and got promoted to 2nd degree black belt. All that was also quite nice.
Last saturday night was The Cocktail Party, which, according to "Shaq," a ~5"2' very round asian guy who seems to know everybody in mccall, is one of two times during the entire year that you'll see people dressed up in mccall. The other time is the inevitable wedding that happens to somebody (well, two people) every summer. I was in near top form that night, and met many many many locals which was awesome because I'm sure to run into many of them again since mccall is, after all, only so big. I met two LC grads--Matt and Elaine--from 1993 (same high school I went to) who were ecstatic and dumbstruck to meet a fellow LC grad--they were hosting the cocktail party, but I didn't know them before, just knew a couple people who filled me in on the party scoop. I met a cute girl named Chenoa (sp?) who digs superman, music, and spends her summers working on the family ranch, almost entirely self-sufficient and located in the remote Frank Church Wilderness (also in Idaho, but far far away). Angela has been out of school for I think 3 years now, and is working in Real Estate, and while she and her husband and in the process of building a new house, she doesn't think she'll ultimately spend her life in McCall. Shaq, like I said, knows everybody, and loves to introduce people (i.e."hey have you met Josh??") so he's a great guy to know at a party. Audrey I had met a few weeks ago, and last summer was her rookie Smokejumper season...hott. She's hoping to get hired on for this coming summer at the McCall smokejumping base, one of the better ones apparently. We're hoping to get some skiing/boarding in together at Brundage after I return from the holiday break.
Sunday I stopped off at Thai Taste restaurant in Lewiston to grab some dinner along my drive up to Spokane, whereupon entering I ran into a couple whose son, Kyle, had been one of my students at MOSS! He had broken his arm, so both parents had been at MOSS at various points to help out, which is why I'd met them before (and not just kyle). Well, they thanked me for teaching Kyle and such, kind of the usual but always appreciated gestures, and I asked them to say hello to Kyle for me. So we went and ate at our separate tables, and they left before me and waved goodbye. And then when the waitress came to clear my table, she informed me that "the couple sitting over there paid for your dinner tonight." !!! Isn't that sweet? I was very touched.
After dinner I continued uneventfully back up to Spokane, crashed, and then drove up monday morning with mom to go skiing. My sis joined us today, making it the second day of sunny skies and FAST hardpack. Tomorrow we'll be taking a private telemark lesson, our mom's hanukah gift for us. Sweet huh?
Pretty much, life is good.
Let's see, what the heck has happened in my life since I last posted? Well, just before thanksgiving I finished the fall residency portion of my year, and received a Graduate Certificate in Environmental Education, which means I'm now a para-professional, which is nice. I had a week off for thanksgiving, got to spend time with the fam and with mags and emmy and fam, and got to go skiing with sis and pop, which was also nice. Then went back down to McCall for three weeks of winter training, during which--in addition, of course, to getting trained and building our winter curriculum--I finally met a couple dating prospects plus more hangout buddies in the form of McCall locals, and got promoted to 2nd degree black belt. All that was also quite nice.
Last saturday night was The Cocktail Party, which, according to "Shaq," a ~5"2' very round asian guy who seems to know everybody in mccall, is one of two times during the entire year that you'll see people dressed up in mccall. The other time is the inevitable wedding that happens to somebody (well, two people) every summer. I was in near top form that night, and met many many many locals which was awesome because I'm sure to run into many of them again since mccall is, after all, only so big. I met two LC grads--Matt and Elaine--from 1993 (same high school I went to) who were ecstatic and dumbstruck to meet a fellow LC grad--they were hosting the cocktail party, but I didn't know them before, just knew a couple people who filled me in on the party scoop. I met a cute girl named Chenoa (sp?) who digs superman, music, and spends her summers working on the family ranch, almost entirely self-sufficient and located in the remote Frank Church Wilderness (also in Idaho, but far far away). Angela has been out of school for I think 3 years now, and is working in Real Estate, and while she and her husband and in the process of building a new house, she doesn't think she'll ultimately spend her life in McCall. Shaq, like I said, knows everybody, and loves to introduce people (i.e."hey have you met Josh??") so he's a great guy to know at a party. Audrey I had met a few weeks ago, and last summer was her rookie Smokejumper season...hott. She's hoping to get hired on for this coming summer at the McCall smokejumping base, one of the better ones apparently. We're hoping to get some skiing/boarding in together at Brundage after I return from the holiday break.
Sunday I stopped off at Thai Taste restaurant in Lewiston to grab some dinner along my drive up to Spokane, whereupon entering I ran into a couple whose son, Kyle, had been one of my students at MOSS! He had broken his arm, so both parents had been at MOSS at various points to help out, which is why I'd met them before (and not just kyle). Well, they thanked me for teaching Kyle and such, kind of the usual but always appreciated gestures, and I asked them to say hello to Kyle for me. So we went and ate at our separate tables, and they left before me and waved goodbye. And then when the waitress came to clear my table, she informed me that "the couple sitting over there paid for your dinner tonight." !!! Isn't that sweet? I was very touched.
After dinner I continued uneventfully back up to Spokane, crashed, and then drove up monday morning with mom to go skiing. My sis joined us today, making it the second day of sunny skies and FAST hardpack. Tomorrow we'll be taking a private telemark lesson, our mom's hanukah gift for us. Sweet huh?
Pretty much, life is good.