The Value of a Kid-Free Weekend

Some folks just won't do overnight trips without their kids. We are not those people. Don't get me wrong, we love our daughter and enjoy spending time with her. She's a pretty cool kid. She's adventurous and travels well, too. We just need our grown-up time every now and then to stay sane. It's great for us as a couple to spend some time with each other and have some un-interrupted adult conversation. The option to sleep in is nice, too.

Lucky for us, there are plenty of capable people we can leave her with while we go out and play. We don't take for granted how cool it is to be able to drop her off and not have to worry about her all weekend. 

How'd we spend our kid-free weekend? Acting like kids ourselves, that's how! 

We dropped Lils off with her Grammy and made our way to Burlington, VT to see some very good friends who we don't get to spend nearly enough time with. 

We all traveled up to a place called Lincoln Gap, about a half hour out of town. It's a mountain pass road and the top mile of it is closed in the winter time. Parking at the "road closed" sign, we hiked our plastic sleds up to the top of the hill. That top half-mile makes for a pretty insane sled run. 

After all that sledding, we were hungry! We checked out a sweet little Thai restaurant that is BYOB. The food was excellent, and dinner out is much much cheaper when you're not buying wine! 

The next morning was a lazy quiet Sunday morning with some excellent homemade eggs Benedict on fresh croissants. Perfection!

We loved the weekend away, getting together with good friends and having some grown-up time, and Lily had an excellent weekend playing with her Grammie and Grampie.

I don't want to be without her every weekend, but it is necessary (for us) to have that kid-free time every now and then. 

Well, that was nice.

I am now the mother of a 5 year old. Check it out:

So, there was sledding, and kids, and rainbow cake, and gifts, and me not talking about how it feels to be the mother of a 5 year old... 'cause honestly, I'm still processing it. Happy birthday to my baby, who informed me that she is most certainly not a baby, as she's 5 now...

Letting Go and Simplifying...

I'm trying to simplify my life these days. Eating better, exercising more. I think I finally figured out a work schedule I can be happy about. I'm even working on simplifying my wardrobe, little by little: a few practical things that I can mix and match; giving away the clothes that I don't wear. I have dreams of simplifying my home decor but am coming up against some opposition from the lovely people that live with me.
The biggest thing that clutters my thoughts (and home) these days is my responsibility to the ski club. I love to help the club, I can be effective in my role with them, but I know I took on more than I'd like. When they made me president of the board, I was torn between feeling honored (It's the oldest ski club in America, after all) and the feeling of "oh shit, what am I getting into, now?"
8 months ago, I told the board that I wanted to let go of my role as president. Yeah, that didn't happen. Now,  I'm searching for ways to let it go without hurting the club too badly. I've got an idea of my ideal role with them: Local fundraising, community contact, web presence, helping with events, connection to club members, that sort of thing. Somehow the stuff that I'd love to do gets pushed aside in favor of the things I need to do: chasing paperwork, communicating with the state (our trails are on state land), helping with grants, being the go-to person for everything else with the club. ugh. How do I let go of the stuff I don't want to do in favor of the things that excite me about being involved with the club?
I've let the rest of the board know that I'd rather not do these things. No one else is keen on taking it over, though. Some days, I just want to walk away from it all. Then my sense of responsibility kicks in and I concede to sticking around a while longer. My current goal is to make things simple and streamlined enough for the next person to be able to just step into the role without too much difficulty. Simplifying my job so I can let it go to simplify my life. Sounds complicated...
Meanwhile, I hope for snow so we can open the trails for the season!

A Few Odd Things That Made Me Chuckle Today

Kiddo asked me how to break into buildings, 'cause she "might want to do that someday." OK then.

We went to a Christmas theme park today. There was the usual holiday- themed stuff: mechanical sleighs, elves, gingerbread cookies. All fun for the little ones.
There was also this one-antlered reindeer:

 There were a few of these, and for no good reason, I was cracking up inside. 

Another silly one: A dinosaur with a puffin (or penguin?) head and another with antlers. What the...?

Well, that was silly. 

It was a COLD day for wandering around a theme park and I found myself emphatically saying no to any ride that seemed it may have any speed for fear of wind chill.

Days like this make me especially grateful for my hot tub. What a lovely way to warm up. It was a crisp clear night out there. Perfect for star-gazing. We even got to see a few shooting stars; likely leftovers from the Geminid meteor showers. 

Yep, life is good. Strange at times, but still good.