Just Me and The Alpine Loop

Yesterday, I went up into the mountains for an outing, by myself, on an ordinary weekday, while Peter was at work. That has not happened since before I birthed my firstborn.

I have a couple of things to say about trading babysitting with neighbors: Hallelujah, Amen! The last two weeks I had too much to do so I didn't do anything fun on my free morning. Yesterday, again, I had too much to do. So I blew it all off and headed for the hills for a couple of hours.

Hallelujah, Amen!

I had the trail entirely to myself on the way up.

*This hat features in every outdoor cold weather photo of me from the last 8 years. I keep thinking I'll buy another hat. But then, this one has never failed to keep my head warm and it seems silly to buy a new hat solely to lend some variety to the family photo album.

**I also took some self portraits facing the camera. They were not fit for human optical consumption. It was just as well there was no one else on the trail.

I did come across a musher with a full team of sled dogs on my way back down. I thought that was pretty cool. Then I got to ski through what the full team of sled dogs had left behind.

It's Hard to Drive in High Heels

Both Statements Can Be True

Tuesday night my dad babysat so Peter and I could go to the temple. Today when I gave Ellen a hug and said, "I love you," she pointed her finger at me and sang, "And I love YOU, a bushel and a peck!"

Ellen: Gampa Tacy sang dat to me. He sang dat to me when I was in my bed.
Me: Aww. You know he used to sing that song to me when I was a little girl?
Ellen: No, he sang that to me when I was a little girl!

You're Never Fully Dressed Until You Look Like A Million Bucks

Children are good at pointing out to you things you may say all the time without realizing it. For example, I never noticed how often I said "Oh dear," until a sing-songy "Ah dee" popped up as a staple of Jane's just-over-a-year-old vocabulary.

The other day after Adam got dressed, he came and found me, put his hands on his hips, and queried, "Do I look like a million bucks?" And this morning after I got her dressed, Ellen started asking me repeatedly, "What I am?" It took a while for her to help me understand that the correct response to the question was "You look like a million bucks."

I'm pretty sure I picked up that one from Peter.

Happy New Year!