Turns Out I'm No Shaun White

Ski Socks... $15

Waterproof Gloves... $35

Beginner Snowboarder Package... $84

Spending an hour on my butt/back/stomach on the bunny slope to cross the 1st item off my '30 by 30' list... PRICELESS.

Let me preface this by saying that SNOWBOARDING is the first item to be officially crossed of my '30 by 30'.

Now let me say this... Remember how my friends, coworkers, family, everyone I know told me that it was really really hard and the first time was gonna be a disaster? And remember how I said if I could survive 4 Syracuse winters intact I could surely get down a slope intact? Well... Yeah... Perhaps I should have listened to my friends. Perhaps I should have done this after I lost 50 lbs. Perhaps I should have gone on a weekday not a Saturday of a holiday weekend when there were 5 people per square yard on the bunny slope.

Here's how it went down...

We (Sue, Jackie, Me) got to Ski Liberty around 1pm on Saturday. I was super pumped! Adrenaline racing, decked out in my spiffy cold weather gear, psyched to hit the slopes. I wasn't even nervous! That is, until I checked in, actually got my snowboard and boots, and went to my 2pm group lesson. 

This is me waiting for my lesson. See the smile? Ahh, life was good back then...

In an instant it all changed. It was all downhill from there. Literally. For the next 45 minutes I "glided", fell, toppled, collided, had to be helped up, flopped around on my stomach and back like a beached whale, whined, wondered how the 8 yr old kids around me were cruisin down easy as pie. Sure I said I wanted to hit the slopes, but I should have been more specific. I didn't mean it literally, over and over again. My snowboard instructor, let's call him Shaun White, was very helpful although he musta been totally annoyed at my inability to keep up with the 3 other folks in my group (who were super cool despite my inferior skills). It didn't help that it was so packed that every time I kinda got goin (as in, made it 5 feet) at the 6th foot of my "ride" I'd collide into someone. It was a nightmare... for me and for those in my way!

After a 15+ minute descent from half way up the bunny slope, I called it quits. Yep, I'm a quitter. 45ish minutes into my 90ish lesson I had enough, mostly because I was too exhausted to glide (do splits) on over to the magic carpet to get back up the slope only to topple back down. This was around 3pm and I was supposed to meet my friends over at the bar at 3:30. I just called it a day. And the adventure (at least on the slopes) ended there... for now... because I got a free package to go back. I think Shaun White and his boss felt bad for me. Turns out I'm not as unathletic and klutzy as I thought. I'm actually even more unathletic than I thought!!!

So yes, I get to cross snowboarding off my list on a technicality. I'm gonna go back and try again, but this time during mid-week and not during a holiday weekend. This is for me and for all the other patrons of Ski Liberty. If you were one of the 15 or so folks I collided into yesterday, please accept my apologies.

On a bright note... I made awesome new friends who made the rest of the day (ie the drinking and watching football) fantastic. Shout out to Laura, Jill, Jess & Chris. And of course my BFFs Sue and Jackie for the support and tourguidyness. I dedicate my 1st of the '30 by 30' to them!

Who's coming with me next time? Not you? Yeah yeah yeah...

Snowboarding... TOMORROW!

Looks like snowboarding will be the first of the '30' to get crossed off, fingers crossed, tomorrow! This comes on the heels of my snowboarding company (Sue the snowboarding queen & Jackie the recent first timer) making a last ditch effort to try and convince me to ski instead. This involved a series of Facebook messages about how 'you' (transl: you uncoordinated klutz) can get very 'discouraged' (transl: cry, scream, whine, pout, etc) due to the difficult nature of the first snowboarding lesson (transl: your a$$ will be black and blue and we don't want to hear you b**** about it during the car ride home). However, after some insistence that 'snowboarding', not 'skiing', is on my '30 by 30', I got this message:
  

 
EXACTLY. I love my friends.

Plans Get Underway...

I know I'm only 24 hours into this thing, but since time is a tickin', I've already started making some plans to cross items off my list!

Ravens road game - My dad suggested we go to the Ravens @ Jaguars game (my folks live on the each coast of FL but we have family in Jacksonville making it a relatively easy/sensible trip, and quick/cheap Southwest flight!). Some quality father/daughter time. Will of course have to wait until the Ravens (and Redskins for that matter) schedules come out so I can see if it'll work out. If not we'll go to (TBD) plan B. Thanks, Dad!

Caps road game - This one's already set for 3/6. I'm ready to rock my Ovie jersey in the Bank Atlantic Center. Thanks, Dad!

Camping - Much thanks to Amy up in Boston (and Megan, the original inspiration for this project, who is doing 40 in 40) for the invite to her family's lobster bake in August. I've been hearing about this lobster bake (which includes a weekend camping on Amy's family's property in Maine) for years from our mutual friend, my bestest, Jen. It's on the calendar for this summer! Thanks, Amy!

Play Ice hockey - My friend Greg suggested we rent out some space on the ice rink in Patterson Park. Greg is Mr. Hockey -- he drives from BMore to Mahwah (NJ) on Sundays to play in his men's league -- so he's the perfect person for this and I appreciate the offer. I'll even forgive him for being a Rangers fan. Thanks, Greg!

Snowboarding - May do this next weekend with my bff Sue. She's the resident snowboard expert. I've passed on a few snowboarding trips/lessons (including one tomorrow) but I'll def get to it in the next month. I have a feeling she will also be the one to teach me to change a tire. And maybe cook a turkey... after all she is the expert.  Thanks, Sue!

Acadia - This will be a spring trip... I was up there over the summer on a road trip with my bestest Jen (who is an Assistant AD/SID at Husson U in Bangor) and I refused to do any trail where "iron rungs" were in the description. I'm thinking next go around I'm gonna have to suck it up and do it. The Beehive is the one everyone talks about as being the difficult but most beautiful hike. Thanks, Jen!