Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 40th birthday and it was a very good day, overall.  There was one exception that requires some thinking about, but, overall, a great day.

We got up this morning and, after I reminded Anthony that today was the day to make a birthday wish, he sung to me with a little help from Ranger.  LOL

I took Ranger out for a skate to get her a lot of exercise in a short period of time because, after that, we had breakfast and then went up to Meadows for our first day of skiing this season.  Actually, our first day of skiing in more than two years!

In some ways it was close to a dry run, as we needed to be back home by 3:30 at the latest to take Ranger out before our next function.  We needed to get our snow park permit and our passes made.

The drive up was uneventful with no need for chains, which is always nice.  The line for annual passes went much faster than I'd thought it would when we first saw it.  And then we hit the slopes!

Anthony and I were confident that we'd be fine skiing, even with the extended break, but Davan was worried she wouldn't remember how.  We started off on the bunny slope.  Davan surprised herself by knowing just what to do.  We moved onto one of the high speed quads.  Who-hoo!

We did a lot of greens, but a couple of blues today.  Davan is definitively an intermediate.  She's a little tentative and her form isn't the greatest, but she did awesome for her first day back.

Just when it was nearly time to leave, friends of ours showed up and we managed to get in a couple of runs with them.  That was perfect because Davan really wanted to ski with Emma and this gave them a chance to see if they'd be compatible without being stuck together all day.  Emma is definitely more advanced, but now that they've gotten a chance to check each other out, I'm fine with either Emma coming up with us or Davan going up with them sometime.

The weather was great.  My only complaint is a minor one and that was that it was really, really windy at the top of the lift we pretty much used exclusivity today.

Sadly, I have no pictures from skiing, as the camera got left in the car.

We headed back home around 1:30 and got home just in time for me to take Ranger for a walk before coming back home to change into my running clothes and head out the door.

Anthony, Davan and I did the Winter Wonderland Run this evening.  The choices were 2, 4 or 6 miles and we opted for 2.  We wanted to run it, rather than walk it and not to push anyone past what they could do.  It was a good length for a family run.

The picture is from when we first got there.  By the time we ran, a little over an half an hour later, it was getting pretty dark,

which was the point, as the run is done around the Portland International Raceway where there is a Christmas light display this time of year.  Most people drive through.  It was a lot more fun to run it.  Walking it would have been fun, too.

The lights were fine - not spectacular, but nice.  It was a good and festive venue for a family run.

Afterward, I decided I'd like to go out to eat and we headed to the Vita Cafe, which has both gluten free and vegan options and some of them are even the same.

Davan and I changed into our race shirts because, well, for two different reasons, really.  I was feeling pretty stinky and Davan wanted to match.

Dinner was fine.  It was nice to have a break from cooking or figuring out what to cook.  But, I wasn't overwhelmed with the amazingness of the food or anything.

Now were chilling out at home, after showers.  Upon checking my email, I got the not so great bit of news.  Our downstairs neighbor emailed at 10:00 this morning to say that Ranger had been whining and barking for the last couple of hours and she wanted to let me know as this was unusual, in case anything was wrong.

More about Ranger later, though.  For now, I'm off to watch a little Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the family to finish out my birthday.