A winter wonderland view from my upstairs window

Robert and I did brave the storm to go to Planet Fitness this morning. I don’t like what missing my run and workout does to my mental health and emotions, so he turned on the 4 wheel drive and we forged the 1.5 miles to the gym. Feeling happy and motivated now!

 Coop is hard at work, too.  He has to prepare for a big debate on climate change coming up on Tuesday, read Alice In Wonderland and create a short script for a chosen scene from the book, not to mention lots of Algebra II, Spanish, and biology. This is his preferred study spot.

Added to this load of homework is the packing and preparation involved with traveling to South Africa next Wednesday!  That’s right.  He’ll have a very full day of school including a formal debate, and will leave straight away for Northborough, MA, where he’ll meet up with his team, spend the night, and leave Wednesday morning from Boston for the VERY LONG flights to Durban. I couldn’t be more excited for him, and am praying that his life will be changed forever by the things he sees and the experiences he has serving and traveling.

 I just barely survived our crayfish dissection yesterday.  Ours is the warmest room in the building, which, normally, is a wonderful amenity, but not yesterday.  The smell was almost more than I could handle. Warm, dead, preserved crustaceans. Oh my.

This dissection team left their poor crayfish completely mutilated. Their tray looked like a monstrous murder scene when they got done,  but they did identify all pertinent parts and organs.

That’s Coop and Kayla in the top left and bottom right boxes. So hard to tell everyone apart with all their gear on!

Monday was another snow day of sorts ~ our weekly trip to Vermont’s Mt. Snow for morning lessons and afternoon free skiing.  It didn’t snow on us much while we were there, but there was fresh snow from previous storms and it made everything so beautiful. The group I was chaperoning happened to have the best ski instructor we’ve had yet.  His detailed instructions about center of gravity and where to lean and shift weight were so helpful to me!  (Lean forward. Heavy foot, Light foot. Turn Shoulders. Rotate Ankles…wow!) I’ve skied quite a bit without much difficulty, but his expert wisdom made things even easier and more fun.

Cooper used Kory’s short skis (a.k.a. trick skis) for the first time this week, and could not wait to ski down Carinthia ~ which is nothing but jumps and rails.  I was a bit nervous about this knowing his feelings of invincibility.  Not long after he took off to that run, I saw the ski patrol pass by with stretcher attached heading straight to Carinthia.  I just knew it was for him, partly because he had a pretty nasty wipe out a few weeks before.  I texted him, called him. No answer. Ugh.

Thoughts of having to find the nearest Vermont hospital flashed through my mind. Visions of having to cancel his South Africa mission trip, and worse, plan a funeral (motherhood does this…) were causing me much anxiety until another mom told me she had just seen him intact and happily heading back up the lift.  Kayla reported later that he wasn’t doing anything crazy, and Cooper himself told me that his fall from the time before caused him to be extra cautious. Natural consequences can have amazing effects, and I was grateful!

Now, I’m off to do some homework myself ~ getting dinner in the oven and outlining a few talks that I need to give at upcoming retreats. I’m really excited about both, but nervous, too, as the chosen topics can be kind of sensitive and controversial.  More on that later, maybe.  Praying that I’ll only write what the Lord leads and gives ~ that my words will be His alone.