welcome to 2009.

christmas has come to the ’skis residence this week:

we bought our christmas tree on thursday and decorated for the holiday.  please note the following items:  a yule log dvd, the et statue, and the necktie tree skirt.

you see, most of our christmas decorations have a story behind them, which makes decorating for christmas so much fun.   our tree ornaments are typically ornaments that people have given to us as gifts or we have bought on vacations.  for example, we have a maker’s mark ornament from our trip to the kentucky derby and we have a beer mug ornament from a trip to germany.  each time we hang an ornament on the tree we are reminded of fun trips or memories.

last year, i received two new additions to the ’skis christmas decor collection: the necktie tree skirt and an ET statue.  i needed a tree skirt (not like the generic felt one we bought at wal-mart for $2) and my mom made a skirt out of old neckties from the men in our family.  the ET statue came from brother and his wife…. i was absolutely TERRIFIED of ET when i was growing up (ok, still harbor some fear today) and my brother thought it would be fun to torture me with….i mean, remember…..all those great memories of my childhood by giving me a 2 foot statue of ET.   in this picture, he’s standing guard over our christmas tree.

last, but not least, is the yule log.  it’s fantastic.  you need to rush out and get one.

happy holidays everyone!

D-Day. It’s almost over party people.

It’s almost over…..

Hello. How’s everyone doing? Don’t worry the ski’s are still alive and well. Just hunkering down and attempting to survive the next 30 days or so.

In this time of economic turmoil, its important that everyone keeps a bit of humor:

So a lot of things have happened since the last post. The highlights are:

I turned 30.

And Sara is chasing her dream in Alaska

More to follow…..

well, well, well…..  the ’skis coverage of sarah palin’s politcal career on this blog has proven rather prophetic.

obviously, we have been fans of sarah palin and have followed her career since she first came into the scene in 2006.  i knew should would be a rising star in the republican party, however i didn’t realize it would come this soon.   mccain shocked the campaign trail today by picking sarah palin for his running mate this fall.   mccain’s vp pick surprised the pundits and woke up the obama cult from their hypnotic trance after last night’s teleprompted speech.

palin is a risky pick.  but we like it.  she is a maverick and fits mccain’s “brand.”  mccain is sticking with his message of reform by picking her as a running mate.  they will have to answer to attacks about her inexperience, but obama has his own issues with that charge. 

one thing is certain — this election just became one of the most interesting elections in history.   props to both parties for making certain that regardless of the outcome, history will be made.

Excitement strikes western massachusetts. From the Boston Globe:

Funnel clouds have been sighted this afternoon in Western Massachusetts in New Salem and Sunderland, where tree tops were blown onto Route 116, according to the National Weather Service.

A tornado touchdown has not yet been confirmed. Police dispatchers in both Sunderland and New Salem said they have not received reports of any injuries or damage.

The cloud in New Salem was reported at 2:36 p.m. in the town, 11 miles northeast of Amherst. The cloud was moving east at 10 miles an hour, according to spotters for the National Weather Service.

The Sunderland funnel cloud was reported at 2:42 p.m. in the town, which is 30 miles north of Springfield. The warnings were issued at 2:39 p.m. in west central Worcester County, southeastern Franklin County, and central Hampshire County, which includes the City of Amherst. They were dropped at 3:11 p.m. when the storm weakened.

Intense weather is expected to batter the entire region this afternoon and evening, bringing the potential for high winds and large hail. A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 8 p.m. for almost the entire state of Massachusetts.

Karen Smiarowski, 55, who runs the Smiarowski Farm Stand with her husband, said she saw the funnel cloud looking east from her business on River Road.

She said it was about two miles away and she didn’t know what it was initially.

“It was the strangest thing,” she said. “We were looking at it and it was sucking everything right back into the cloud from the ground up.”

She wasn’t frightened, though, Smiarowski said.

“It didn’t really look that mean. It looked like a friendly one,” she said.

gear update for the trip up big mac — my new sleeping bag arrived today. it is marmot’s cwm eq bag… that’s right… cwm. pronounced “coom.” it’s a welsh word meaning “valley” the most famous being the western cwm on mt everest.

this bag is 4 lbs of down and rated to -40 degrees. i scored a big fatty deal on basegear.com which allowed me to score this big fatty bag to keep my digits from freezing as i wrap myself in 800 fill goose down! pretty exciting stuff!

too bad it’s 85 degrees outside and i can’t fathom needing this much warmth anytime soon.

Tobacco season has settled into the summer like a herd of buffalo being chased by a thunderstorm. The ski’s went back home to help the parents chop, spear and hang broadleaf tobacco for the weekend. We spent Saturday helping out and mingling with my father’s work force that resembles the united nations and/or inmates of a supermax prison. Quite a few stories could be told here but in the interest of protecting oneself, none will be told.

Sunday however was a different story because of the bad storms that passed through the area. Driving home we experienced one heck of a wind storm that tore leaves and branches off trees. In fact, because of this one tree (below) our normal 1 1/2 hour commute turned into five hours. Unbelievable.

I received confirmation from Rainier Mountain Guides (RMI) today that I have a spot on their May 6th 2009 Denali expedition.    I’m pretty pumped about this!    Since I started climbing, Denali has been a goal for me and I’m very excited to get the opportunity to climb it next May.

Also, as the mountain gods must have been smiling on me today, I received my new 8000m parka in the mail today. This tang-colored beast is about as warm as you can get.  Which will be necessary when I’m shivering like a naked child in -50 degree temps at 17k ft camp next May.  Although I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to climb to the rooftop of North America I know that more than once during the climb I will say to myself, “this is just stupid.”
Some facts about Denali:

Aliases – Mt McKinley, Denali, the “High One”

Elev – 20,320ft; 6,189m