Journal Entries

A forest of skis.

This is the scene that has greeted us outside or door this week. A scene that gives me great satisfaction to see every time I walk outside. Inside, on a chalk board is written the following:

Les règles du chalet:

• Être heureux
• Rire
• Bien manger
• Bien dormir
• S'amuser
• Jouer dans la neige

I am happy to say that we have followed the rules, to the best of our abilities.

So my goal of skiing up the mountain every day didn't happen yesterday. Amongst the attempts to get some work done intermingled with the coming and goings of friends, and a fantastic dinner with another friend, skiing took a back seat.

Today however, @mypictograph, @celine, and myself managed to make it out for an afternoon jaunt up the mountain. This would be the second time up for this young man, the first being when he carried his younger sisters (@brienne) snowboard up for her earlier in the day.

When we first started #onedayaweek with our kids, it was our goal to ensure they were tired out by the end of the day. These days, especially with this guy, it is pretty hard to tire him out... he just eats more food and is ready to go again.

This week we are back in our old stomping grounds... New Richmond QC, on the beautiful Gaspe Peninsula. We are taking a bit of a working vacation, visiting friends, enjoying the fresh air and the outdoors, and getting in whatever we can for skiing while maintaining a day job.

This afternoon a good friend of ours came to visit and we skinned up Pin Rouge - the local ski hill (closed during the weekdays). The weather was fabulous, with great spring skiing conditions... in February. We won't dwell on it being too early for weather like this... we will accept it for what it was - fun playtime in the snow.

The best part is, this is just out our back door, so I expect to be doing this daily for the next few days - weather permitting.

In this photo: @mypictograph and our friend Claude.

Getting out the door this morning started with a lot of resistance. In fact, the resistance started last night, at the end of a long day. The prospects of getting up early to make lunch, pack gear, and get everyone in the car at a respectable hour were daunting for a few of our tribe members.

If there is one thing we learned early on, it's that getting out the door is often the hardest part. Once you have done the hard work of taking those first steps, you almost never regret it. In fact, sometimes it is the times when there is the most resistance, that you actually need it the most.

In this photo: @reneetougas stares down the face of a black/double-black run - when did you start to like those? I am not complaining!

Yay! She is back on her board again! After weeks of recovering from a wrist injury @brienne was finally able to join us on the slopes again. The first few runs started out a bit frustrated, but once she found her stride, the frown - as they say - turned upside down.

Those smiles on our faces can only mean one thing... yep, another ski day! @mypictograph got to try out his new board, and @celine felt like things were coming together with her telemark turn. We ended the day with tired legs, and are very hopeful that @brienne will be able to join us next week.

The nice thing about ski days with teenagers is that the conversations move from the topics of homework, chores, and "what are you planning on doing with your life" to less stressful things like the finer points of perfecting a telemark turn. OK, so maybe perfecting the telemark turn can also get a little frustrating at times, but today @celine made some great progress.

@mypictograph strapped-in and ready to go.

Today was warm, with spring-like conditions on the bottom, and mild winter-like conditions at the top.

Yesterday I had one of those days. It was a Saturday and I was working to make up for taking the previous Wednesday off to go skiing with the family. By the time I had finished my work for the day I found myself in a funk. I was stressed, anxious, tense, feeling smothered by the city and found myself longing for the smell of fresh air, pine, and campfires.

@reneetougas had the good sense to suggest that I actually do something about that. So I did. @mypictograph and I took the day off of Church and headed for the mountains to do a day of backcountry skiing (and snowboarding) at Mont Tremblant. I feel MUCH better now. Ready to take on another week, with (of course) another day of skiing in middle to help us make it through to the end.

Where would I be without skiing in my life...