Friday, February 18, 2011

Moonstruck

I borrowed the DVD for Moonstruck from good friends about two years ago... and finally watched it tonight! My review, in a word: excellent!

And then John came wandering in at the end, since he'd already seen it, and I said happily, "You know, the whole world wants to visit a little bit of France. But the whole world thinks of themselves as being a little bit Italian!"

He thought for a moment and replied, "Well at one point, the whole Western world was inhabited by Romans. But not by the French."

Match made in heaven.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

#1 of 5

With no hesitation...
it is typing.

I'm not forgetting to email you, I'm not letting texts pile up. I'm saving myself a frustration level through the roof and saving my husband yet another cranky remark by not typing. CALL ME. Otherwise, I'll respond after March 2nd when this damn thing comes off.

#2 of 5

Opening a ziploc baggie. Try it. Tell me how fun it is. See how long it takes before you're frustrated with one hand behind your back.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

#3 of 5

The number three? Using a q-tip in the opposite ear of the functioning hand. (Yeah, yeah, I know, you shouldn't use q-tips in your ear canals.)

#4 of 5

Fourth most annoying thing about being one handed? Blowing one's nose. It is infinitely less satisfying with one hand. Go on, give it a try...

Monday, February 14, 2011

#5 of 5


Fifth most annoying thing about being virtually one handed for 2.5 more weeks: squeezing toothpaste onto your toothbrush.

Monday, February 7, 2011

The Report: from yesterday

  • Two separate parties of skiers triggered avalanches near Frazier Lake in the northern Bridger Range. The first group of three skinned to the top of long and popular east facing chute (>45 degrees). The first skier triggered a slide that broke 18” deep about 1⁄2 way down the run, but managed to ski out of it. This slide likely broke on the weak interface between the old and new snow.
  • A second group decided to ski a nearby steep slope (also >45 degrees) slightly to the north. They were unaware of the previous avalanche. The first skier safely descended the run. The second skier had the slope break on his first turn. He tumbled over 1,000 feet through rocks and was almost fully buried. By wiggling his head and using his free arm he was able to dig himself out. His femur was broken, but luckily it was not an open fracture. His partner shouted to the other group who returned to help. A cell phone call to Gallatin County Search and Rescue got rescuers and a helicopter to the scene. He was evacuated with only minutes of daylight to spare.
The second skier was my big brother, who, being a preeminent big brother, can survive anything in my mind.

This now includes 1,000 feet in an avalanche slide that also included an enormous drop over a cliff. It now includes a broken femur, and a dig - with help, though not explicitly mentioned above - out of the snow, and a 200 yard drag to a better helicopter landing site.

It also makes him a bionic big brother, who has a titanium rod in his thigh... who also took his first steps today, less than 24 hours out of surgery.

There will be notes about it in the posts to come, but in the meantime, thanks for your thoughts and thanks to the universe for missed rocks, muscle memory and big brothers (mine and the fellow rescuers).

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Pillow Talk

Before bed last week:

Me, reading "Endurance" about the epic Antarctic Shackleton expedition in 1914-16, to John: "They kill seals! With their bare hands almost! Now they're killing the dogs! Ahh, they haven't changed their underwear in five months! Whoa, they are using ice for toilet paper!"

John, reading "The Universe in a Nutshell" by Stephen Hawking, to no one in particular as he picks up the book with a sigh: "Oh Hawking, you incomprehensible genius."