Finally some snow

Well, it finally happened. It snowed again. Not much here. At least not that I can see looking out the window. The ski area’s website though is saying they got 12 inches over night. That means tomorrow morning will be a true powder Thursday. That means I’ll be getting up early in the morning to go skiing before work.

It also means I’ll be able to get out on my new skis finally. I got them mounted a few weeks ago but they’ve just been sitting here waiting for it to snow.

The challenge is just getting up early. Fridays are no big deal because I can still sleep in and get in plenty of skiing before they close. Thursdays I have to be back here for work in the afternoon so I have to get up extra early to be there when the lifts open so that I get in a couple hours of skiing before I have to come back down to go to work. I’m not a morning person.

At least it finally snowed again. That should make for a fun couple of days of skiing this week.

Thoughts on the Inauguration

First and foremost, I enjoyed it. I wish I could have been there among the millions that crowded into the area to watch this moment in history. Instead I watched it at home in HD which is probably a better view than I ever could have gotten by being there.

I did not watch the whole thing. I tuned in as Biden was being sworn in. He looked so excited to be taking the oath. I totally related to that. I’d be excited too.

When Obama stepped forward you could tell he was humbled and truly appreciated the moment. I laughed when the Chief Justice of he Supreme Court messed up the Oath of Office. (Since re-done, just to be “safe”) I think it would be ridiculous for someone to claim he’s not really President over one word moving around in the oath. But they got through it and then Obama gave his speech and it was something.

I was pretty surprised that he made such pointed criticisms of Bush while he was sitting right there. What he said were things I agreed with, but I thought he’d be a little more gentle. In hindsight, I’m glad he didn’t go easy on him. The world was watching and the speech he gave showed that he was going to do things differently. The country needed that. The speech, I felt, was not quite as good as his victory speech in Chicago… but it was good. It was a pretty clear call to action and I, for one, am ready to join in.

I enjoyed watching Obama walk Bush to the helicopter. If for no other reason than to make sure he left. It was pretty honorable for him to do that though and his thanking Bush for his years of service to the country was a pretty honorable move, especially when he disagrees with him on so many issues.

The benediction was great. I really liked it. Here it is for those that missed it and haven’t seen it yet.

We start now a new era of our nation’s history. The events of yesterday inspired me and motivated me to pursue my political aspirations. I have hope for the future and I haven’t had that in a while. I thought our country was going in the wrong direction under Bush. Now I have hope that the course will be righted.

Yes we can.

It’s almost here…

Tuesday we get a new President. Yay! That makes me pretty excited. I know many in my family are nervous but I’m not. I think Obama faces some pretty difficult challenges in the next couple years but I think he’s going to do well. All our problems won’t be solved but I think he’ll m ake things better.

On the homefront, things are going pretty well. Jess and I went skiing Saturday. We had a fun day and Jess got seriously worn out. It was a relatively easy day of skiing for me so I just enjoyed getting to share something I love with someone I love. Apparently Jess’ dad was up for the day too. We didn’t know that and we never saw him. He didn’t have as good of a day though because at the end of the day, somebody stole his skis. Totally sucks. I thought for sure that kind of lameness didn’t happen at this small, locals mountain. Guess it does and I will be more careful with where I put my stuff in the future.

Work is work and continues to be what it is. The papers have been a lot smaller lately as ad sales have dwindled. I guess the struggles of the industry have come to our small paper now. Hopefully things will turn around soon so that we can continue to do what we do. I’ve been nervous because I can see that we’re struggling to make money now. Given the way our industry has gone, job security is definitely not guaranteed.

I found out there’s going to be a Redcloud Reunion this year. For those that have forgotten, I used to work at Camp Redcloud during the summers. I spent a decade worth of summers there and I loved the place. Absolutely loved it. I’d go back there in a second if we could afford it. There’s a group putting together a reunion week over July 4th. I’d really like to go but I’m not sure if we’ll be able to. We’ve got a full schedule of family events to go to this year so it’s bad timing… but boy would I like to go. A week at camp would be a lot of fun.

Palin should seriously stop talking…

Palin apparently can’t let it go that she lost the election. She continually rips on the media in every interview she gets. In THIS story, she talks about bloggers but seems to cross over into using bloggers to criticize the regular media and journalists.

Now, I’m not saying that any journalist or blogger that knowingly publishes lies should get away with it, but she’s complaining about people fact-checking. She should be thankful that her local paper is checking facts and making sure things are right before running them. She should also realize that it’s a journalists JOB to run down every lead, even if it isn’t favorable to someone in charge. She may not like the way she was handled by the media but part of that is her fault. She didn’t have to say that seeing Russia from Alaska gives her foreign policy experience. They weren’t the reason she couldn’t name a single publication she reads on a regular basis. She blew her interviews all by herself.

She should also realize that bashing the media probably won’t be forgotten. If she truly has aspirations to run for a national office again, she should remember that she’s going to need the media. If she continues to take shots at the media for the next four years, I can only imagine how much worse she’ll get it then. If she really wants to improve her image, quit complaining about the media and get back to running the state. Start doing things that have national impacts.

Mostly though, I want her to just go away.

Epic fail

Wow… I just looked up my resolutions from last year and I didn’t accomplish a single one of them. Let’s review…

1) Lose 35 pounds.

After a full year, I’m at exactly the same place I was when I started this mess. Jess and I recently launched a weight loss contest so hopefully I won’t be stuck on this one again next year…

2) Take at least 1 frame worthy photo per month.

I took a few photos and some of them are nice but none are all that great. The problem was I just never took my camera out. I’ve got to be better about this if I’m going to get photography going again. It’s the one visually artistic outlet I’m pretty good at. I’ve got to be better about doing it regularly.

3)  Write either a book or a screenplay.

I didn’t write either. I didn’t even start either. I do write more than I used to since I’m the only person writing editorials for the newspaper, but they are not truly creative writing. I’ve been kicking ideas around in my head lately, so maybe I should quit thinking of excuses and just start writing them down.

4) Use the video camera more.

Nope… didn’t do this one either. What a waste!

5) Take a fun vacation with Jess.

We took a one-night trip to Kalispell/Whitefish and a one day drive through Glacier National Park. Just enough time for us to realize we wanted to live there and that it’d be nice to spend more time there. That’s not exactly a “fun vacation” though. Part of this had to do with not having any money and part of it was just poor planning on our part. Too bad…

On to this year’s resolutions!

1. Lose weight.

My goal is to weight 180. I weigh quite a bit more than that right now. I won’t say how much… Gotta get that weight down.

2. Write a book or screenplay

I have to say that I’m more likely to write a book than a screenplay at this point in my life, but I’m keeping my options open. I know I had this one last year but I really want to get this one going. I’ve been thinking about it more and more since I created a childrens book as a Christmas list this year. It was fun to publish that thing. I’d like to do that with a real book now.

3. Get into grad school.

After being out of school for almost a decade, I’m finally ready to get back into school. I’ve also lived enough to have a firm grasp on the things that interest me and what I’d ultimately like to do in this life. Jess and I have been talking about me getting back into school for a while. I want to do an online Masters program through George Washington University. I just have to apply, take the GRE (again) and figure out how to pay for it since we don’t exactly have any extra money laying around.

4. Ski 40 or more days

Kind of a self-serving goal there but skiing is what tends to keep me sane. Given the snow conditions this year, hitting 40 days could be a real challenge. It should also help with the whole weight thing. There are a few goals inside of this one that should be a challenge too. A) Get comfortable sliding rails again. B) Land a 360. C) Get better at skiing switch. That should make for an interesting season!

5. Get more politically involved

I’ve been interested in politics for a long time. I’ve always had my views and I’ve always thought it would be interesting to be involved. Now I live in a small community where it’s easy to get involved and I haven’t. I’m going to this year. One way or another.

That’s it. Let’s see how I do this year. I can only hope/pray that 2009 is better than 2008!