Friday night lights...
So, this blog is about a day late and a
dollar short. I mean, I should have written it on January 7th,
but I had so much to do it obviously didn't get done. And why
you may ask, didn't I do it sooner? Well, I've been recovering
a bit. But anyhow, here goes.
A caravan. Seventeen
cars carrying nineteen adults (including me, well, I was driving not
being carried) and thirty-three youth from seventh through twelfth
grade and two college junior chaperone-types. Fifty-two people
in this caravan of cars, vans, trucks and SUV's. All headed to
Paoli Peaks in glorious (okay, not really a word often used for
southern Indiana) Paoli, Indiana.
Let's see, about three hours
and one rest area stop later, we arrived (having driven through a
blizzard) at Paoli Peaks. It was probably around nine in the
evening. But, the better part of our group of fifty-two were
giddy with excitement. Okay, maybe giddy isn't the right word,
but we were excited, albeit a bit tired.
Her comes our "tour
guide," whose name escapes me at the moment. She gave us
the rules, guidelines, explanations of what all we needed to do...you
know, the necessities that we'll forget five minutes later. We
got our lift tickets (they told us to put them on the pants, mom,
which is why you don't have two on your coat) and widgets (I swear
that's what they called the little metal things the tix went on) and
wishes for good luck, happy skiing, and no broken bones.
Next,
we got back into our little caravan and drove to Mitchell, Indiana
(about twenty minutes away) to our retreat. Mary and Connie had
driven ahead of our caravan to get yummy food going (Italian beef and
mostacholi), so it was great to be eating dinner at ten at night.
Alas, a weekend retreat knows no dieting (nor do I for that matter,
but that's a whole other tale). The girls got the bunk house
because there were more of us. The boys got the house with the
huge circular fireplace, semi-private rooms, and the large kitchen.
So, but the time we women got back from making our beds, there was NO
Italian beef left. Really? You couldn't have left us a
bit? But I digress.
So, after supper we discussed the
car pool thing and we left for the midnight ski. Well, those
that wanted to, so it was me, Veronica, and Kyle, Char, and A.J.,
April, Skyler, Marcia, Jake and Dustin...and a ton of others.
It was amazing. The snow was coming down hard with big, fluffy
flakes...so while the 40-50 inch base snow was mostly manufactured,
it was like skiing on powder because of the accumulation we were
getting. A dream ski for some of these kids.
Veronica
gets geared up, as do I. Char and I are helping Veronica and
she falls. While I was trying to get to her side, you guessed
it...I fell...hard. OUCH! The next thing I knew, Veronica
had fallen a couple more times, she got up, said she hated it, and
was done. $125 lesson, but still worth it. Especially
when we got to the ski lift, loaded up (she was in the car in front
of me), and before I could get off the lift, she was already half-way
back down the mountain. Atta girl! She ain't no quitter,
that girl of mine! (Yes, mom, I don't use the word ain't in
real life, but it fit here).
I, fell getting off the
lift, as I always do. But only the first time, then it's all
good! So, we were rocking the small slope and having a blast.
Hey, does it really matter if you're on a bunny hill or a black
diamond as long as you're having fun? Yeah, I didn't think so.
We skied until 3 a.m. Yep, you heard me, three in the wee hours
of the morning. Not generally seen by me since my SIUC days
with my aunt Tracy.
So, we got back to the retreat, got my
girlie-q settled into her side of the cabin, and I fell not so
gracefully into my bunk. OH...MY...GOSH! It was like a
meat locker in there. Hello, heat? Anyone? A match,
a hot potato...anything? I finally put my head under the covers
and let my breath (yes, hot air) warm me up. But I couldn't
sleep because apparently there was a herd of balling cattle.
I'm sorry to front you off, but I'm not really since I don't know who
it was. Oh well, I can sleep at home on Sunday.
We get
up for breakfast at 7:15...really? I mean, I think the Texas
Chainsaw Murderer was playing with his Stihl all night and you want
us up at 7:15? Ugh, okay. We eat breakfast and again, we
make arrangements for taking and picking up. Veronica
definitely wants to ski this a.m. so away...we...go. We ski all
morning. And then we stay and ski all afternoon. I am
amazed because my arthritic hips don't seem to be giving my any
difficulty. I feel alive and young and free. The bitterly
brisk air on my face...well, the part of my face you could
see...which I guess with my goggles and mask would be none. So,
never mind the wind on my face thing.
We come back for dinner
and the prayer service. It was motivating and inspirational and
while the kids were exhausted and the service once it got started was
two hours, the youth showed maturity in their answers and a genuine
desire to be Christ-like in their lives. So, here comes the
question, who is going on tonight's midnight ski? I had wanted
to, but was afraid that it just might push my forty-four year old
hips into a wheelchair, but I told Veronica I would take her.
But the temperature with windchill was below zero, and she, Skyler,
and Dustin decided to hang back and play games.
The
adults decided to play spoons, and I again, didn't go to bed until
the wee hours of the a.m. I had found the heat, so our cabin
was toasty as a bug in a rug, but again with the noise. Oh
well...it's all good. The next morning (or would that be the
same morning since it was well after midnight when I slept?) we got
up and went to church. The priest was amazing. You could
really tell that he was a man of God. The kids then brought in
the gender boxes for the ministerial alliance, which was their
service project for this retreat.
And back to the slopes.
Veronica skied all morning and afternoon until we had to go back to
pack up and leave. Last supper (couldn't resist), final run
through, and headed home. Veronica was Miss Chipper Pants
talking and talking, so I was happy because I knew she would help me
stay awake. I mean, come on, I'm running on five and a half
hours of sleep here. But before I knew it, Kyle was crashed in
the back seat and thirty minutes later, so was Veronica. We got
Kyle home around 10:15 and we hit home fifteen minutes
later.
Snuggled with Bella, tucked the girls in, hit the
shower, and I was dead to the world. Yet, managed to get to
work...so, the trip was a success. A good time was had by all.
And we're counting down until we go next year...with a few minor
changes!
Oh, and the lights I talked of?
Friday -
White and semi-yellow. Blinded by both snow and the continuous
stream of headlights that made everything blur. And let's not
forget red for not getting any Italian beef after having a watery
mouth for hours. Florescent colors of the huge lights
illuminating the ski trails. Black, the color I saw when I
finally closed my eyes to sleep!
Saturday - Is blurry a
color? If so, it's what I saw when I cracked my eyes open to
get up for breakfast. Black, green, blue, and yellow, all the
colors of the ginormous bruise on my hip. Red again due to the
anger I felt over someone (who shall remain nameless) hurting my
daughter's feelings (although a couple cute 8th graders made it all
good).
Sunday - Um, I'm back to the blurry sights of morning
with little sleep. Black, green, blue, and yellow (see above).
And white...the color of the beautiful stars that helped guide my
tired body home.
I'm just saying...
