this one's going to be a rambler, featuring sponge art and snow.

Since I last posted, I've changed states. And timezones. Not permanently, of course, just for a few days. We cannot let a winter pass without skiing in Colorado, it would seem. And by we, I mean my husband. It's okay, he has an excuse: he actually enjoys it and has copious amounts of skill. I, on the other hand, am only so-so, and cannot ski with a clear conscience unless the slope is labeled green or (maaaaybe) blue, and there are NO other people around. It will still make my knees hurt. It will still make me want to throw up when I start going too fast. I am not the best at skiing, even though I've been doing it for half my life.

The view. Blustery, no?

Don't get me wrong, when all those requirements are met, or I am somehow able to trick myself into believing they are met, I do have a good time. I'm not skiing today, so Joshua can go do all his double black diamonds and junk, but I am determined to ski tomorrow. Determined! We didn't drive halfway across the continent for me to sit and read and blog and write the whole time. Then again, these are my only days off before another caffeine-slinging round of eight-days-in-a-row at work, followed by ANOTHER long trip, so I'm allowing myself a little free time. Is that so bad?

I digress. The best part about coming out here is the road trip. I am a sucker for a road trip, but maybe that's just because I'm so lazy. I love the excuse to read and listen to music, write a little, nap, maybe burn through an audiobook. Fun fun fun. As long as I'm not driving. Then, it's just driving.Yesterday, between Kansas City and Denver, we listened to all of Girl, 15, Charming But Insane, by Sue Limb, and it was delightful. "Pretty girly," as Joshua pointed out, "but also really good." His words, almost exactly (Aha! Success!). Funny, sweet, and very British. Good times. Speaking of funny, sweet, and very British, I also finished Howl's Moving Castle. More on that later. Because, first I want to tell you about some other things.



Before I go on and on, check out the t-shirt I wore the other day:

I like how my necklace gives Perry forehead bling.

I got complimented at the gas station. Oh yeah.

So, I'm no stranger to the City Museum in St. Louis, but, as one might expect, I see something new there, every time I go. It helps to have to get all the way to St. Louis first. I'm sure if I worked there, or lived in the same town, it would get old hat, just like anything else. [Weirdest thing, while Joshua and I were poking around, I heard my name and thought, Surely that's not for me. Of course I turned, since it's physically impossible not to, and a girl I went to high school with was there. Buhhh? She had gone to college in St. Louis, stayed, and now works at the City Museum. I don't know if I should be happy for her or not. The place gets insane.]

We went late at night, a first for me, and it made for a very different atmosphere. Actually, scratch that. It wasn't that different. During the day, there are large groups of small children making a ruckus. Late at night, it's just high-schoolers and college kids, doing the exact same thing. There was even a prom going on. A prom. Who has prom on the first of April? It was practically still March, and all the girls were wearing short party dresses instead of gowns. Is that how it is now? Maybe my school was just weird. [Insert embarrassing picture from senior prom (that I do not currently have) where my date and I meant to go as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (Youth Performing Arts School, what?), but ended up looking like a bride and groom. Sigh.]

Anyway, I did see some pretty cool things, and I'm about to go all travelogue on you, so buckle up.

I look like I'm drooling, or perhaps like I'm wearing vampire teeth. In reality, I was earning a
righteous bruise on my knee while climbing through a petrified tree-tunnel.

In the "caves."

The only visible picture I could get of the ten-story spiral slide.
Which is much more popular with the night crowd. We waited in line for 20 minutes.

This guy was right outside the room that contained the particularly boisterous prom. Hilarious. 

And old, working, carnival game. I won't deny it, this sort of gave me the creeps.
It was moving, doing its thing, and all the parts were creaking, but no one was there. *shudder*

And here is where we went into the giant building blocks room.
Or should I say, building sponges?

This was a definite highlight: the sponge room. Little dirty, but it was great. You can see that dad in there, supervising his son's masterpiece. I overheard the little boy say some pretty spectacular things, but I think I'm going to save it for the next post so I can put my free day to good use and get some writing done. More to come!

snow day: round two.

Joshua made it to work today, so I'm here all alone.  Ice and snow + misplaced phone = not leaving the house today again.  But that's just fine by me.  I'll miss checking out more books, but it'll be worth it to get some things done around the house (i.e. take naps and paint a picture).  It's only the 11th, and I'm already halfway through book #4 for this month.  I'm going to go ahead a stock up now, since I know I won't have as much time to read later on.

I'm starting to get super excited about camp this summer.  But when am I not excited about camp, really?

Anyway, who wants to see some cool pictures?  I perused The Boston Globe's 2010 in photos earlier, and some of them really struck me.  All are worth seeing (though, I will admit that I skipped over the viewer-discretion-advised ones--I have a small stomach), but here are a handful of my favorites:

A vigil for the late president of Poland.

A boy having fun in the rain in Cuba.

I guess gold miners don't mind being covered with the stuff they dig up.
In fact, this guy looks right jolly about it.  :)

Some things are the same on every continent.
Kids are adorable.

I love the falling olives.  Makes me think of Greece.

Three sisters showing a photo of their Christian mother,
who was sentenced to death for her beliefs.

On a lighter note, I want to go to this art exhibit.

Last but not least: safe and sound!
[For all the terrible things that happened in 2010,
wasn't it a thrill to have something to celebrate?]

And that's all I have to say about that.

In other news, I also discovered a neat-looking program called Blurb that helps you make your own books (like Mac photo books, but it doesn't have to be just for photos).  I can see myself wasting a lot of time and money here.  Wouldn't it be fun to take a bunch of neat pictures and turn them into a fairy tale book or something?  I see some very interesting Christmas presents in my loved one's futures.

Oh my gosh, I can't think about it too much or I'll get overly excited and not to ANYTHING today.

Oh, and one more thing.  We went skiing in the backyard yesterday.  I should have taken pictures.  Instead, here's a picture that shows up in Google image search under the words "skiing in the backyard."

original here

Yay snow!